HTC Hero now available on Orange

We've been holding on for a hero and, exactly like Bonnie Tyler, we can feel its approach like a fire in our blood.

Orange has let loose its exclusive graphite-coloured HTC Hero on its Web site for all to buy.

The cheapest contract that will score you a free Hero is £34.25 per month, over two years -- that's the charmingly moist 'Dolphin 40', which includes 1,200 minutes and unlimited texts.

But just like actual dolphins in the sea, it doesn't include unlimited data. You can either stick with the Dolphin and pay up to a maximum of £1.47 per day for data -- that's about £45 a month, if you're maxing out every day -- or add 500MB of browsing per month as a £4.89 add-on.

If you go for the Web add-on, that's £39.14 per month for the next two years if you want to hold on to the Hero till the morning light.

Just for fun, let's compare that to the iPhone 3GS on O2: the smaller 16GB version is free on a £44.05-per-month, two-year contract, so the Hero will cost you about £118 less over the whole contract.

It's worth noting that the Hero only has 512MB of onboard memory, so you may need to also invest in a card for the oh-so-sexy microSD memory card slot. We're waiting for Orange to let us know what size card they're including, if any. Orange says the Hero supports up to a 16GB card, but HTC tells us that it takes up to 32GB.

Take a look at our full review of the luscious HTC Hero for all the Android porn that's safe for work.

Update: We've discovered that you can get the Dolphin 40 plan from the Orange Web site with the 500MB Web add-on included for £34.25 per month, as well as Orange sat-nav, but only if you add the plan to your basket before the phone. If you add the Hero first, the Dolphin 40 plan doesn't show that any freebees are included, although you may still get them at the end of the day -- we're waiting for Orange to confirm what's going on.

Orange has told us, however, that the Hero will come with an included 2GB microSD memory card.