Hero killer?

[Guest]

I'm on a 24 month contract with T-Mobile and I'm only 3 months into it so I'm kind of pissed off there is a replacement so quickly. Especially if HTC decide not to release 2.1 and the phone has to endure cupcake for the entire contract.

I noticed the Nexus One, HTC Legend and HTC Desire as being the likely successors for the Hero.

Its a pity that HTC don't just upgrade the boards in the phones so its a drop in replacement part for the Hero. Keep the camera, case, screen and buttons and have a new phone without the hassle of upgrading the whole phone and do a bit for the planet at the same time.

[Guest Carl_Brummy]

I'm on a 24 month contract with T-Mobile and I'm only 3 months into it so I'm kind of pissed off there is a replacement so quickly. Especially if HTC decide not to release 2.1 and the phone has to endure cupcake for the entire contract.

I noticed the Nexus One, HTC Legend and HTC Desire as being the likely successors for the Hero.

Its a pity that HTC don't just upgrade the boards in the phones so its a drop in replacement part for the Hero. Keep the camera, case, screen and buttons and have a new phone without the hassle of upgrading the whole phone and do a bit for the planet at the same time.

I believe the Legend is the direct replacement as this has the same hardware but a 600Mhz processor instead of 528Mhz. It also has an optical 'mouse' instead of the trackball. It also appears to have slightly more memory...although I may be wrong on that one. The desire is essentially the HTC own brand nexus one, but with Sense UI over the top of 2.1 android.

Carl.

[Guest]

In 21 months when your contract is up the Desire, Legend and Nexus One will have surely been replaced.

It's the way things work, there's no way to not have your phone go out of date. Best not worry about it, Hero is a great phone, enjoy it.

[Guest Dr. dre]

It's the way things work, there's no way to not have your phone go out of date. Best not worry about it, Hero is a great phone, enjoy it.

+1

I totally agree with him.

I'll suggest that just wait for HTC to take out the Hero 2.1 ROM (official) and you'll be good to go with the Hero.

Edited March 8, 2010 by Dr. dre

[Guest volatile_ink]

What I can't wait for is the successor to what ever will be out in 20 months.... when I can upgrade <_<

[Guest jasonsutcliffe]

I have to wait a year. May buy myself early if I'm getting itchy fingers to try something new. I can then sell my Hero to fund the early contract change. Just think how good the new phone will be in a years time, going off how many great phones have been released not too long after the Hero. The Hero is still a great phone, I'm enjoying it, more so now I have a 2.1 ROM running

[Guest FunkTrooper]

I'm perfectly satisfied now with my 2.1 Hero. Although a Nexus One spec phone would be nice, it's not that much different. And all the same software runs on 2.1 Hero. And all the lag that was so abundant in 1.5 is well and truly dealt with now. It's wonderful.

[Guest zorm]

That's how it goes with Tech. Believe me, I know how you feel: I've only had my Hero a month. Part of me wishes I'd waited for the Desire, but... even if I hadn't missed out by a couple of months, it would have been only another 3 to 6 months before something better did turn up. If you want some consolation, because Hero's been around that much longer it's been in the hands of hackers long enough that we have all the richness of options MoDaCo & the like gives us <_<

[Guest]

I'm kind of hoping that when my contract runs out the replacement phone will have a processor that rivals a desktop machine with a gig or so memory and can take the SDXC expansion towards the 4TB memory card direction. A built in projector would be a nice feature and so would some sort of light for the camera.

The processor in the Nexus runs twice the speed of the Hero, so maybe in a couple of years the processor will be at that level.

Given a built-in projector, bluetooth printer, keyboard and mouse, you have no need for a desktop or laptop.

[Guest Soaa-]

The processor in the Nexus runs twice the speed of the Hero, so maybe in a couple of years the processor will be at that level.

Considering it's a superscalar Cortex A8, it's actually about four times faster than the Hero's.

[Guest trstn]

It's the way things work, there's no way to not have your phone go out of date.

There is though: buy the handset sim free. It may cost more initially, but over time it always works out cheaper (and more convenient) than getting locked into two year contracts.

You make your choices with handsets, always have. Either you pay full price (in the hero's case £400) and you're free to use it on any network you choose, however you choose, and outside of a contract - and buy/replace it as and when you want - or you get the handset subsidised from your chosen carrier and get locked into a two year contract whilst they try and make money out of you.

SIM free's more upfront, but you get way more flexibility, and you end up paying less over the same time frame than you would if you took the discount and contract, and you don't ever have to put up with daft firmware modifications from carriers. It's the way forward.

Edited March 10, 2010 by trstn

[Guest masterpfa]

There is though: buy the handset sim free. It may cost more initially, but over time it always works out cheaper (and more convenient) than getting locked into two year contracts.

You make your choices with handsets, always have. Either you pay full price (in the hero's case £400) and you're free to use it on any network you choose, however you choose, and outside of a contract - and buy/replace it as and when you want - or you get the handset subsidised from your chosen carrier and get locked into a two year contract whilst they try and make money out of you.

SIM free's more upfront, but you get way more flexibility, and you end up paying less over the same time frame than you would if you took the discount and contract, and you don't ever have to put up with daft firmware modifications from carriers. It's the way forward.

I would have to agree, of course, it is always the initial outlay that puts me off, I just like to kid myself that when I do get an upgrade to the latest phone, because of my phone usage, I always get the upgrade for "free", yes I also kid myself about the number of minutes I use and it being worth it etc. etc.

