Getting to try HTC Hero on orange

[Guest froggyoggy]

hi guys,

i've just ordered a htc hero on orange and i have 7 days to try it. I will receive it on tuesday, so whilst i'm waiting i have many questions that i would like help with. Please do note that my computer knowledge is good, but with mobiles i'm almost useless, so apologies if i end up asking questions which may sound pretty straightforward to many of you.

1. The hero will come with orange firmware, but i assume its a lot slower than custom firmwares, so what is the latest and the best known firmware at the moment and what is the procedure on installing it?

2. Since I have 7 days to test out the phone, i want to try it with the latest firmware, but i want to play it safe and need to protect the original orange firmware, so what is involved in making a FULL BACKUP of the orange firmware and if i decide i want to put the orange firmware back onto the htc, how do i do this?

3. Is there any risk involved in the above procedures where i could mess up the phone and not be able to fix it again?

4. Lastly, if I replaced the phone with the latest firmware and later Android 2.0 came out, will i be able to upgrade to the latest operating system without problems?

Many thanks again

[Guest froggyoggy]

wow, almost 50 views and not even a single reply. Pls guys, i'm extremely desperate for these answers and don't want to make any mistakes.

I'd be most grateful if you could help me.

Thank You

[Guest markspark100]

hi guys,

i've just ordered a htc hero on orange and i have 7 days to try it. I will receive it on tuesday, so whilst i'm waiting i have many questions that i would like help with. Please do note that my computer knowledge is good, but with mobiles i'm almost useless, so apologies if i end up asking questions which may sound pretty straightforward to many of you.

1. The hero will come with orange firmware, but i assume its a lot slower than custom firmwares, so what is the latest and the best known firmware at the moment and what is the procedure on installing it?

2. Since I have 7 days to test out the phone, i want to try it with the latest firmware, but i want to play it safe and need to protect the original orange firmware, so what is involved in making a FULL BACKUP of the orange firmware and if i decide i want to put the orange firmware back onto the htc, how do i do this?

3. Is there any risk involved in the above procedures where i could mess up the phone and not be able to fix it again?

4. Lastly, if I replaced the phone with the latest firmware and later Android 2.0 came out, will i be able to upgrade to the latest operating system without problems?

Many thanks again

1: I would asusme the Hero from orange will now come with the latest orange ROM in which case much of the lag which you've probably read out in reviews has been fixed. Custom ROMs such as Modaco's do have other tweeks making them faster. If you want to install a diferent custom ROM there is loads of information on how to on this site or XDA.

2: If you do decide to install a custom ROM you can get back to the Orange ROM by downloading it from HTC's site and this completely wipes the phone and installs the official ROM back on, I have read that there may be logs in the phone showing you've changed it but don't know if that is actually the case.

3: Yes there is. but if you follow the instructions posted loads of times you should be fine.

4: Yes you will be able to.

Hope this helps.

Mark.

[Guest froggyoggy]

Thank You so much for your help mark. A few more questions....

1. I have been searching on the net and have found numerous posts of people complaining about the call quality or calls dropping of hero on orange...does anyone have such issues?

2. What do people mean by unlocking? is this when they unlock the phone to work on all networks?

3. You said that i can use the orange update on the HTC site, but htc's website state that the rom update doesn't include many of the operator settings. Now just to be on the safe side, is there any backup software i can use to allow me to backup everything on the phone before making any changes?

4. Lastly, what is this rooting / un-rooting and how important/useful is this to me?

thanks again

Edited November 8, 2009 by froggyoggy

[Guest hp1]

Thank You so much for your help mark. A few more questions....

1. I have been searching on the net and have found numerous posts of people complaining about the call quality or calls dropping of hero on orange...does anyone have such issues?

2. What do people mean by unlocking? is this when they unlock the phone to work on all networks?

3. You said that i can use the orange update on the HTC site, but htc's website state that the rom update doesn't include many of the operator settings. Now just to be on the safe side, is there any backup software i can use to allow me to backup everything on the phone before making any changes?

