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Android Hardware Thread - 2009 Edition

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800/1900 is AT&T if I recall correctly.

1 GB internal memory plus Android Market makes me very happy. Hopefully they get the firmware optimized to take advantage of that Snapdragon.
 
Would probably switch to T-mo for the Rachael (it's gonna be released as the X10..?) if I can't pull off my latest "MUST HAVE DROID" scheme. After previous experiences I'd really like a hardware keyboard and I am leaning toward preferring the unadulterated Google Experience devices more than the custom ones as well. But it is a beast of a phone and I may be totally unable to get the Droid for anything other than soul-selling prices, in which case I need to wait a year anyway and the X10 would probably be affordable by that point.
 
So I tested it out, and Tmo will let me out of my contract penalty-free if I show proof of employment where I'm relocating. I told them I was relocating to Dupree, SD. :lol So is the HTC Dragon slated for Sprint? If so, I'm gonna make the switch this week and get the Hero to tide me over until the Dragon.

I don't care about waiting for the Rachael anymore. Looks great, but it's too far off, and Tmo's coverage just isn't as good as Sprint's down here. No point in waiting all that time with service I'm not that happy with, just to get a phone that might cost me an appendage. PEACE.
 
Anyone with Tmo having network issues? I'm in LA and can't send texts. Voice and data are ok, but I can't get through to customer service. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the wildfires...

Edit: just saw a thread on the main page, appearently it's nation wide and possibly world wide... some people are withough voice...
 
El Papa said:
Anyone with Tmo having network issues? I'm in LA and can't send texts. Voice and data are ok, but I can't get through to customer service. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the wildfires...
Click to expand...
Nationwide outages. There's a thread about it. My SMS is still down, but I can make calls and my data works. Not sure if I can receive calls though. PEACE.
 
NomarTyme said:
Oh shit! TMo has the Sony Xperia? freaking nice.

I hope its around the $200 area... but it most likely $300.
Click to expand...

T-Mobile doesn't have it, it will just work on their network. Don't expect a subsidized price.
 
Been using the Hero for a few days now but I am going to have to return it to Sprint. I get good signal everywhere except my home and I dont have a house phone. I might go with Verizon. I really like what I am seeing with the Droid but I really dig the Sense UI of the Hero. Either I go with Droid with the better hardware and Android 2.0 or get the Eris(Hero) with the Sense UI. Man this is going to be kinda hard.
 
SSGMUN10000 said:
Been using the Hero for a few days now but I am going to have to return it to Sprint. I get good signal everywhere except my home and I dont have a house phone. I might go with Verizon. I really like what I am seeing with the Droid but I really dig the Sense UI of the Hero. Either I go with Droid with the better hardware and Android 2.0 or get the Eris(Hero) with the Sense UI. Man this is going to be kinda hard.
Click to expand...

did you enable roaming? if so, the hero should be able to hop on verizon's voice network if it's available at your home
 
Hmm..how do I enable roaming? I am looking through the phone right now and unable to find the option.

edit - i was able to find it but it shows its on automatic but I have never seen it hop onto verizons network. it is always showing 0-1 bars in my house.
 
jonnybryce said:
Is anyone with the Hero having the texting problems where you don't receive texts or they're heavily delayed?
Click to expand...
The only time I had that issue was when I went too crazy with a task killer and was probably closing system apps...it only happened within the first couple days I had the phone and hasn't happened since so I think that was the issue as I'm more careful with the task killer now.
 
I'm going to pick up the Droid for myself but I'm also thinking of picking up the Hero for my mum for xmas. Once I'd set it all up, it is a relatively user friendly phone?

She's not a phone novice, but she's not a power geek. I'm just slightly worried having never used an Android device before.
 
Dazzla said:
I'm going to pick up the Droid for myself but I'm also thinking of picking up the Hero for my mum for xmas. Once I'd set it all up, it is a relatively user friendly phone?

She's not a phone novice, but she's not a power geek. I'm just slightly worried having never used an Android device before.
Click to expand...
I'd just use the Droid for a bit and see what you think. Yes Sense UI is a bit different but as far as ease of use goes I can't imagine it's much different as far as user friendliness when compared to stock Android.
 
The problem I have is that I'll probably pick up the Hero before the Droid (UK). I was thinking of picking up a cheap second hand G1 and playing around with Android. Bad idea?
 
jonnybryce said:
Is anyone with the Hero having the texting problems where you don't receive texts or they're heavily delayed?
Click to expand...

