[ILUG] [OT] HTC Hero / Android

[John P. Looney]

On Thu, Mar 18, 2010 at 12:49 AM, Ciaran Johnston <ciaran at ecohost.coop>wrote:

> On Wednesday 17 March 2010 23:58:06 Gary Boland wrote:
> > +1 on the nexus, its a great every day phone and indeed mp3 player (32gb
> > micro sd cards now available)
>
> The OP was looking for something to replace his iphone, with a price plan
> lower than his current one. The Hero was available for €80. How does a €700
> phone - with no contract - fit that criteria? Or are they being offered on
> contract in Ireland now?
>

 Well, €700 seems a crazy price. Last time I was in California, I ordered a
Nexus One for a friend, had it delivered inside of 24 hours so I could bring
it back to me. It came to €440 including the awesome charging
bluetooth/audio dock.


> My guess is that those raving about them (John, Gary) work for Google and
> therefore got them free, or at a much reduced price. In the real world the
> hero is (or was a couple of months ago, I haven't looked recently) one of
> the
> more reasonable options for a low-cost but functional Android phone on
> contract in Ireland.
>

 I've long suspected that the mobile phone market in Ireland is seriously
broken. Check out O2's amusing tethering thing with the iPhone (oooh, you
need 2 data plans, one for applications, one for tethering!), and how they
make you beg to get your phone unlocked. I've no idea why so few HTC phones
are available here, subsidized by the carriers. Maybe just lack of
competition.

If cost is not a factor, then there's a plethora of options out there for
> Android / Linux smartphones that are as good as or better than the Nexus
> One -
> Sony Ericsson's xperia x10 will be out soon as well, and there's always
> Nokia's N900 which I have heard nothing but good stuff about.
>

 Well, lets not talk about phones which aren't out yet anywhere in the world
just yet. The N900 is nice, but serves a different purpose. HTC got it
*almost* perfect with the N1, and the software is pretty good too.

 My main thrust is 'Hero is OK, but it's three year old hardware with a nice
screen'. The HTC Tattoo is a seriously crippled Android phone - loads of
apps won't work, because people assumed they'd keep making the screens have
higher res than the G1, not smaller.

 If you want to wait for 'the ultimate phone', I've a feeling we'll be
seeing some Tegra2 based systems Real Soon Now. But if you want the best
phone without a hardware keyboard right now, the Nexus is it (otherwise, the
Droid - avoid the European version, the Milestone, as it's not user
flashable, though it does have multitouch).

John