4. Lastly, what is this rooting / un-rooting and how important/useful is this to me?

thanks again

1. I have a Hero on Orange with the latest update and dont have any problems with dropped calls thought my girlfriends Tattoo has much better reception and therefore a better radio I suspect

2. Yes usually.

3. I used the the latest Orange ROM from HTCs website and it works perfectly. I have not had a single issue with my Orange Hero. If you install one of the Custom Recovery Images (I use Amon Ras) they usually have Nandroid BAckup included. But like MarkSpartk said you can just use the RUU from HTCs site and you will be back to a standard Orange Hero.

4. Rooting is basically giving you 'super user' permissions over the phone. It allows you to install more apps and make changes to the 'root' operating system. It comes with its own risks as it is possible for you delete essential files.

[Guest froggyoggy]

thank u very much hp1. Did you use the latest update from the HTC website on your phone? If so, does it get rid of any important settings, such as the internet settings etc?

Also another question i had in mind is regarding the memory. I believe HTC has 288 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM which sounds very low when compared to many other phones which come with like 8gb+ etc. Now if i used a large capacity microsd card, such as a 8gb or 16gb then will that make any difference to performance?

cheers

[Guest hp1]

thank u very much hp1. Did you use the latest update from the HTC website on your phone? If so, does it get rid of any important settings, such as the internet settings etc?

Also another question i had in mind is regarding the memory. I believe HTC has 288 MB RAM and 512 MB ROM which sounds very low when compared to many other phones which come with like 8gb+ etc. Now if i used a large capacity microsd card, such as a 8gb or 16gb then will that make any difference to performance?

cheers

The Updated ROMs on the HTC site include an Orange specific one so all the settings are retained.

The internal memory is low but as you mentioned a large SD card can be used. It is possible to install apps to the sd card ( i think the modaco custom rom includes this functionality) I think using a fast (class 6) SD card for the swap can improver performance a bit. Its not something I've tried. As I said above, i've stuck with the Orange ROMs and dont really have an issue with performance but I'm not trying to squeeze every last drop of speed out of my device either.

[Guest froggyoggy]

i've got my htc, wow, wot a phone and all that worry about updating rom...its not needed as this phone is already on the latest orange rom and is extremely FAST! :)

Now being a noob who's moving from nokia, i'm need some help with some of the basic questions:-

1. Is there a way i could transfer my calendar from nokia to htc?

2. Is there a way i could transfer my contacts from nokia to htc?

3. To avoid slowdowns, how do i exit applications rather than switch over?

4. If my phone has for example a stocks widget running and keeps saying "updating" is it connected to the net and using my web allowance? How can i tell how much mb/s have been used? (FYI, I have 500mb allowance every month)

5. How do i download apps, where is this market option and is it free?

thanks guys!

[Guest hp1]

i've got my htc, wow, wot a phone and all that worry about updating rom...its not needed as this phone is already on the latest orange rom and is extremely FAST! :D

Now being a noob who's moving from nokia, i'm need some help with some of the basic questions:-

1. Is there a way i could transfer my calendar from nokia to htc?

2. Is there a way i could transfer my contacts from nokia to htc?

3. To avoid slowdowns, how do i exit applications rather than switch over?

4. If my phone has for example a stocks widget running and keeps saying "updating" is it connected to the net and using my web allowance? How can i tell how much mb/s have been used? (FYI, I have 500mb allowance every month)

5. How do i download apps, where is this market option and is it free?

thanks guys!

1 & 2. THe best way to do this would be to use your Nokia software (i've never owned a Nokia) to export your contacts and calander as .CSV files. Create a google account and import those two files into your google calander and google contacts, online using a web browser. Reset our phone to Factory Settings (or do a hard reset) and when you're asked to enter your google account details. Do so and when your phone synchronises for the first time all your contacts and calander will be downloaded to your phone.