I had some Facebook email notifications show up late but texts have always been spot on
 
I'm dangerously close to getting the Hero tomorrow, I just am a little concerned about the battery issue, apparently caused by texting, and the reports of delayed texting, even though people here don't have it.

I didn't originally love the Hero but it's grown on me.

Hm.
 
I just installed the latest custom rom from madado. Apparently with a new kernel by a user there (teknologist) it has enabled ext4 support.

I was skeptical on the effects of this but it does seem faster. The keyboard lags less (none at this point) and launching apps is somewhat faster.

I highly suggest installing it to anyone who has a Hero.

<3 <3 Hero.
 
zedge said:
Telus - HTC hero (First part of video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEUa-WgASrU&feature=player_embedded

Telus HSPA lineup

http://www.howardchui.com/2009/11/0...s-on-with-launch-phones-and-details-on-plans/
Click to expand...

Similar plans on Rogers cost quite a bit more. When I first talked to them it came to around $80 including GST. After some tweaking to the plan I got it to $70 including GST.

According to that site I can get a very comparable plan with Telus for only $50 sans GST. My current dataless plan is $50 with Rogers!

Don't want to make this a plan discussion thread but in my mind there is no discussion this is an obvious choice. Phone model considerations aside.

My only issue with the Hero is that I'd like a physical keyboard. I've asked before and I've heard and do believe that the touchscreen keyboard works very well.

What I'm wondering is if it would be suitable for typing lots of stuff like blog entries or a diary. Would that put too much stress on the screen?
 
The hero is the best phone I've ever had in my life. The sense ui is amazing. The wodgets are amazing. The browser? Like it better than the one on my iPhone. Every corner of thos device is awesme. the look really grew on me and I'm so happy I picked one up.

The little things, like the bookmark widget, all add up to an awesome experience. I love it...at first, coming from iphone i thought it had too many buttons or the screen was too small or the trackball served no purpose (its fun to use to wcroll your sense pages) but instead of waiting I bought it today and oh man its soooooo a keeper.

I mean you can use the actual facebook site quickly on this thing! Unbelievable.
 
Note to Self: Add Droid Eris to the OP

($99, coming out tomorrow, same specs as international Magic but with Sense UI.)
 
jonnybryce said:
The hero is the best phone I've ever had in my life. The sense ui is amazing. The wodgets are amazing. The browser? Like it better than the one on my iPhone. Every corner of thos device is awesme. the look really grew on me and I'm so happy I picked one up.

The little things, like the bookmark widget, all add up to an awesome experience. I love it...at first, coming from iphone i thought it had too many buttons or the screen was too small or the trackball served no purpose (its fun to use to wcroll your sense pages) but instead of waiting I bought it today and oh man its soooooo a keeper.

I mean you can use the actual facebook site quickly on this thing! Unbelievable.
Click to expand...

Dammit.. LOL

Making me want this more.. I stopped at a Telus store on the way home and played with one for a bit. Fucking loved it... Not sure if I should wait for Droid or go for it.. ahhh! :lol
 
Andrex said:
Note to Self: Add Droid Eris to the OP

($99, coming out tomorrow, same specs as international Magic but with Sense UI.)
Click to expand...
Can't wait for the unlock version, be more affordable than the Sony option.
 
jonnybryce said:
The hero is the best phone I've ever had in my life. The sense ui is amazing. The wodgets are amazing. The browser? Like it better than the one on my iPhone. Every corner of thos device is awesme. the look really grew on me and I'm so happy I picked one up.

The little things, like the bookmark widget, all add up to an awesome experience. I love it...at first, coming from iphone i thought it had too many buttons or the screen was too small or the trackball served no purpose (its fun to use to wcroll your sense pages) but instead of waiting I bought it today and oh man its soooooo a keeper.

I mean you can use the actual facebook site quickly on this thing! Unbelievable.
Click to expand...

one of us! one of us! heeheeheeheeheee
 
zedge said:
Dammit.. LOL

Making me want this more.. I stopped at a Telus store on the way home and played with one for a bit. Fucking loved it... Not sure if I should wait for Droid or go for it.. ahhh! :lol
Click to expand...

RileyFreeman and Mobile Ninjas confirmed that Telus has exclusivity over Droid in Canada. Will launch in Q1.
 
Guys.

Dude.

I just bit on this myself, before I get accused of scamming or whatever.

