htc hero first impressions

[prmobhero]

Hi All

I`ve had this handset for about a week. I`m overall fairly happy with it, feels a nice size, responsive interface, good apps and it fits in the pocket better than an iphone.

But I have a few grumbles about it which is making me think about returning it and waiting for something else to come along. Bare in mind I`m coming from a 3 year old phone so this is quite a leap in tech. But...

1.Almost every time I scroll down my contacts I inadvertently tap one and it starts calling them. Is there a way to setup a double tap to call? This is really annoying.

2. I keep getting errors when using the web browser and flash.

3. One reason for buying the phone was for reading pdf ebooks. For this it seems ridiculously slow, having to watch the page draw takes about 30 seconds.

4. I got an TaskKiller and I`ve noticed tasks starting by themselves. For example I rebooted only to see shopsavvy was running in the background!?

5. The camera and especially the camcorder are a disappointment. The camera feels very slow, even worse in low light. The quality of the camcorder image also looks overly compressed.

6. The weather app on the front clock never finds the weather in my town even though it gives the name correctly.

Any suggestions.
I really want to keep the phone, but these niggles are really making me think about returning it,maybe for the hd2 which seems to have a faster processor, albeit with windows mobile

Thanks

Paul

[2dmaxhtc]

I would wait till Android 2.0 for the hero comes out before you make your decision it supposed to. be a good performance increase and a good phone tweeks

[bradart]

Originally Posted by prmobhero

Hi All

I`ve had this handset for about a week. I`m overall fairly happy with it, feels a nice size, responsive interface, good apps and it fits in the pocket better than an iphone.

But I have a few grumbles about it which is making me think about returning it and waiting for something else to come along. Bare in mind I`m coming from a 3 year old phone so this is quite a leap in tech. But...

1.Almost every time I scroll down my contacts I inadvertently tap one and it starts calling them. Is there a way to setup a double tap to call? This is really annoying.

Thats not an issue that has been addressed yet. Not sure on that one.

Originally Posted by prmobhero

2. I keep getting errors when using the web browser and flash.

Weird, i've never had that. Install the MR

Originally Posted by prmobhero

3. One reason for buying the phone was for reading pdf ebooks. For this it seems ridiculously slow, having to watch the page draw takes about 30 seconds.

Again, i have no experience here. I'm sure there is a faster pdf viewer in the app market

Originally Posted by prmobhero

4. I got an TaskKiller and I`ve noticed tasks starting by themselves. For example I rebooted only to see shopsavvy was running in the background!?

I can only assume that this bothers you because you have used other OS's in the past. Android (and linux as a whole) uses available memory differently. It assigns programs memory priority based on usage. For example, if you have every program in the market running simultaneously, the one app that you are using will be the only app using memory. This is very handy because all the apps can be at the ready without wasting memory.

Originally Posted by prmobhero

5. The camera and especially the camcorder are a disappointment. The camera feels very slow, even worse in low light. The quality of the camcorder image also looks overly compressed.

Install the MR and set the ISO (in camera settings) to 800. This makes the camera worlds better.

Originally Posted by prmobhero

6. The weather app on the front clock never finds the weather in my town even though it gives the name correctly.

This is one of the issues addressed in the MR. After installing it, i have had nary a problem. It reall does help a lot

Originally Posted by prmobhero

Any suggestions.
I really want to keep the phone, but these

Originally Posted by prmobhero

niggles

WHAT?!?!

Originally Posted by prmobhero

are really making me think about returning it,maybe for the hd2 which seems to have a faster processor, albeit with windows mobile

Thanks

Paul

To install the MR (ONLY on a non rooted phone) go to settings>About phone>System updates>firmware update

[prmobhero]

Thanks for the replies.

Didnt know that Android 2.0 would have a speed increase. Thats good to know.

Actually since writing the message I`ve sussed the contacts scrolling. I was pressing too hard it seems when scrolling,just a soft swipe works best.

Can I ask what MR is?

I`ve also had a few "process has stopped" messages come up. For example earlier I had "the process android.process.acore has stopped" this was after syncing with my pc.

Incidently i`m using firmware 1.5 and build 2.73.110

Paul

p.s niggles
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/niggles

[bradart]

Originally Posted by prmobhero

Thanks for the replies.

Didnt know that Android 2.0 would have a speed increase. Thats good to know.

Actually since writing the message I`ve sussed the contacts scrolling. I was pressing too hard it seems when scrolling,just a soft swipe works best.

Can I ask what MR is?

I`ve also had a few "process has stopped" messages come up. For example earlier I had "the process android.process.acore has stopped" this was after syncing with my pc.

Incidently i`m using firmware 1.5 and build 2.73.110

Paul

p.s niggles
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/niggles

MR is Maintainence Release. Its a hot fix for a crapload of the issue the phone shipped with. Do what i said to do in the system settings and preparte yourself for a big-ass cup of happy.

[Zombie Scott]

Originally Posted by prmobhero

Hi All


1.Almost every time I scroll down my contacts I inadvertently tap one and it starts calling them. Is there a way to setup a double tap to call? This is really annoying.

-Two ways to do what you are describing. Hit the phone button on the home screen. That is your calls in most recent order, not your contacts or by using HTC's people widget, which asks you when you add people to choose what default behavior you want. Going to your contacts from a shortcut will only open the address book.

3. One reason for buying the phone was for reading pdf ebooks. For this it seems ridiculously slow, having to watch the page draw takes about 30 seconds.

-Just because it can read .pdf files does not mean it is a good idea to use it as a book reader. It would have never came to my mind to use the Hero as a replacement for the Kindle. I don't think they(Sprint or HTC) ever marketed that way. I could be wrong...

4. I got an TaskKiller and I`ve noticed tasks starting by themselves. For example I rebooted only to see shopsavvy was running in the background!?

-Designed to run in the background. Read this. http://www.biggu.com/2009/03/05/loca...-on-shopsavvy/

Any suggestions.
I really want to keep the phone, but these niggles are really making me think about returning it,maybe for the hd2 which seems to have a faster processor, albeit with windows mobile

I just came from Windows Mobile. I like it, but at this point I would not return.

[sikclown]

I may be wrong but I think he has the GSM Hero which has a few different issues than our Sprint Hero.