i like the touch screen and how you can scroll around, also the apps are nice. camera is great, but i prefer my other touch diamond better. i bought this and another one for my daughter on gsmallover.com and we love both of them. i gave her the touch diamond though so i think i will strike a deal with her to get that back! as for the hero, definately glad i got it in the gsm version because i heard sprint’s isn’t very good. also i like the feel and how it fits your face.

I agree with you Brantyr – a hard (actual) keyboard just slows me down

[...] familiar with the HTC Hero by now.  The phone is currently available in the UK and has received positive reviews.  T-Mobile USA chose to pass on the Hero and went with the myTouch 3G as their flagship phone for [...]

I would have agreed with you before I got myself a Hero. I was using an XDA Stellar, with a flip out keyboard, and it’s alot faster than the iPhones shitty keyboard. But I decided fuck it, I want something with android on it. I got the hero and the keyboard is surprisingly fast.

In all fairness, in Portrait mode, the keyboard is a steaming pile of shit, but tip the phone into landscape, and the keyboard widens up, and is super fast. The keys are bigger than that of the G1, and even if you fuck up, it corrects the word your typing. So far, everything it’s corrected has been the word I wanted, and thanks to T-Mobile throwing me unlimited texts instead of the 400 a month I paid for, I’ve typed a ridiculous amount with it. I really couldn’t recommend it any more.

Sorry but I think people who want a hard-keyboard are in the minority – I’m pretty fast typing on my Magic, I suspect faster than I would be with a real keyboard because I don’t worry about hitting the real keys, if I’m close enough the HTC keyboard (sadly not installed by default) figures it out.

The videos I watched today showed no signs of sluggishness at all. The gizmodo guy comments that androids os is rough? What is he talking about? Do these reviewers just write stuff to fill up a page or do they actually think first?

sorry… http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/07/08/t-mobile-usa-no-hero-for-you/

Oh i will be getting this phone. i just hope it hits the US. and it better be for Tmobile, no Verizon or AT&T bullshit lol.

Wow, the more I see this phone the more I can’t wait. I just pray that T-Mobile just gets it, otherwise I am switching to whatever carrier is getting this awesome phone. I knew what I was getting in to the G1 I just thought it would be a little later until a great android phone like this came around. I want it so bad!

Heard great things about the Sense UI and they did good to add a 3.5 mm jack, but the reason why I choose a G1 over the Iphone was because of the physical keyboard. Is it too obvious not to show it in any of the promo’s, or is the Hero missing this?

In that case, screw the faster processor and bigger ram, I can type with my thumbs!