Which handset for university Android programming classes?

Next year there will be Android programming classes on Wroclaw University (Poland) but handsets for excersises needs to be choosen now. I was thinking about HTC Hero because:

• as HTC device it is a reference model for Android ecosystem;
• it will run system version 2.0;
• it has fair features/price ratio.

Are there any arguments against Hero? Or maybe there is another handset more suitable for programming classes?

The official dev phone is the HTC Magic supposedly. I would not go with the Hero since it has a custom firmware and Sense. Should stick with a vanilla version of Android. Or just use the emulator.