Comments on: Mobile Tech Minutes — Palm Pre vs. HTC Hero on Video

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:23:11 +0000

I am also VERY interested in answers to these questions. Great questions. I have been laboring over the decision between the pre and Hero and am still undecided. My mind changes from one to the other like the wind :)

My big questions:
- comparison of music player
- image quality (i believe from a resolution standpoint the pre is much better)
- virtual vs. physical keyboard
- worthwhile apps (pre seems to have polished apps while android app possibilities are endless)
- layered contacts
- integration of google calendar (my wife has the pre and it is the first phone for us that seems to do a nice job of REALLY synching our entire family calendar
- messaging interface

Thanks!

Steve

By: pamma

pamma — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:19:42 +0000

How do these phones work/sync with macs and mac apps like calendar and address book?

By: James

James — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:21:24 +0000

I just bought a pre after going in for the second time to compare the pre and hero. I was impressed with the hero and although it was a bit difficult to use at first, but I am sure once you set it up it would be very easy to use. I am coming from a blackberry curve so I was very hesitant about switching to a virtual keyboard. I actually really like the keyboard on the pre, but the virtual keyboard available in a patch for the pre is basically useless, which I was hoping to use when in landscape mode. The battery on the pre is my biggest disappointment. I knew from reviews that it was bad, but it hasn’t even lasted a full day which is all that I require. I have done things like shutoff gps, changed e-mail pushing times, etc. and I will see how it goes. Also, I don’t care about the amount of apps, but I didn’t find the available apps to be of that great of quality. My main questions are: how is the keyboard on the hero? Do you get used to it? How is the battery on the hero? Significantly better than the pre? And, how is the quality of the apps available for the hero? Thank you.

By: Jenn

Jenn — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:34:09 +0000

Thanks for the video – you do a great job showing the different interfaces. What I’d also like to see or hear, are things like: comparing ringtone volume, giving an opinion on in-call volume, speakerphone volume, ease of use of Android market vs. Palm market, differences in vibration strength, battery life. I am finding it difficult to find reviews that compare the more standard phone features, as opposed to the smartphone features. I currently have the Hero and I’ve been dissatisfied with the more straight-out phone features – like the inconsistent alarm. Hopefully they will fix that particular issue in an update, but when you only get 30 days to evaluate a phone, it’s nice to know how the very basic features of the phone work before buying.

By: Glen H.

Glen H. — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:37:40 +0000

I just bought the Hero but I don’t like typing on the virtual keyboard which seems that the letters are too small and often types the neighboring letter. Do you know any add-ons that will improve the typing experience for the Hero?

By: NeCe

NeCe — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:44:54 +0000

Yeap Same eason I returned Mine for the HERO And I Love the Hero…

By: NeCe

NeCe — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:43:09 +0000

I Had the Pre at Fist and traded it in for the HTC Hero I Loved the Pre dont get me wrong I Just did’nt like the slideup keyboard I downloaded th on screen-keyboard that did not work correctly…Over all the Pre is a great phone but the Hero got it beat…And yes u can still control the music player when the screeen lock…

By: Mike Cane

Mike Cane — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:21:40 +0000

Acer Liquid phone = drool.

By: djmarz2009

djmarz2009 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 07:16:00 +0000

Just want to say that the Palm Pre is ok.. nice pics, smooth feel to it. Love that it has a pull out qwerty keyboard. However I had to return it.. now Im looking at the Hero. Here’s the reason why I couldnt keep it any longer;
*Cant forward texts
*Short term battery Life
*Keyboard is flimsy
*No video recorder
Little things I expect in a high priced phone..

By: schlock

schlock — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:56:59 +0000

good review. however, you need to throw some homebrews and get some tweaks on there. it improves the pre a thousand fold. ps go with the 4×4 icons on the home page

By: vara411

vara411 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:20:23 +0000

James! Just watched your video… what happened to all of the homebrew apps you had installed? Your launcher is lookin’ thin… ;)

By: vara411

vara411 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:11:05 +0000

Palm Pre also has a glowing LED notification for incoming messages. It currently has to be enabled via a tweak, but I’m sure it will be stock very soon.

By: vara411

vara411 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:10:06 +0000

Come on… TEN?!!!

Forgive me for being skeptical but whenever I read these types of posts I instantly suspect fanboy-ism.

My Palm Pre has been rock-solid since launch. I’ve babied it, but still managed to drop it twice. Still works like a champ.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:17:44 +0000

I have a couple of questions. I bought the Pre 5 days ago and still have time to return it for the Hero if I discover I like that better. That said the Pre is growing on me. Especially after adding homebrew apps, tweaks and the virtual keyboard to it. I also like the fact that it syncs to iTunes since I’m a long time iTunes user.
However I’m still keeping the Hero on my radar. I have a couple questions about the hero

1. When playing music on the Hero and the screen locks, is there a little controller that pops up that lets you pause and advance tracks even without unlocking the screen? I noticed the Pre does this and I really like it. I’m planning to replace my iPod with either of these phones so music/podcast playback is very important.

2. I know the hero comes with video recording out of the box. But the resolution is QVGA which is nothing to write home about. At that resolution I may not even bother with it. Currently the Pre doesn’t have video recording but Palm promises to add this feature. Being that the hardware is similar to an iPhone, my assumption is that Palm will add VGA (640×480) resolution video recording. Are there any plans or efforts in progress to improve the video recording of the Hero?

3. I’m concerned about the SenseUI. I love the way it looks, but being that it’s not Android standard, does this cause any conflict? I assume that many of the 10,000 Android apps don’t match the slick SenseUI look.

4. Are there any methods for showing your currently running applications and closing them to free up hardware resources? I’d hate to not know I still have something running and it’s slowing down my phone while trying to do something else.

5. I’ve heard something about the Palm Pre not currently using its GPU in the phone. That once enable this should speed up graphics. I really don’t know anything about this, do you? Is this something to keep in mind when picking either of these phones. As in will Palm one day just turn it on and blow away the performance of the Hero? I know the Pre has a faster CPU to begin with.

I’d be very interested in knowing some of these answers. I still have time to switch phones and the hero does looks really nice. But the more I use the Pre I’m noticing a lot of little polished things it does that are nice to have. I’m a little worried the Hero is more like a Linux desktop installation where it might be able to technically do more, but requires convoluted methods to do it. In other words a hacker phone for tech geeks rather then a polished phone for regular joes who are looking for a less expensive iPhone alternative.

By: Kevin C. Tofel

Kevin C. Tofel — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:22:03 +0000

bulls96, there’s a huge difference between the browser zoom on the Pre vs Android. A double-tap on the Pre’s browser does’t reformat it to fit nicely on your screen. It currently simply zooms to fit it on your screen. That’s far different than on the Android browser now — it zooms and reflows text, which is more advanced and usable. If you pinch zoom on the Pre, you can’t always read all of the text because it doesn’t reflow, in which case, you need to scroll. On Android it will automatically reflow so there’s no horizontal scrolling. Similar, but *very* different functionality.

By: James Kendrick

James Kendrick — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:43:53 +0000

I haven’t had any problems with the Pre I own. That said, the Hero does feel more solidly built and shows typical HTC quality.