yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Hero, G2 Touch General] foxmeister:
To be honest, I'm not sure I agree with this. The hardware is perfectly capable - you just need to realize that if you have a lot running, it will slow the phone down. Thus far though, from my perspective at least, lag has not been a particular issue - yes, it is there, but it is not ever present (at least for me) and even when it does occur is really is only a minor hiccup. I can happily run MyTracks when walking and surf the web at the same time, and then take a phone call, or do any number of other things, but I appreciate that if I want to do them all at one it is going to be slower.

The iPhone will rarely suffer this kind of issue all the while that Apple mandate that 3rd party applications can't multi-task. I understand their point regarding the user experience, but surely they could allow a user to override this via a system setting.

I get the Apple experience - I really do! I have an iMac and a MacBook, but I really don't like the restrictions they're placing on the iPhone and the App Store, plus I should be able to decide what applications I install on my device.

The problem with the iPhone IMHO, is not the hardware or the software, but the fact that Apple seem to be of the opinion that you don't own your phone, you've just leased it from them!

Regards,

Dave
[Hero, G2 Touch General] Ovek:
I used a iPhone as (and various other LG / Samsung dumb phones) my primary phone before I got my HTC Hero. I've been on the borderline weather to sell my HTC hero or not, I've decided not to for now... but it depends on what comes of any updates (if any).

At the end of the day - in my opinion - Android is as good as the iPhone software but only that 'as good' it does nothing better (and that's not saying much!) and I can see why some people comming from an iPhone might be disappointed... very disappointed.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] Ovek:
Yep... nothing quite like an arse in a black turtle neck jumper telling you what you can and can't do with a device that will cost you a grand in total is there ;)
[Hero, G2 Touch General] plbelanger:
Why would hero not get donut? Even if not officially released by HTC which would be odd, a 3rd party ROM will be released just like G1, Magic
[Hero, G2 Touch General] dondula:
Man this phone is just dropping the ball for me, I used it as an mp3 player tonight while I was at the gym and audio quality through the supplied headphones was not very good. There is no bass at all in the music and no option to adjust an equalizer, after a while the high treble and no bass started to give me a headache. Well I think this just pushed me to my answer, Hero is a sweet phone with incredible possibilities but I literally have a problem with 90% of the functions being inferior to iphone (other than phone freedom and customizations). It makes me sad because I was so excited for this phone and so bored with my iphone, but I just have to stick with what works the best. Hopefully these issues can get polished up real quick.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] Mansn:
Supplied headphones are always ****. I use my Grado SR80 with the Hero and think the device sounds excellent!
[Hero, G2 Touch General] oblika:
Well as for me I found an analogy with computer OS.

The iPhone is a Mac (in a smaller box). Those things that work, work ok. Some things are made in a different (sometimes frustrating) way and the guys at apple thing their platform is self sufficient. I have owned an iPhone for about a year and a half and it was not as good of a phone I would have expected.

On the other hand you have the Android platform (Hero!!!) which IS Linux. It's new, fresh and yeah, some things don't work that good (on hero that would be the laggy SenseUI which is HTC stuff) but these things get fixed on linux. I have seen how fast the Android platform develops and I am quit sure that these things can and will be fixed in the future releases. I has allways been like that with smartphones. The first version was laggy and slow but the (un)official firmware updates fixed that issue.

Personally I enjoy my Hero because it is a phone with unlimited potential.

So as I have seen that Linux can (and is) a good Win/Mac replacement, the Hero and Android made me see that Linux is also a good phone OS and a good WinMo/iPhoneOS replacement!

Enjoy with your hero!!!
[Hero, G2 Touch General] fuzzmo:
I understand what you're saying but the Diamond and the Xperia have very similar hardware and the same processor. All three have lag issues - and from my experience with the Diamond and Xperia these issues are from the get go i.e. I haven't even begun to start up apps etc. Even with cooked ROMs and using the fastest - the issues with responsiveness etc. are still there (in my experience anyway).