3. Some apps have exit buttons, some dont. If you press and hold the Home button you can see the last 6 applications used which, if i'm correct, remain running in memory. When you open or use a seventh one app closes and drops off the list. Like you i was a bit concerned about this when I first got the phone. But to be honest I've not had any real slowdown issues except when I loaded the Peep widget onto one of the homescreens. There are apps such as taskiller that will do the job but my advice is to just use the phone for a while and see if you have any probs with slowodwn or lag.

4. If you have widgets such as Peep, or facebook, weather etc loaded and they are updating then yes they are using your data allowance but for these apps the data being used is tiny. I also have the Orange 500mb allowance and I browse loadeds, downlaod emails with attachements, stream the odd video etc and i've never once gone over my 500mb limit. There are probably some apps that will measure your usage but Orange will also let you know if you go over.

5. On any of the homescreens if you hit the little up arrow in the lower left hand corner the you get to the All Programs list. The market is in here. Tap on it and you'll get to the market where you can search or browse by category. I have heard that sometimes connection can be difficult if you havent entered your google account details as soon as you switch the phone on for the first time but if you do a reset (as noted in 1&2 above) you should be ok.

Good Luck and enjoy the phone. :)

[Guest froggyoggy]

thanks for that info hp1 mate.

1. I've managed to hard-reset and transfer the contacts to the PEOPLE option and they all are there, but i want to add some of them to my favourites. However when i access favourites and it allows you to search, but this search facility is blank and won't allow me to add any, so wot do i do here? Could it be that the CSV file is not correct?

2. Thats brilliant advice mate...i never knew you have to hold down the key.

3. I've followed your advice and removed twitter, facebook etc.

4. Found it, thank u :)

5. What can i do about protecting the screen and phone?

6. The reception is only 1-2 bars on orange on this phone, yet the older phone has full 6 bars

PS...i really could do with sorting this contact list problem out as i'm tearing my heair out.

Tha

[Guest poozer]

thanks for that info hp1 mate.

1. I've managed to hard-reset and transfer the contacts to the PEOPLE option and they all are there, but i want to add some of them to my favourites. However when i access favourites and it allows you to search, but this search facility is blank and won't allow me to add any, so wot do i do here? Could it be that the CSV file is not correct?

2. Thats brilliant advice mate...i never knew you have to hold down the key.

3. I've followed your advice and removed twitter, facebook etc.

4. Found it, thank u :)

5. What can i do about protecting the screen and phone?

6. The reception is only 1-2 bars on orange on this phone, yet the older phone has full 6 bars

PS...i really could do with sorting this contact list problem out as i'm tearing my heair out.

Tha

you should google it....yourself~

http://www.google.com/mobile/products/sync...l#p=nokia_smart

5. Hold it tightly...

6. Try different radio setting and switching 3G / 2G to figure it out

[Guest poozer]

3. Some apps have exit buttons, some dont. If you press and hold the Home button you can see the last 6 applications used which, if i'm correct, remain running in memory. When you open or use a seventh one app closes and drops off the list. Like you i was a bit concerned about this when I first got the phone. But to be honest I've not had any real slowdown issues except when I loaded the Peep widget onto one of the homescreens. There are apps such as taskiller that will do the job but my advice is to just use the phone for a while and see if you have any probs with slowodwn or lag.

the list represents the last 6 applications have been recently open, not exactly still running in memory, the kernel will kill the idle applications when insufficient free ram is acquired by a new running app. Theoretically, somehow the system would either run more than 6 or less.

[Guest froggyoggy]

hi m8,

your right in saying that my disabling the 3g, the signal goes up, albiet very slightly.

i've realised the problem ...my contacts.csv file is messed up, so the numbers are stored in the "General Notes" column instead. How can i fix this? Can someone pls give me a screenshot of what the CSV should look like?

Lastly, can you recommend any application which can replace the current dialer as i don't like it...i want a very simple dialer like on my nokia, but also want to very quickly be able to find contacts if i need to.

[Guest hp1]

Your contacts problem is familiar. I think I imported the csv into outlook and then exported again from there as a csv. For some reason the LG software we used did the same as you. Sticking random data in the notes field.