Guest hp1 Posted October 30, 2010 Report Posted October 30, 2010 I've had a Hero for about a year now and I absolutly love it. Its my first Android Phone (i've always been a HTC fan using Oranges SPVs with Windows Mobile for years) and have Paul's latest 2.1 ROM on it. However, I've got itchy fingers and want something with a more power that will be capable of running 2.3 or even 3.0 ( I hear 3.0 will have minimum specs!). I'm on sim only so wont have a contract to pay for this. Desires are going for about £250 - £280 on Ebay UK. I cant really afford a Desire HD and anyway it just feels that little bit too big for me anyway. Has anyone here moved from a Hero to a Desire? Any regrets? Any issues (I hear the screen aint great outdoors)?
Guest Anchor Man Posted October 30, 2010 Report Posted October 30, 2010 I'm in a very similar position. My Hero has been great (made all the better by Paul's ROM!), but I'm hankering for a bit more speed and the lower resolution of its screen can be a bit frustrating at times. I was pondering a Desire Z or Desire HD, but can get what I'm after from the Desire (with the added bonus of it costing fewer pennies). Plus, there's plenty of Desire ROM development for me to take advantage of as soon as I get my mits on it. I've ordered a SIM-free Desire from Amazon, which should be in my hands by Tuesday; after that I can attempt to give some feedback. I've had a Hero for about a year now and I absolutly love it. Its my first Android Phone (i've always been a HTC fan using Oranges SPVs with Windows Mobile for years) and have Paul's latest 2.1 ROM on it. However, I've got itchy fingers and want something with a more power that will be capable of running 2.3 or even 3.0 ( I hear 3.0 will have minimum specs!). I'm on sim only so wont have a contract to pay for this. Desires are going for about £250 - £280 on Ebay UK. I cant really afford a Desire HD and anyway it just feels that little bit too big for me anyway. Has anyone here moved from a Hero to a Desire? Any regrets? Any issues (I hear the screen aint great outdoors)?
Guest irishandrew Posted October 30, 2010 Report Posted October 30, 2010 I'm in a very similar position. My Hero has been great (made all the better by Paul's ROM!), but I'm hankering for a bit more speed and the lower resolution of its screen can be a bit frustrating at times. I was pondering a Desire Z or Desire HD, but can get what I'm after from the Desire (with the added bonus of it costing fewer pennies). Plus, there's plenty of Desire ROM development for me to take advantage of as soon as I get my mits on it. I've ordered a SIM-free Desire from Amazon, which should be in my hands by Tuesday; after that I can attempt to give some feedback. I upgraded from a Hero to a Desire last April, and have never owned a better phone. Before the hero I had been using WinMo devices for years (including a few HTC's), and the desire knocked the hero right out of the water. Paul's ROMs go a long way to keeping the phone fresh, just as they did on the Hero. I did play with the HD and Z at the HTCLON event a few weeks ago however, and if you can get a Z on contract I'd highly recommend it (or if you can afford it sim free). Sure it's a little thicker than the desire but not by much and feels great in the hand. I felt the HD was a tad large for comfortable pocketing (for me at least), but the Z was a nice evolution of the Desire/Nexus platform with the full qwerty keyboard (which I miss from my old TyTn II). Can't really go wrong with the desire though. I will say that if you are buying 2nd hand, try and get the AMOLED screen - I was tweaking a colleagues SLCD desire the other day and was very dissappointed in the brightness and colours. Cheers, Andrew.
Guest hp1 Posted October 30, 2010 Report Posted October 30, 2010 Anchor, look forward to hearing your feedback :) Irish, i thought all Desires came with AMOLED? Assumed it was standard hardware.... Re The QWERTY, I've never had a hardware QWERTY so its not something I'd miss on a normal Desire but i'll check it out. Thanks for the tips.
Guest bpivk Posted October 30, 2010 Report Posted October 30, 2010 Irish, i thought all Desires came with AMOLED? Assumed it was standard hardware.... The new Desires come with SLCD. I have compared the two and they both have some pluses an minuses. So if you're buying a new phone you'll get a SLCD one. Compare the both or look at some reviews and make up your mind and then go scout the internet for your new phone. :)
Guest irishandrew Posted October 31, 2010 Report Posted October 31, 2010 The new Desires come with SLCD. I have compared the two and they both have some pluses an minuses. So if you're buying a new phone you'll get a SLCD one. Compare the both or look at some reviews and make up your mind and then go scout the internet for your new phone. :) Agreed, I understand the SLCD Desires (it was a supply/demand/cost thing I believe) have slightly improved battery life? In fairness had I never used the AMOLED one I would be none the wiser - tis just that when I used the SLCD one it was a noticably different experience given my 7 months with the other. Can't beat the vibrancy of the screen on the AMOLED, for me at least! I agree with bpivk, try and get a handle on both versions if you're buying second hand and decide which suits you best. If you're going new it will indeed be SLCD. Cheers, Andrew.
