[Hero, G2 Touch General] quicksite:
What a fantastic review, thank you, dandv!

I think it is fair to assume that you must work for Google, because who else would have had this much experience already using the Nexus One -- especially this line:

By the way, is it okay for me to compliment Romania on having one of the most beautiful and charming women in the whole world? (Maria Popistasu)... I would trade 10,000 Nexus Ones, okay, 1 million Nexus Ones for a Maria. (Now I will get slammed by one of the two members within the 2 million registered XDA-developers who are women :) )

Really? wow, this was a major complaint by the Engadget people, that battery life was poor on the Nexus One, due to the power drawn for that screen and various connectivity to web issues, and live wallpaper etc. It's funny: I was comparing the reviews by Engadget and TechCrunch -- total opposites. But commenters at TechCrunch claimed "Engadget loves all things Apple and hates Android" while "TechCrunch hates Apple for withholding Google Voice on iPhone, and loves all things Android".. with users calling for a neutral review to split the tie. ( I also loved how one of the commenters at TechCrunch just decimated Walt Mossberg: "Ryan Sinn - January 6th, 2010 at 4:04 pm PST:

Walt Mossberg writes his tech reviews on a MacBook Pro while listening to his iTunes playlist via an iPod with his AppleTV recording the MacNeil Lehrer Newshour." ... This was in reply to another user comment who was paraphrasing uncle Walt:

--- anyway, back to YOUR review, dandv:

That IS pretty nifty on the Hero, but since this is my first Android phone, I don't really know what's SenseUI and what is raw Android. But let me ask this question: Surely some XDA-dev has extracted SenseUI and could create a ROM for Nexus One that installs it?

But I was asking if the HTC European release of the phone added SenseUI... since I read that it does include multi-touch gestures on the native Android apps and UI, but I have no idea if that is true or not. I read elsewhere that the USA model and the HTC Europe model is identical. Do you know? And more specifically, do you know if the European model includes T-Mobile USA 3G bands?

Re: "misplaced"... More and more I am just recognizing that on the resistive screens I have been used to on WindowsMobile phones, we are all used to being able to line up the top of the fingernail with the keys in order to get natural placement, but that on capacitive screens, the impact point of the finger to the screen is the bottom of the fingertip, which in itself is (using USA scale) 1/8" to 1/4" downward from the fingernail tip. So I have been advised by "experienced" Android users that the secret to typing on the soft keyboard is to tap slightly above the letters on-screen. But in fact that really is just a visual adjustment and the actual impact point of the finger is precisely on the soft target... ?

If I am correct, then it would be great if Android OS offered a user preference offset adjustment -- in the same way that Windows Mobile (yes, can you believe it, an actual compliment to Windows Mobile!) did a great job with its angle offset adjustment since people who are right handed are really naturally positioned with their hands to be "attacking" the soft keyboard at a slight diagonal angle from lower right and moving to the left.

But what do I know. YOU've used the Nexus One, I haven't. In fact I was really disappointed. Today I went to my T-Mobile store thinking they might have a demo Nexus One that customers could try out before purchasing from Google online... Nope. they said there is no way to try the phone first. You have to just buy it.

Yeah, so at your next Google team meeting, would you please tell the Android product dev team to take a cue from Motorola and provide the D-pad? :)

Wow, I never thought of that before, and I've never read that anywhere... I wish Google hadn't dumped the "chin" for their Nexus One, but given both USA carriers of the Hero, Verizon and Sprint, both dumped the chin, I have to believe that some of that influence came from Google itself -- and these weren't simply decisions made unilaterally by Sprint or Verizon.

Lame speaker as in "not what it SHOULD be" or "not as good as the Hero speakers (which I have been very impressed by). Do you have any idea what kind of usability studies Google Mountain View did to justify removing those keys? Why couldn't they have also been soft keys?

fyi, not sure how many people know about the company "SquareTrade" -- who provide alternative handset insurance, which includes accidental droppin g and I believe water damage. Way more reasonable in price than the plans that carriers offer. They "flatrate" iphones because of huge customer base, but it's a bit higher for other touchscreen phones. There's no way I would get a phone today without accidental dropping coverage, especially when it's reasonable.

I have to say, based on your review re battery life and the soft keys, I am very tempted to buy the Nexus One and commit to 2 years with T-Mobile. I've already been with them for 5 years and am reasonably happy. But I have questions, just for the heck of it:

(1) Since you're out there in Silicon Valley, and as I said, maybe even a Google employee by day, XDA-devs member by night, my guess is that a Nexus Two is already way into development? Just curious if anyone has any sixth sense about when Google's followup phone will be released?

(2) What is the market rate these days when selling a used Hero that's still under full warranty ( i think mine is 3 years, or at least 2 years for sure)? I purchased the european GSM version for $525, so what would be a price someone would be willing to pay for a used Hero? $400, $350 ?

Thanks so much for your review and full answers. I expected there would have been topics already here at XDA on this phone, but I didn't see any.