[jrdatrackstar]

First off I KNOW there are forums on this topic already.

I started off with the Pre. I loved it....still do....except for a couple of things:

* The visible hardware (creaking keyboard, slider, etc)
* Battery Life
* Palm's future intentions with the Pre (I seriously DO NOT believe they will not utilize the GPU by the time I'm available for an upgrade (Dec 2010)
* No video recording (there are times I wish I could record the things my children do WITH sound).

While still within my 30 days, I went with a Hero. I love the phone for:

* It's build (doesn't feel like plastic)
* Screen (it's actually not much bigger, but responds to taps better and looks better)
*Battery
* Video (although the camera IS WORSE than the Pre)
* Easy synchronization with Exchange e-mail from work

However

The Hero simply doesn't have the potential as the Pre, and although I doubt the Pre's full power will be utilized, the newest posts about OpenGL support (and the pure fact that the Pre has the chipset of the iPhone and other hardware accelerated games) makes me feel like I basically have a beefed up version of my old Diamond (which I basically do).

I actually like Android OS better than webOS for RIGHT NOW. Although webOS is easier to use, Android simply does more. But I also know that even with Android 2.1, the Hero will probably be slow because software can only go so far with a 10 year old processor.

So from people who have had to choose between both and REALLY didn't know what to do, what did you choose and WHY (yes I have rooted the Hero and installed custom ROMS on it....still too slow)? Right now, I'm waiting until January 5 (CES) for both companies to show what they plan for their devices. If Palm shows or mentions GPU support, I'm ditching the Hero.

[Bujin#IM]

Hi,

I have the Pre, and my son has the Hero. Both are solid devices. I don't have the same issues/concerns you're reporting (I find the hardware to be pretty solid, for example), and the homebrew community has shown the potential of the Pre, such as video recording and hardware accelerated games.

The build quality on the Hero is great. I was infatuated with it briefly, but if I had to make a new purchase today, I'd still go with the Pre because of the hardware keyboard, and the elegance of the OS. My main concern had been the number of apps, but Pre apps are growing quickly, so it's not as much of an issue.

[aparigraba]

I have both right now, I have had the pre for more time, and heard some good things about the hero so got it too and I am extremely disappointed with the hero. It lags too much, I can have 15 windows open on the pre and with the hero, with 3 apps its already extremely slow, camera for video and photos is horribble, pre has an amazing camera for both (get precorder for videos). Multitasking is a lot better on the pre. As far as hardware, I also dont like the plastic pre, but it has survived a couple of falls, while the hero looks more solid, if it took one of the falls my pre has taken, I am sure the screen would crack. More brilliant colors on the pre and it has a physical keyboard. I wanted to fall in love with the hero because of the 16,000 apps and all the features that it has over the pre, but i am tired of all the force closing, how slow it is, bad camera, no flash, no physical keyboard, etc.

[ivan1.ruiz]

i had apalm pre and loved it but i wanted something else so i sold it and went with an HTC Touch Pro 2 and i had it for a week before i traded it for the hero. The hero was ok but not multi-tasking like the pre so much that I sold it and bought a pre on craigslist.. LOVE my pre and will not let go unless i palm comes out with a pre 2

[ronnienyc]

My Hero is very fast, faster than the Pre ever was (I owned 3 Pres). What's nice about the Hero is the 20,000+ apps now available, and the solid hardware. But if you need a real keyboard, forget it - the Pre is the one for you. In terms of a phone, each has good sound quality and connection quality IMO. I just could not deal with the rickety Pre (swiveling oreo BS, power switch loose, slider wonky, etc. Drove me nuts) In any case, both will likely be replaced my this time next year! They are all temporary really, aren't they? Just buy the one you like more - you'll have another decision to make about phones next year, and the year after that...

p.s. I do not know wh people complain about the Hero's camera. If you give it a second to focus, it is the best camera I have ever had on a cell phone - it's a GREAT camera IMO.

[crazyassazian]

Buddy of mine had a Hero, he took it back after my Pre which was running 1.2.1 way back when was faster looking up something in Google Maps, and then the same result in Sprint Navigation. Android may have 20k apps, but nothing can live up to the UI of WebOS.