In terms of responsiveness the IPhone does seem to trump everyone at the moment. But please don't mistake me as an iPhone fanboy - the 3rd party multitasking (lack thereof) issue is annoying at times and the whole 'We dictate how you use your phone and what you can do with it' attitude really bugs me. But for now it is the best multifunction device on the market.

Given the way the devices work and knowing that Android / Window OS will be using a lot of apps at once then surely HTC needs to look at the internals and realise in order to get the best experience with the OS they need to bump up the hardware? Apple limit their OS but in doing so optimise everything to get the best user experience possible. That in my mind is a touch smarter and for all the pros of Android they need to get the hardware to match. Once that happens then it will be game on iPhone...

In 12-18 months time if we can see the hardware bumps then Android will be a force (assuming current pace of development for OS and Apps) and it will almost certainly be my next device of choice - and I can't wait for that!......
[Hero, G2 Touch General] plbelanger:
iPhone is fluid because it doesn't multitask. You can jailbreak and install backgrounder to allow multitasking though it's quite dodgy. Let a couple things run on iPhone and you'll see the lag as my girlfriend has a jailbroken one.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] fuzzmo:
I think we're all agreed on that - however you can bet your bottom dollar that once (if??) Apple bring in full multitasking they will also ensure the hardware is bumped up as well - they know full well that what sells their products is user experience (as opposed to full on features) hence why they are such a great company for the Average Joe in the street.

HTC can deign great interfaces etc. but without acknowledging the hit it will have on the hardware it always seems that 'Great interface, but....' will follow each device around.

Apple will wait until the hardware that is capable has come down enough in price for them to start considering multitasking etc. HTC had an opportunity to make Hero a killer product but unfortunately as evidenced by some on this forum, too many 'but...' issues have followed it around....
[Hero, G2 Touch General] nutter:
I wouldnt go to an iphone at all, people say its more polished but iv seen them lag, crash, stutter and lock up - practically in day to day use they are not what the marketing hype makes them out to be. I think it comes down to applications in the end, over the past couple of weeks there are more and more going onto the android market, some good some not so good but the app developers are there and its definetly picking up pace.

I certainly dont dispute that the iphone is a nice piece of hardware and pretty solid software but Android has nice little touches too that I think people just over-look or take for granted. Just over the past week the majority of comments from my fellow mac fan boys have been, huh that apps free? what you can get a refund? cool mario / sonic; and thats better you can hold the delete key down.

I heard the iphone described as a "fad" and i think i agree that unless apple do something itll become a niche as most apple products have in the past... with only the most devoted willing to pay / use them. Google have gone the correct way by not limiting the os to a single handset and if you can draw a loose comparison against perhaps linux / windows this approach has won so far and probably will again.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] simcarloc:
I'm sorry nutter, but that's nonsense. People keep saying on here that iphones also crash and stutter etc, but these cases are the exceptions. The iphone is by and large a stable phone to use day in day out. It's not just hype, put a hero next to an iphone, flick through the interfaces and you are reminded why the iphone is still the benchmark by which other phones are judged.

HTC products seem to always have the potential, but until such potential is realised through hardware that can deliver a fluid and dependable interface, people will not care - why should they? For most people phones are lifestyle aids not test-bed products. As for apps, a lot of the Android apps seem quite raw and geeky when compared to Apple ones - the games in particular. The same applies for Anroid in that the marketplace has potential but certainly isn't there yet.

For what it's worth I think the Hero is great and if managed properly (taskkiller etc), it is a dependable phone. However, although it pains me to admit it, the iphone is still top dog and by quite a considerable margin. Writing off the iphone as a fad is quite bold, especially when one considers the possible directions/innovations Apple have in store for the iphone.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] foxmeister:
Sorry but I have to disagree with your last statement - Apple are far from a great company for the Average Joe in the street.

I used to have a lot of time for Apple, back in the pre-Ipod days when they were the only realistic competition for Microsoft, but this company is taking a dark road these days IMO.

