htc hero vs LG viewty smart

daayms

hey all,
its time i purchased a new phone and im torn between the two phones listed above. they are both the same price with meteor bill pay and of similar enough spec although the spec on the lg seems slightly better. to balance that though i've never known an lg that didnt have problems with freezing, being unable to answer incoming calls and so on. also the htc uses android os which is open source where as the lg uses its own os which im assuming means its closed source. so what im after is i'm looking for some info from those of you out there who have actually used these phones. what do you guys think i should buy. thanks

just noticed i posted this in the wrong section, how do i move it or get it moved to the correct section

Alanstrainor

Moved from laptops.

nmesisca

daayms wrote: »

hey all,
its time i purchased a new phone and im torn between the two phones listed above. they are both the same price with meteor bill pay and of similar enough spec although the spec on the lg seems slightly better. to balance that though i've never known an lg that didnt have problems with freezing, being unable to answer incoming calls and so on. also the htc uses android os which is open source where as the lg uses its own os which im assuming means its closed source. so what im after is i'm looking for some info from those of you out there who have actually used these phones. what do you guys think i should buy. thanks

just noticed i posted this in the wrong section, how do i move it or get it moved to the correct section

how are they comparable really?
did you compare the CPUs or graphics or..?

IMHO there is no comparison. two different planets.
Hero/Android supports OpenGL (3d games etc)
Hero/Android runs java code.
Hero/Android is fully multitasking/multitouch/flash.
Hero/Android is modular and is being adapted to netbooks as well.
Hero/Android has the Android market which counts 16K + apps. growing at impressive rate.
Hero/Android internet browser is quick and responsive.

you need to take into account the complaints against Meteor and their network though. or insert another carriers sim card

the LGs OS doesnt really allow for any significant mod... but it does have pretty icons you can move around.. :P
if their price is similar.. well no doubt the hero then.

drunkmonkey

The hero is a lot more user frinedly and has a lot more options for custimization. I wouldn't even put the 2 phones in the same league, My mate moved from a tocoo to the Hero this year and is very impressed.

Go for the hero, it's as slick as an iphone with better specification and there's loads of apps in the pipeline.

parkaman

Lots of HTC fanboys here i see. Look, I am looking at these two phones myself at the moment and have done a fair bit of research and while I agree with a lot of what the other posters have said I'd like to add some balance. Firstly the HTC hero , while having the better operating system is running it on far older hardware and will struggle with newer and multiple apps. The camera and optics are appalling in comparison to the Viewty Smart and the same could be said of the screen resolution (16million colors vrs 65000) . Also despite what is claimed above the hero does not support java. There's a resonable comparison table here (http://www.esato.com/phones/compare.php?phone=506&cp=483) . It is true that the android operating system allows far more tinkering and adding of widgets etc. and there is a vast number of these in the marketplace . Most of which it has to be said are utter rubbish but some of which are fantastic. So in the end it boyles down to this - if you want a good phone with a great camera get the lg if you want a phone for instant messaging / facebook updates etc get the hero.

daayms

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Moved from laptops.

thanks for moving to correct area for me.

em well im not really bothered with the apps, like the man above says most of these apps are pointless, just something to keep nimrods entertained as they wait for there friends to get back from the jacks(well that's a bit harsh probably but a lot of them aren't stuff you'd use everyday). facebook and the like i couldn't care less about. not something i use just find them pointless if i'm honest, just another way to keep in touch with an even larger group of people i could care less about. most likely i'll use it for basic communication, gps, music and as an organiser(and probably one or two things i cant foresee now). what i do want is a phone that is adaptable and reliable and relativley future proof. i dont want to be stuck in a situation where the phone i have has gps but i cant use it fully because i need to pay a license fee for it. (if you have a problem with that keep it to your self im not really interested in hearing how hacking is bad). something i could make my own apps for would be cool too. I dont want a phone that i can't rely on, is poorly built(software or hardware) as in i spend more time bringing it back to the shop than i do making calls. theres probably a few other things in there two but as people post i'll judge for myself what i think would be best for me. appreciate the replies people thanks for getting back to me. james

nmesisca

parkaman wrote: »

Lots of HTC fanboys here i see. Look, I am looking at these two phones myself at the moment and have done a fair bit of research and while I agree with a lot of what the other posters have said I'd like to add some balance. Firstly the HTC hero , while having the better operating system is running it on far older hardware and will struggle with newer and multiple apps. The camera and optics are appalling in comparison to the Viewty Smart and the same could be said of the screen resolution (16million colors vrs 65000) . Also despite what is claimed above the hero does not support java. There's a resonable comparison table here (http://www.esato.com/phones/compare.php?phone=506&cp=483) . It is true that the android operating system allows far more tinkering and adding of widgets etc. and there is a vast number of these in the marketplace . Most of which it has to be said are utter rubbish but some of which are fantastic. So in the end it boyles down to this - if you want a good phone with a great camera get the lg if you want a phone for instant messaging / facebook updates etc get the hero.

right, as for the fanboy, i think ive past that stage of life at my tender age.
im talking as someone that has done IT for the past 20years, and as an HTC customer for the past 7-8 years.