[benitozilla]

i have both the pre and the hero on my sprint contract between my fiance and I. Im running currently with the pre, but the hero was purchased for me.

truth be told, im torn between the two with Pre's capability seemingly skyrocketing over days.

But, i do enjoy the hero a little bit more strictly due to the application selection.

i agree that the palm interface is much more user friendly ( i dont have to struggle to get out of applications, or try to exit an application and worry about it still running), where the cards keep everything very organized and easy to open and close.

That being said, having used the Pre for the better part of 6 months, Im still interested in switching to the hero. I like the way the OS is put together (though WebOS is amazing as well) and i like the functionality that android represents in total.

I love the pre, but the hero has my eye...

[aparigraba]

I have both right now and have taken pictures with both of the same objects and same conditions and the pre beats it by far and the same goes for video, (considering the video app of the pre is homebrew and is a million times better than the hero, says it all). The hero has the advantage on the apps, on features, makes good use of the space on the home screens, but as of right now, I don't see myself switching. I have 3 more weeks with both, so we will see. As far as the speed on the hero, I have read many users complain about how it lags, sometimes with a couple of apps the keyboard takes forever to come up, then you write something, it takes forever to apear, so far ive been extremely disappointed.

[fkpalm]

I have both had pre since launch and hero for a couple of months. Been using the hero because i was excited with the amount of apps and the fact the majority of the apps were free. But since 1.35 i have been revitalized with pre a hugh a amount of improvements and super fast i went back to using it more and more. No problems downloading apps now and with patches on preware it is a great device.

Fred

[063_xobx]

honestly im surprised with a name like you picked which is unless im wrong a clever way of saying f**kpalm that you are enjoying your pre

[Blaize19]

Can I just say thank you to everyone who has posted here? You have been forthright about the pros and cons of both phones and OS's, without being rude, defensive, or insulting. Although I have never used a Hero, and am very happy with my Pre, I enjoy learning about other platforms and it's much more fun to learn when nobody's yelling. So thank you.

[063_xobx]

most of the people on the forums arent going to waste time crying about how the pre sucks or the hero sucks and are just gonna try to help others make an informed decision

[LNWJ]

I chose Palm Pre mainly because of the features, and it was the best smart phone (IMHO) on Sprint in July 2009. Neither my wife or I had owned a smartphone before then. I was familiar with the iPhone and its features because we have a program where I work where you can get one for free. But of course we were Sprint customers for 10 years and I had no intention of switching to AT&T and dealing with their (more) expensive plans.

I also has a small amount of experience with Blackberry, but to me (not knocking peeps who like 'em) they still feel out of date and didn't seem to have the multimedia capabilities of webOS.

The Hero wasn't out then but I have played with it. Again, no disrespect to Android or people who like them but it seems like I have to flick/tap more to do the same tasks I quickly do on my Pre. I will say Android has some nice visuals and Sense UI/the OS over all seems pretty flashy. I don't think I could go w/o a physical keyboard though.

Palm seems like the most open provider there is in regards to the homebrew scene. I admit, the 1st gen Pre feels a little creeky, my screen wobbles a bit and I have some backlight bleed from the LCD, but my wife and I bought these knowing full well of these facts. They have not taken away from our enjoyment of the phone by any means. After having the phone for 6 months the problems have not increased. My wife and I are on Pre #1 still.

When we were shopping at the Sprint store my wife and I loved the Pre so much we bought them both in between contract cycles and had to pay more than the $199. Don't regret it at all.

Good luck with your phone dilemma. Don't over think it. It's just a phone, not a VIP club. Use whichever one suits your day to day best.