Luckily I have managed to get away with the 18mth contracts we still have here in the UK, so not always so bad. OK what lovelies will they have by Nov 2010?

Snapdragon 1.5Mhz, 1024 RAM/ROM, HDMI out? <_<

Hero it is for the next 7 mths with 2.1 due hopefully by end of April at the latest, MCR 4.0, that will do me for now :mellow:

[Guest dwattsy21]

I think when the HTC desire comes out, it is going to blow away everything else. The specs look amazing, and it will be widely available in stores. I think it will be the biggest phone around, and more people will then go to android over the iphone

[Guest Mike Beecham]

I've had to discipline myself to enjoy what I have. I've been in IT for over 10 years, and I'm very much a techno geek. However, with the speed that all technology is updating, evolving and becoming better, it's simply impossible to keep up with it. The case is very much that your new handsets are becoming old tech within 6months to a year.

Despite this, I spent out on a new HTC Hero in September, on a 2 year contract. What I've discovered is because Android is such bleeding edge tech, there's no way I can have everything I want on it. So...I've just got it set up the way I need it...podcasts, emails, sms, etc and I'm happy with it. Since 3.2B5 came out there's no lag issues and it pretty much functions the way it's supposed to.

The only issue I have now is that more and more app creators are not creating apps cross-version, opting for the 1.6+ versions. This, unfortunately, leaves 1.5 users in the dirt for a little while until the magical fairycorn of narnia release the fabled 2.1 update to the HTC Hero. Until then, I choose not to think about 2.1 because it would annoy me too much <_<

Edited March 10, 2010 by Mike Beecham

[Guest h00pyfr00d]

I bought an Omnia HD on a 12 month contract (£45pm) then swapped it with a mate for the HTC Hero a few months later, phoned orange to drop my tariff down to (£35pm) and now I'm on month 11 so just pre-ordered my HTC Desire on T-Mobile on an 18 monther for £30 a month and free handset.

Chuffed.

[Guest irishandrew]

Yep, at the moment I'm toying with the idea of getting the desire SIM free. I bought my hero out of contract, so I've been rolling over on my contract on a month by month basis with Vodafone - so can technically upgrade at any time. Just depends on the ultimate price of the contracts for me however. As depending on options it's not *always* cheaper to by SIM free.

(NB This is all based on the current vodafone plans and the current Devicewire price of the Desire rounded up to the nearest pound).

For example, right now I'm paying 40/month for 600mins, unlimited text (3000) and 500mb "unlimited" internet, including the Vodafone passport and all VAT.

I imagine getting a desire from vodafone (should they definitely offer it) will have me getting a few more minutes but otherwise a similar price for 18 months (lets say £35 to be conservative based on other high end HTC phones on voda etc.) based on what they are offering at the moment;

• £40/month 600mins unlim texts 1GB net (+wifi) 18 months = £720
  
• £35/month 600mins unlim texts 500mb net 18 months = £630
  
  
  So that's at least £630 over 18 months (providing phone is subsidised to £0 with the contract).
  
  If I however change to a sim only plan, I can get a
  • 12 month contract with 1GB web, unlimited/3000 texts and 900 mins for £25 = £300, plus cost of SIM Free Desire at Devicewire = £390
    

  So a total of £690. Given that's technically over 12 months, that equals about £57 a month - £17 more than I currently pay.

  If you add on the next 6 months of the 25/month (should it remain the same price) then you're looking at 780, or £43/month, or £8/month more expensive than going the carrier subsidised route.

  But in those phantom 6 months less time on contract, there is the potential to change to a lower tarrif although this will still always be extra on top of the original £690.

  [*]With the subsidised choice those 6 months are costing £210.

  [*]With the SIM only carrying on at the same price, those 6 months are costing £150 (on top of the overall total of the subsidised choice, therefore on top of that 210 already above)

  Equally I could be less greedy and looking at my current usage could get by on the £20/month with 500mb web, 3000 texts and 600 mins. That would top out at £630 too - equalling the hypothetical 18 month contract with the "free" phone. Still technically a bit more expensive given I would be paying over 12 months what I would pay over 18.

  I could always change my contract now, make a few months savings and wait for the desire or nexus one prices to drop, which would be more cost effective than waiting on a higher contract price in case the combination I am hoping for is offered...

  Also the unbranded SIM free Desire would be easier to sell on at the end than one with Vodafone branding on it, although there is no doubt that it would be unlocked ;-)

  So many choices... although right at this moment, at least with the newest phones, contracts although trapping do seem to offer a slightly cheaper route.

  -Andrew.

[Guest ZiCoN]

I believe the Legend is the direct replacement as this has the same hardware but a 600Mhz processor instead of 528Mhz. It also has an optical 'mouse' instead of the trackball. It also appears to have slightly more memory...although I may be wrong on that one. The desire is essentially the HTC own brand nexus one, but with Sense UI over the top of 2.1 android.

Carl.

+1 here... Legend has 384 megs of ram instead of the 288 megs. But I too believe that HTC has released this as a direct successor

[Guest]

I wonder if Autokiller et al has the effect of giving our Heroes the equivalent performance of that bump in specs.

It does seem to be such a small increment to increase things by, processor that runs 50hz faster and an extra 96MB of RAM. I can't believe that this stuff is so expensive that if they'd pushed the specs a little more then the price would have had to be bumped signficantly.

I saw someone post ages ago about underpowered stuff and a lack of RAM and I have to say that the Legend seems pretty half hearted to me.

Edited March 10, 2010 by Guest