Hero hardware: outdated compared to what exactly? compared to the HD2, nexus one and top of the line? yeah just about. could you please see the specs of the CPU in the viewty? and the specs of the GPU? how much memory does the viewty have?:o
I will concede to you that the camera is not the best, thats about as far as I can go tho

Screen resolution: 65000 colors is a limit of android 1.6. Android 2.0 supports 16M colors and all the hardware panels (including the ancient G1) can support them already.

Software: Hero does not support Java? mmmm... you should read more. android is based on Java. actually runs all the applications (including system ones) into java virtual machines, for security reasons.
I program for the Android platform in... guess what.. Java. What choices of programming languages I have if I want to develop for the viewty?
Am I deluded?

daayms

i went with the htc in the end, although its missing a few things i consider handy like the radio and what not. im not bothered about the camera and you cant sync the lg with your pc. i like the fact that i can develop my own apps to suit myself with the htc (or at least there's the opportunity to) also i could not find out what processor that lg was using no matter where i searched. that made me a little uncomfortable with it even though i'd only be using it for the year. all that said, aside from a few niggly problems, most people seemed happy with the lg in the vast majority of the reviews i read. still i look forward to recieving my htc and downlaoding all the sdk's and trying to develop some usefull apps, well for me anyway.

nmesisca

daayms wrote: »

i went with the htc in the end, although its missing a few things i consider handy like the radio and what not. im not bothered about the camera and you cant sync the lg with your pc. i like the fact that i can develop my own apps to suit myself with the htc (or at least there's the opportunity to) also i could not find out what processor that lg was using no matter where i searched. that made me a little uncomfortable with it even though i'd only be using it for the year. all that said, aside from a few niggly problems, most people seemed happy with the lg in the vast majority of the reviews i read. still i look forward to recieving my htc and downlaoding all the sdk's and trying to develop some usefull apps, well for me anyway.

ehm... i dont think the hero has the radio tho..

as for the lg CPU.. as I said its a different ballpark. its CPU is a general purpose one. thats why you dont find the specs published very much. same goes for the GPU.

PS if you need some pointers to start developing/setting up your environment, drop me an email. you might want to check out my app TellyZap to know whats on telly TellyZap Pro will give you some additional features (calendar events, sms and email reminders, full week programmes etc..)
soon to come an app to monitor flight arrivals 'real-time'

daayms

nmesisca wrote: »

ehm... i dont think the hero has the radio tho..

as for the lg CPU.. as I said its a different ballpark. its CPU is a general purpose one. thats why you dont find the specs published very much. same goes for the GPU.

PS if you need some pointers to start developing/setting up your environment, drop me an email. you might want to check out my app TellyZap to know whats on telly TellyZap Pro will give you some additional features (calendar events, sms and email reminders, full week programmes etc..)
soon to come an app to monitor flight arrivals 'real-time'

yeah no that's what i was trying to say there, the htc is missing a radio (something i use quite a bit) but apart from that its grand. up it to android 2.0 when released and away i go. its gas me and the lads were only talking about making an app for the tv like that lastnight. that plane one sounds really usefull. if im having trouble in the coming months i might just call on you now that you've offered an all

talk to you again;)

nmesisca

daayms wrote: »

yeah no that's what i was trying to say there, the htc is missing a radio (something i use quite a bit) but apart from that its grand. up it to android 2.0 when released and away i go. its gas me and the lads were only talking about making an app for the tv like that lastnight. that plane one sounds really usefull. if im having trouble in the coming months i might just call on you now that you've offered an all

talk to you again;)

sure no problem. feel free. the airport app is almost ready. should be able to publish by end of next week. will let you know when its published.
if you want to be sure i will get the message immediately drop me a mail on

droid.support@gmail.com

enjoy the new gizmo.
N

parkaman

Ok so as i said i was only trying to provide some balance to the argumant but i have to correct some of the misconceptions you are peddling.

Lets start at the end " you should read more. android is based on Java". No, no it's not. Android is based on a linux kernel and utilizes a custom virtual machine - Dalvik VM. Although the Android's kernel is based on Linux, developers can only use Java programming syntax to develop Android applications. This means Java Micro Edition applications are not compatible with Android due to the new format of bytecodes used by Dalvik virtual machine. Whether or not these applications are compatible is what most end users mean when they want to know whether it's java compatible or not.
"What choices of programming languages I have if I want to develop for the viewty" - Standard Java.(J2ME).

Now the screen resolution. Android two can support 50 billion colour for all it matters because the HTC android's screen only supports 65000. You can check out the link I already supplier or any of these (http://www.letsgomobile.org/en/cellular/1976/htchero/ http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_hero-2861.php http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=1966&c=htc_hero_us_htc_hero_130).