Apple produce some absolutely brilliant products - I love my iMac and my Macbook, but the degree of control that they think they should be able to exert on the products they produce *after* the consumer has purchased them leaves a very sour taste in my mouth and I think this is very bad for the average joe.

I'm not knocking the iPhone as it is another great product, and if you buy a Hero expecting an iPhone "experience" you are always going to be disappointed. Both phones have their flaws - it just so happens that for me the iPhones flaws are far greater than the Heros, but for others the opposite will be true.

Regards,

Dave
[Hero, G2 Touch General] :
You're kidding? Right? What Apple have done (and done it well) is to repackage existing technology for the masses. In fact they have done it so well it's forced the other manufacturers to up thier game when it comes to usability.

The last time they actually innovated something significant was probably the Apple Newton.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] fuzzmo:
Again i have to respectfully disagree - I think our conception on what the Average Joe wants is different here. Having had to support a lot of Average Joes and in the past trying to convert them into a different way of thinking I think that Apple has got it spot on for that market. Why? Simple it does just what Average Joe wants it to do.

They can read and respond to email - the web browsing experience is superb IMHO - They have all their music in an 'ipod' - they can watch their videos with no slowdowns in a well proportioned screen - they have a wealth of accessories, apps, and multimedia content available to them - They can manage everything in one place, iTunes (Ugh I hate iTunes but this is Average Joe we're talking about). - in short everything works, they don't have to think too much, and if they want something it's pretty well available.

This Average Joe I am talking about wants to be seen as Tech Savvy but is not - does not want to think too much about the Technology - Likes the 'Wow' factor - does not download divx movies etc. - has no issues of getting content from iTunes or elsewhere - does not push his technology to the limit and this does NOT care about the control that Apple exerts on him/her.

Of course in all the lists I have written there are many issues you could go into and I would probably agree - but for the Average Joe it isn't their concern. The Average Joe would not be on this forum that is for sure.

If by your statement that Apple isn't good for The Average Joe in terms of the control it exerts over its products, pricing, etc. then I wholeheartedly agree with you. Its just that the Average Joe on the whole doesn't think too much about those issues compared to you and me.....

Again I have to reiterate I am no iPhone fanboy - it's just (for me) the best device out there at the mo - although I really hope Android comes up with a killer device next year......
[Hero, G2 Touch General] foxmeister:
Yes, this is where I am coming from. The products themself are great, but the way the company is currently acting is definitely against the interests of the Average Joe - they just don't know it yet!

Regards,

Dave
[Hero, G2 Touch General] joemax:
I think you'll find Apple's market share on all fronts has steadily increased over the years whilst others have fallen. This is of course true for the profit they make each and every quarter too - one of very few companies still making vast wads of cash these days.

One key thing to remember regarding money... Apple owe not a bean to anyone having paid of their loans etc some years ago. They hire top people, buy companies, and technologies along with huge stocks of memory and LCD panels for cash, they need not finance anything.

Back on topic...

For me the iPhone is a remarkable achievement in UI design and the hardware is very beautiful to look at. Yes its hamstrung hardware wise (but getting there) and still relies on push to do pretend multitasking. But then most users (as said above) don't really care about this. Its a phone, an iPod, a gaming machine, web browser etc to them. And just works.

Personally the iPhone it too large to use as primarily a phone, its also very limited in use for me as it sits exclusively on O2 and I can only receive an signal on Orange or T-Mobile where I live and work from home.

If I lived in an area with O2 coverage I would probably have an iPhone... but then Nokia have always been my preferred vendor due to their camera and video quality. I would have gone Nokia N97, but TBH the Symbian touch UI is appalling. They lost their chance at something special by being hamstrung by backwards compatibility user experience wise.

The Hero to me represents the only (current) viable touch screen alternative to Apple with the added bonus that you can be a bit of a geek with Android if you want to be ;) Its also far more comfortable to hold IMHO and the screen is just about the right size for browsing and email.