Looks like Simplexity (an online cell retailer) has licensed a number of affiliates to offer this insane deal on the Droid ($149.99 with a new plan... and apparently $179.99 for a contract extension which I told was impossible. Will report back on how this goes) NOT WELL AT ALL:

Take your pick:

http://www.droiddog.com/
http://www.wirefly.com/eCommerce/SpecialOffer.aspx?cid=34088_bf10cb7a84cd4385887e7b0aebd50991
 
http://gizmodo.com/5397215/giz-explains-android-and-how-it-will-take-over-the-world

500x_androids_taking_over.jpg


Gizmodo said:
This week we met Motorola's Droid, the first handset with Android 2.0. To an outsider, it just looks like another Google smartphone, but 2.0 is more than that: it's proof that Android is finally going to take over the world.
Click to expand...

Absolutely fantastic article that every smartphone fan - be they BlackBerry, iPhone, Android, or Palm - should read.
 
Got my Hero yesterday. Other than spending 40 minutes on the phone with customer service trying to get the phone activated, it's been great. This phone is definitely nicer than the myTouch. I love it and will wait for the Snapdragons to come to Sprint before I upgrade. I'm gonna root this phone for sure.

Sprint is great. I don't know what I was thinking with AT&T and T-Mobile, because their networks suck a fat one compared to Sprint. I have 3G pretty much everywhere, and great call quality. I'm locked in at a great price. PEACE.
 
http://phandroid.com/2009/11/06/adobe-launches-photoshop-android-application/

photoshop-mobile.jpg


Phandroid said:
Adobe is bringing a mobile version of their award winning software to Android Phones with Photoshop.com Mobile:

Transform photos with essential edits like crop, rotate and flip. Drag our finger across photos to adjust saturation and tint. Auto-upload and share your photos with a free Photoshop.com account. From Adobe, the makers of Photoshop. By downloading you are agreeing to the Terms of Use at www.photoshop.com/misc/terms.html​
Click to expand...

Very nice. On a related note I'm still cobbling the software thread together. It's actually annoying me I can't post stuff like this there yet.

SimleuqiR said:
Andrex, did you ever start an Android-Gaf-wave?
Click to expand...

On Google Wave? As far as I know, my account has not been approved for it yet.
 
Pimpwerx said:
Got my Hero yesterday. Other than spending 40 minutes on the phone with customer service trying to get the phone activated, it's been great. This phone is definitely nicer than the myTouch. I love it and will wait for the Snapdragons to come to Sprint before I upgrade. I'm gonna root this phone for sure.

Sprint is great. I don't know what I was thinking with AT&T and T-Mobile, because their networks suck a fat one compared to Sprint. I have 3G pretty much everywhere, and great call quality. I'm locked in at a great price. PEACE.
Click to expand...

How's the Web Browser?
 
DMczaf said:
How's the Web Browser?
Click to expand...

The web browser is awesome. It can be a bit choppy when initially loading a page, though not always, but then browsing becomes super smooth kinetic swiping.

I like it over the iPhone browser for a few reasons, one being the flash, another being that when I lift my finger from my swipe the page will keep going which gives me the option of how far I want to keep scrolling with fewer swipes, and also because the Hero browser wraps text at whatever zoom level you pick, unlike the iPhone where there is only 1 zoom level that will show all the text and after that if you zoom in the text doesn't reformat.

That's aside from the awesome visual bookmarks and bookmark widgets, plus the dedicated google search key...it really is the best web browsing experience I've had. Plus it's so fast thanks to Sprint.

Yeah, pinch to zoom isn't always as silky smooth as on iPhone...but everything else exceeds it in my most honest opinion.
 
How come the samsung moment didn't get its own official thread / is barely discussed in this thread?

That blue key looks stupid but other than that the phone looks fine in youtube videos and such - Is there something wrong with it? What other sprint phones would you recommend with a good keyboard? The slide out HTC Touch is super expensive and the pre's is just too small (in my opinion at least, from trying it out)
 
HamPster PamPster said:
How come the samsung moment didn't get its own official thread / is barely discussed in this thread?

That blue key looks stupid but other than that the phone looks fine in youtube videos and such - Is there something wrong with it? What other sprint phones would you recommend with a good keyboard? The slide out HTC Touch is super expensive and the pre's is just too small (in my opinion at least, from trying it out)
Click to expand...

The Samsung Moment is a good phone, but it wasn't hyped really by either Samsung or Sprint, nor does it really "stand out." It has an AMOLED screen, it has a keyboard, it has an 800 MHz processor - all really great specs. If you're on Sprint and need a keyboard on your smartphone, it's definitely the best option.
 
Yeah, I was excited for the Moment and when I used it all it did was make me realize I should take a better look at the Hero. It's very thick and brick feeling, and there's nothing new there. I like it's look though.
 
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