Guest trstn Posted October 31, 2010 Report Posted October 31, 2010 I came to the desire from a hero, definitely a good upgrade but really, I'd hold out and get the Desire HD/Z. The Desire is great but with gingerbread coming I'd definitely look to get a phone that'll run that, Desire HD would be my first choice.
Guest Asselberghs Posted October 31, 2010 Report Posted October 31, 2010 I came to the desire from a hero, definitely a good upgrade but really, I'd hold out and get the Desire HD/Z. The Desire is great but with gingerbread coming I'd definitely look to get a phone that'll run that, Desire HD would be my first choice. Won´t Desire run Gingerbread (Android 2.3)?? I thought it would, and icecream or what the hell it was called (Android 3.0) was targeted for tablets am I wrong?
Guest bpivk Posted October 31, 2010 Report Posted October 31, 2010 (edited) Won´t Desire run Gingerbread (Android 2.3)?? I have read somewhere that Ginderbread should support the latest high end devices. The post was talking about nexus one but Desire is similar so it should support it as well. I don't remember where I've read it so don't take it for the truth because I can't confirm it. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I was wrong. Based on this and some other posts: Desire could definitely run it. But it hasn't been confirmed yet. Edited October 31, 2010 by bpivk
Guest hp1 Posted October 31, 2010 Report Posted October 31, 2010 I came to the desire from a hero, definitely a good upgrade but really, I'd hold out and get the Desire HD/Z. The Desire is great but with gingerbread coming I'd definitely look to get a phone that'll run that, Desire HD would be my first choice. But Desire and Desire HD both have 1Ghz processor, HD has a bit more ram and Desire Z only 800MHz Processor so i dont think either of those are any more capable of running Gingerbread than a Desire. HD is too big and I dont need a phone with Hardware keyboard. Desire is sitting in my price range, I know its by no means a 'new' phone but still a significant upgrade from a Hero.
Guest shokka9 Posted November 1, 2010 Report Posted November 1, 2010 Well, i had a Hero when they first came out.... Ending up selling it about 6 months ago. Just got a Desire 3/4 weeks ago. Totally 100% a worthy upgrade to the Hero. Its more of the same, but faster, and bigger screen (which the Hero lacked). Do it bro, you won't be disappointed, and the whole 'will it, won't it' scenario is just hearsay at the moment. Its a nice phone and does its job very well, i was immediately impressed with its performance. :)
Guest volatile_ink Posted November 1, 2010 Report Posted November 1, 2010 (edited) Yes. Had a Hero on 24-Month contract. After 12-Months got tired of using 1.5 when everyone else was rocking on 2.1/2.2. Sold mine on eBay for £150, bought a Desire for £250 (brand new, never used). So technically got a Desire for £100. :) Don't really care about the Desire HD or Nexus 2 that are coming out... specs are pretty much the same and saved myself some dough buying a Desire. I'd get a standard Desire if I were you, don't need a flat-panel TV in your pocket and slide-out keyboards are so TyTN 2. :) I hear the screen aint great outdoors? Don't worry about that, as soon as you upgrade you'll spend all your time in your bedroom complaining about the lack of updates and will never see sunlight again! Edited November 1, 2010 by volatile_ink
Guest hp1 Posted November 1, 2010 Report Posted November 1, 2010 Hey thanks all you ex Hero owners for your feedback. Think I'm 99% sold, just need to keep an eye on ebay now.
Guest Anchor Man Posted November 4, 2010 Report Posted November 4, 2010 Having had my Desire for a couple of days now I can only reiterate what others have said: you won't be disappointed with the upgrade! I'm very happy with mine. Rooting was hassle free thanks to unrevoked and then I slapped on a custom version of Paul's r9 Froyo-based ROM... happy days! :) The only slight downer seems to be the battery life, but then I suppose it was never going to be comparable to the Hero given the relative screen size. Batteries usually take a few cycles to reach their optimum and I am already seeing some improvement second time round so hopefully that trend will continue for the next few charges. Plus, now it's setup how I want I shan't be using it as intensely as I was over the first day or so. Hey thanks all you ex Hero owners for your feedback. Think I'm 99% sold, just need to keep an eye on ebay now.
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