The Market is getting more interesting as time progresses - still no where near as good as Apple's AppStore. Unfortunately many software developers see the massive interest in iPhone as their 'only' opportunity to sell their wares but are slowly coming round to Android as an additional outlet. Mind you, most of what's on both stores is pretty useless gimmicky crap.

Remember - iPod was and continues to be such a success as its sold as a solution and not just an MP3 / music player - iTunes for 85% of people is way more than adequate and allows purchasing and automatic updates without hassle.

Its the same story with iPhone - its a solution and all looked after by a very good client app on OS X and Windows - again iTunes for the majority of people is more than they need.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] dondula:
A lot of very good points and well said responses here. As much as it killed me to do I returned the Hero (for now) and went back to the iPhone. I'm pretty obsessed with new tech, but also need something that "just works" for me on a day to day basis (mainly in the areas of battery life, signal strength, and texting and UI responsivness). I'll be eagerly awaiting a "hero 2" or optimized roms, which can correct the main issues at hand with the phone. For now I guess its back to jailbreaking and playing Stick Wars :(
[Hero, G2 Touch General] mwatson:
The Hero is a great device. I held on and waited ages to get it throughout the release date push backs and finally it arrived, great!

It has the best UI i've seen, but for all the reason i've listed in this thread I felt a bit dissapointed, Youtube a bit jerky, infact all video playback not that smooth, poor camera and all the other annoying problems that you've probably read on this forum. I returned it yesterday and today went into an o2 shop and bought an iphone 3GS on PAYG, Installed redsn0w to jailbreak and Ultrasn0w to unlock. It only took 20 minutes.

Right now its syncing all my music and pictures whist connected to Vodafone. The iphone really shines on voda in comparrison to o2 which is probably the worst network in the UK to put the iphone on.

Anyway, I recon in the next 12 months HTC will sort out the hardware and really make android a winner. Until then the jailbroken and unlocked iphone is the winner for all things smartphone.

I'll miss being on xda devs. what am i gonna do for my geek fix now?
[Hero, G2 Touch General] Huey85:
Being an ex-iPhone user (both 2G and 3G), I have to say there are things about the iPhone I wish the Hero had, but also things I'm glad it doesn't have!

Some of the main things about the iPhone that I like more are:

- Less lag in UI and browser

- Better App Store

- Browser is certainly faster (also prefer how it loads up the view of the WHOLE page rather than zoomed in)

- Better YouTube app and overall video playback

- Keyboard is overall better (however, I can type just as fast on the Hero as I can on iPhone's keyboard - just less mistakes on the iPhone's)

- Capactive screen is much more sensitive (but the Hero's is okay, I don't have too many issues with it - a lot better than the resistive screen on my old Diamond)

- Better games (due to dedicated gfx processor); but then I'm starting to play games a lot less on mobiles

Some of the main things about the Hero that I like more are:

- Better looking and structured UI with very useful widgets

- Multitasking

- Better battery life (IMO) - also the fact that the battery is removable!

- Feels better in the hand than iPhone (especially with the teflon coating and curvature in the body)

- More compact (feels good in jeans pocket even with the jay-leno chin)

- More BUTTONS! (something I was really starting to miss, and the trackball is awesome!)

- Social networking integration (could be better but does very well for a starting point)

- More overall open O/S with not as many limitations as the iPhone's

- Camera is a lot better (apart from the 3G's better quality video recording)

- No need to use iTunes

- A phone that you can't see almost EVERYONE walking around with

I'm sure I have missed some other things out but these are the main pointers for me.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] jayjay:
I've had, jailbroken, unlocked and hackd a ton of iPhones from 2g to 3g. I tell everyone the iPhone is the best phone in the world today and I really believe that. But for anyone that is slightly "hacker-minded", it just doesn't deliver in the long run.