Ok the hardware . Firstly the viewty(1.5GB) has nearly 3 times the ram of the hero(512). It's processor is , I am sure , not as good but then it doesn't need to be as its not going to be running 5000 useless widgets. My point on the 528 qualcom is this. It has being in almost 2 generations of HTC phones at this point now. Why not upgrade it to the snapdragon? do you not expect more from your phone than you did 2 years ago? There are lag issues with the hero as it fills up with messages and applications. There is no point in saying there isn't.

Finally lets not talk about how long we have being working "at IT". I promise that I am more qualified and have more experience. As I said I was only trying to bring balance to the post so that the OP could make an informed decision. Your 8 years of being a HTC owner have left you a little biased.

nmesisca

parkaman wrote: »

Ok so as i said i was only trying to provide some balance to the argumant but i have to correct some of the misconceptions you are peddling.

Lets start at the end " you should read more. android is based on Java". No, no it's not. Android is based on a linux kernel and utilizes a custom virtual machine - Dalvik VM. Although the Android's kernel is based on Linux, developers can only use Java programming syntax to develop Android applications. This means Java Micro Edition applications are not compatible with Android due to the new format of bytecodes used by Dalvik virtual machine. Whether or not these applications are compatible is what most end users mean when they want to know whether it's java compatible or not.
"What choices of programming languages I have if I want to develop for the viewty" - Standard Java.(J2ME).

Now the screen resolution. Android two can support 50 billion colour for all it matters because the HTC android's screen only supports 65000. You can check out the link I already supplier or any of these (http://www.letsgomobile.org/en/cellular/1976/htchero/ http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_hero-2861.php http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=1966&c=htc_hero_us_htc_hero_130).


Ok the hardware . Firstly the viewty(1.5GB) has nearly 3 times the ram of the hero(512). It's processor is , I am sure , not as good but then it doesn't need to be as its not going to be running 5000 useless widgets. My point on the 528 qualcom is this. It has being in almost 2 generations of HTC phones at this point now. Why not upgrade it to the snapdragon? do you not expect more from your phone than you did 2 years ago? There are lag issues with the hero as it fills up with messages and applications. There is no point in saying there isn't.

Finally lets not talk about how long we have being working "at IT". I promise that I am more qualified and have more experience. As I said I was only trying to bring balance to the post so that the OP could make an informed decision. Your 8 years of being a HTC owner have left you a little biased.

the dalvik VM effectively runs java code, true it does recompile it for android, but its still java code. the reason why it recompiles it is because the whole system wont be brought down by a poorly written app. much better than another java phone, especially when there is such a big range of apps of (also) unknown source, and your phone is rooted, effectively granting the apps superuser permissions.
J2ME is great and more 'complete' if you want. but due to security it would bring HUGE security issues into play with a rootable device.

the viewty doesnt really have 3 times the RAM. it has basically an internal micro SD card. which is WAY slow. possibly a class 2. of course thats more than enough for the viewty but it wouldnt be for a more general purpose device such as the hero (which by the way should come with a 2GB sd card included. if you want you can consider that as its memory but that wouldnt be completely correct).

as I said android 1.6 and lower support only 65000 colors. the screen themselves support 16Millions. you can put as many links to whatever site you want. they write it like that because as a matter of fact you're gonna see 65000 colors until you upgrade to 2.0.

theres basically no lag on hero since you can root it and get an optimized ROM from www.modaco.com or from the xda forums. if you keep the standard rom you might have some lag yes.

why not snapdragon? well the OP wanted something in the same price of viewty/hero. that rules out nexus and hd2 doesnt it.

as for my bias towards HTC, i really dont care about them. but i do care what do i get out of my phone. and XDA forums is a blessing. could you please give me a similar site for the viewty? how many rom updates has the viewty had since release?

Phlegmo

Seeing as Daayms has already bought the Hero, its a bit late for my comments.
Still...

I bought a Hero back in Sept and am very happy with it. Up until then, I was a Nokia user...N95 and N95 8gb fones. Rather than going for the N97, I plumped for the Hero.
So glad I did. Extremely versatile fone, fantastic screen resolution and plenty of useful apps.

I'm not a HTC fanboy, nor a social network user. I use the fone for calls, txt, emails, web, GPS and music - all of which it does perfectly, while having a great UI, touch screen and looking pretty sharp to boot!

Down sides are lack of radio and the need to have extremely steady hands to get a crisp pic out of the camera.

As nmesisca pointed out, there is a great online community and I easily rooted my fone and got plenty of useful apps.

My nephew got the Viewty and truely you cannot compare the 2 phones. Aesthetically the Hero is miles ahead, same goes for screen display and touch screen responsiveness. I had to hack it for him just to get new themes to install -there is little online support and no ease of customisation.

As smartphones go, I find the Hero tops. Android is maturing fast as an OS and with 2.1 on the way, it will only get better