[jrdatrackstar]

The apps don't really matter to me. When I talk about development and the future of the two, I actually the future of the devices in a whole. How far can their processors go? Where can you take each device? The Pre has the chipset of the iPhone basically (the newer Arm Cortex processors), and the Hero has the oldest processor in the world. This is what worries me about the Hero. Even when I don't try to multitask, apps stay open on the Hero and slows it down A LOT. Again, it basically just feels like my old Diamond (they have the same processors). But I'm just worried that Palm will NEVER utilize the GPU in the Pre. Also, the keyboard lag on the Hero IS ANNOYING. I could deal with a software keyboard IF IT KEEPS UP WITH ME. My other solution would be a Samsung Moment, but that thing is just ugly and I don't like the feel of the phone.

Really, the apps dont' matter SO MUCH. The only reason I was really blown away by the App Store of Android was the camera scanners. For example, the one that reads barcodes; that blew my mind when I first used it (this may be useful to me because I am a student and submit homework). Really, I just need to know the future of these two devices. I already know Android has a bright future and has more going for it, and that the Pre has already had updates that really don't do anything. BUT IT'S POSSIBLE FOR IT TO DO SO MUCH MORE.

Is there anyone that could make me believe that Palm WILL take the Pre to it's full potential? I could make myself deal with all the hardware issues if I simply KNEW that it would pay off because I have a great device with great software and, dare I say it, iPhone-like speed. The Pre basically has that (and although it can lag, it's not as BAD as the Hero with it's processor).

[jrdatrackstar]

The apps don't really matter to me. When I talk about development and the future of the two, I actually the future of the devices in a whole. How far can their processors go? Where can you take each device? The Pre has the chipset of the iPhone basically (the newer Arm Cortex processors), and the Hero has the oldest processor in the world. This is what worries me about the Hero. Even when I don't try to multitask, apps stay open on the Hero and slows it down A LOT. Again, it basically just feels like my old Diamond (they have the same processors). But I'm just worried that Palm will NEVER utilize the GPU in the Pre. Also, the keyboard lag on the Hero IS ANNOYING. I could deal with a software keyboard IF IT KEEPS UP WITH ME. My other solution would be a Samsung Moment, but that thing is just ugly and I don't like the feel of the phone.

Really, the apps dont' matter SO MUCH. The only reason I was really blown away by the App Store of Android was the camera scanners. For example, the one that reads barcodes; that blew my mind when I first used it (this may be useful to me because I am a student and submit homework). Really, I just need to know the future of these two devices. I already know Android has a bright future and has more going for it, and that the Pre has already had updates that really don't do anything. BUT IT'S POSSIBLE FOR IT TO DO SO MUCH MORE.

Is there anyone that could make me believe that Palm WILL take the Pre to it's full potential? I could make myself deal with all the hardware issues if I simply KNEW that it would pay off because I have a great device with great software and, dare I say it, iPhone-like speed. The Pre basically has that (and although it can lag, it's not as BAD as the Hero with it's processor).

[fkpalm]

"honestly im surprised with a name like you picked which is unless im wrong a clever way of saying f**kpalm that you are enjoying your pre"


Wrong first name and last name been a palm user since treo 180 many moons ago

Fred

[063_xobx]

palm has already begun laying the groundwork for gpu so it can be expected soon

[063_xobx]

"honestly im surprised with a name like you picked which is unless im wrong a clever way of saying f**kpalm that you are enjoying your pre"


Wrong first name and last name been a palm user since treo 180 many moons ago

Fred

just a misunderstanding then

[aparigraba]

I have both had pre since launch and hero for a couple of months. Been using the hero because i was excited with the amount of apps and the fact the majority of the apps were free. But since 1.35 i have been revitalized with pre a hugh a amount of improvements and super fast i went back to using it more and more. No problems downloading apps now and with patches on preware it is a great device.

Fred

That is one thing that in great about android, all the apps you need are free.

[unixpsycho]

just a misunderstanding then

And I misunderstood as well. Although I have said those words a few times during the earlier webOS versions .

But I have to disagree with a previous comment about the Hero being much faster than the Pre. There are lots of users that are experiencing sluggishness with the Hero. Since I have both phones I put them side by side and (now) the Pre spanks the Hero. The Hero has a posse of 20K+ apps backing it up tho. The upcoming Android 2.1 update for the Hero will tell if it gets faster or will the Pre (current form) surpasses it 1st half of this year.