We also seem to forget that both the 2g and the 3g has had (and still have) massive stuttering (lagging!) problems. We complain about the heroe's lagging keyboard (haven't experienced that yet, fortunately), about the fluidness of the UI (switching desktops etc) and we forget these are all pretty much issues on the iPhone as well. I remember the huge amount of complaints about lagging SMS-listing, lagging contact listing and so forth on the iphone and I still see them on my iPhone today!

We've all seen programs refuse to start because of a lack of memory on the iPhone. Having to SHUT DOWN my IM-app to check my mail on the iPhone is just laughable! Who in their right mind would be ok with that? No one. We just choose to accept it, since it's all we have. My point is, the iPhone has many of the same problems we are now accusing the Hero of. Maybe not the 3GS in terms of lagging, but the inherent flaws are there in the OS.

My Hero is slightly laggy, but after reading xda, I tried removing anything that has to animate each time I swipe to a new desktop (the trademark clock on the home screen) and that made the whole experience a LOT better. I hear the new update will stop the clock from animating and honestly, that might be all that is needed to improve the experience to acceptable levels.

The iPhone just wasn't advanced enough for me anymore. I need real multitasking so that I can have irc open in a screen session, my facebook application checking what's going on and notifying me when something interesting happens, my 5 web browser windows, my IM and so fort running at the same time. I'll worry about the processes and close them as needed.

Right now the Hero is a step up for me, but I'd still recommend the iPhone to almost anyone else.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] Switchbitch:
Well said jayjay, agreed on all points.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] Huey85:
+1 for jayjay's comments. exactly how I felt when I had my iPhone(s) then transitioning to a better "open" and "professional" device.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] mrcrassic:
When I had an iPhone, I used Backgrounder for a while and had the same issues I experience with Windows Mobile. Battery drain, excessive heat and general sluggishness.

To make matters worse, iPhoneOS isn't designed for multitasking ("disabled" at the kernel level), which made it even more dodgy.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] cbanbury:
I did the same thing as you and don't regret it for a second. I may be slightly biased because I'm a Google veteran so having everything just sync with Google makes life so much easier.

In my opinion why the hero is better than iPhone:

1. Google!

2. Don't feel like I'm gona drop it all the time, I think the iPhone is designed on a bar of soap

3. Rubbish signal on 3GS

4. Poor sound volume on 3GS (you just can't hear it when you get a message)

5. More open/free customisation without having apple/o2 making you pay for things like tethering 8-) (yer I know you can get around it without paying but you shouldn't have to!)

Google + Linux + HTC, what more could a teckie ask for really?

Here's one I forgot, it don't explode in your face either (just ask the French)
[Hero, G2 Touch General] foxmeister:
Another interesting point.

http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/spotify-on-android-runs-in-the-background-do-you-care-2009098/

The interesting part is here:

I don't know if this is correct, but I presume it is because Apple only allows limited multitasking for its own applications, but it would certainly limit the useful of Spotify for me if I were an iPhone user.

Regards,

Dave
[Hero, G2 Touch General] darkriderz:
Well after the firmware update i think the Hero is back again... Well i still have iphone 3g and my Hero.. They cant be compared... but android is far better than win mobile and it's getting very close to apple interface... And will be better in 6 - 8 months time... And with such possibilities ahead.... :cool:
[Hero, G2 Touch General] paulrgod:
I had an original iphone and loved it, but i eventually got bored of the limitations of it. I then moved onto an HTC diamond and while it is occasionally slow loading programs and such i found it a joy.

So here i am with a Hero, i've had it a week now and i love it.

I think another aspect to consider when you put this alongside the iphone is the costs involved.

I picked up the Hero on Orange for free at £30 per month with 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 500mb Data usage.

Iphone (2G) costs at least £100 for a £30 per month contract with only 75 minutes & 125 texts!!

Coming from this angle theres no comparison in my eyes - the Hero wins hands down.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] barryallott:
The way I see it is this.

The iPhone 3G S has supior hardware, no question. but......... widgets....... can modify parts of the os...........

no contest.