SlashGear JP
if you want a good camera phone youre better off getting a samsung memoir, 8 mp camera
HTC Hero review
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Before you return the Hero, gotofritz, it might be worth waiting for HTC’s promised firmware update. Improved camera performance is tipped to be included (as well as touch-focus), and that may address some of your complaints. I agree, though, that the cameras on recent HTC handsets have been outperformed by the competition; in fact it’s something HTC themselves agree.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Thanks for the tip, I may just do that
Posted 6 months ago # -
Peter
MemberHI Chris, thanks for the review.
I got my here in July, and found a lot of it “made sense” I discovered a lot of the features as I was going along. Two questions.
1. BBC iplayer; I can’t get this to work; I’ve checked other discussion on Android sites, and they suggested it’s not ready yet; usually HTC Real Player recognises stuff and launches immediately, but the bbc site directed me to download a player; and given that I’m not very “tecchy” didn’t want to download “the wrong thing” (suggested different players for a linux platform)
2. Email; HELP! ;) My email goes via POP3 to my home computer in Outlook; I’ve set up my HTC to receive email – and it remains on server, so that when at home it goes to my outlook. I can’t find a way of synching via outlook to my hero; and asked HTC and they said it’s not available yet. The answer may lie in “gmail” or similar – but I’m not sure whether to “stick” with my current set up (not ideal) or change over to gmail – if that will sych automatically with push (I only half understand what I’m writing here btw!)
Otherwise, I LOVE MY HERO, I seem to discover new things daily, which is pleasing; although agree that the same views for web browsing should be there for google maps; I’d go further and say it should for Quickoffice too…
Cheers
Peter
Posted 6 months ago # -
Hi Peter,
It sounds like you’re trying to visit iPlayer via the Hero’s browser; a much easier way is to download the beebPlayer app from the Android Market. It’s free and works over both WiFi and 3G connections, and offers the same access to the BBC’s online archives as their desktop version does, but in a much more mobile-friendly way.
As for email, you’ll have issues if you’re downloading your messages to your home computer; there’s no straightforward way to sync them with the Hero (at least not without third party software, and if there is such a title then I’m not sure what it is). An alternative would be to set your home computer to leave the email on the server and just download a copy; then the mail would always be online ready for the Hero to check too. You could keep doing that with POP. However, it depends on how much server space for messages your ISP provides.
Gmail is certainly a more streamlined way of dealing with email on the Android platform, and while it’s not quite true “push” it’s better than what you’re using now. You could also set it to allow POP email access, so Outlook could continue to download a local copy for your computer; alternatively there’s IMAP, which is better than POP in that it maintains read-status of messages (e.g. if you read a message on your Hero then the message is marked as read both on Gmail’s online interface and, as long as you’re using IMAP in Outlook (and not POP) on your home computer too.
There’s plenty more help – and cleverer people than me who can guide you – over at the AndroidCommunity.com forums :)
Chris
Posted 6 months ago # -
Peter
MemberChris, thanks, I feel like a bit of a numpty; it was all so much easier when I was ten and had a Vic20, or was eight with my ZX81 with 16K rampack – although don’t wiggle it too much…
Will download beebplayer (when I can get market to work lol!) and Gmail sounds like the way forward, as you say better for Andriod; and I’ll look into IMAP as that looks promising.
Am getting myself to the Android forums; it’s just so much more complicated; perhaps my six year old god son can “fix” all of this for me…?
Best wishes
Peter
Posted 6 months ago # -
Peter, Gmail and IMAP work really well together, and Google have some straightforward tutorials and guides to get it all working. I think you’ll find it far preferable to POP.
As for the forums, everyone over there comes from different stages of proficiency, so don’t worry if you’re having to secretly text your godson for advice! We all learn the same way, after all :)
Chris
Posted 6 months ago # -
Thank you for the review. A little question :)
Does Hero have an analogue video/audio output through ExtUSB?Posted 5 months ago # -
Unfortunately not, Alexey; as far as I’m aware there’s no video-out from the Hero. ExtUSB does output stereo audio, I believe, though you’ll need one of HTC’s adapters – it’s not included in the box.
Posted 5 months ago # -
bgadget
MemberSllooooooooow! That’s my biggest issue with it. Also, this guy makes a couple good points: http://tomaszdzido.com/blog/ht.....-practice/
Posted 5 months ago # -
I just went to pick one of these up to replace my iPhone, but the Sprint store and Best Buy are both selling the Magic but calling it the Hero. What’s the deal with that? How do you get this phone?
Posted 5 months ago # -
It’s unlikely to have been the Magic, Greg – that’s not available on the Sprint network. The Sprint Hero looks different from the GSM model (pictured in this review); check out our Sprint Hero review for photos:
Posted 5 months ago # -
As a US Sprint customer, my options have been mostly limited to WinMobile, Blackberry, and Palm. Not interested in blackberry … although i currently own a Palm Centro … although it is a reasably good phone, i have not been suitably impressed with the OS or freeware apps . Yes i said it FREEWARE. There … WinMobile had the market cornered! My mogul was a wonderful little computer … despite the frequent need for soft resets … but a really cruddy phone. When i read about Android i got all excited … but … alas no phones on the Sprint network.
Enter the HERO …
My heart is all a twitter and anxiously awaiting Oct 11 … hoping to learn all i can about android before then … so i can get my little hands dirty!! Share your review with me at http://www.HTC-Hero.com a site for HTC Hero fans.
Posted 4 months ago # -
love.craig.owens
Memberhey. im really looking into getting a hero and just have afew questions:
1. the backround. am i able to use a picture i have taken with the camera, or put on the phone from my computer and set it as a “wallpaper” ?2. in here, you stated i could take a song on my media player and set it as a ringtone. i just want to be clear and ask how i would do that? are you saying i dont actually have to purchase ringtones? is there a way i could edit the song, so when my phone rang, it would play at a certain part?
great review. answering my questions would be greatly appreciated!
Posted 3 months ago #
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