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A little commentary for the newbie’s just getting a G_Tab or discovering this forum and feeling a little overwhelmed….
I would describe myself as a high end user with good skills but not a programmer by trade. I’m a good reader and follow processes.
I bought my first G Tab mid November from Sears.
Out of the box I was like “What the @ell”…. I currently had an iPad and the comparison was night and day.
If it wasn’t for “roebeet” it was headed back to Sears faster than I could start the car. TNT Lite saved it from the scrap yard.
I’m naming my first child “roebeet:…
Currently I have 3 VS G Tabs…. “Don’t ask, Don’t tell”…..
#1 is my daily driver I use for work… Current ROM is VEGA-n 5.1 with Clemsyn's KERNEL
I have tied every ROM and Kernel out there and this is by far the most solid. I trust this to go on the road with me and use for work.
Pretty much 95% of apps work and it’s been so long since it’s FC’d or done anything “funny” I can’t remember.
Keyboards, mouse control, GPS connect, BT, DOCK, etc all work as they should.
#2 is my CRASH TEST DUMMY. It has been used and abused with every ROM, Kernel, Apps you can find on this board.
This is the one I use to try out all the ROMS, Apps, Kernels the Developers have all worked so hard on.
This one has been to @ell and back several times and keeps ticking.
Currently running NI Adam…. Not a big fan so far.
#3 is totally stock ROM with VS updates. Doesn’t even have the Enhancement packs.
This is my spare part tablet if needed. So far, so good.
As mentioned I have 32 gig iPad since they first came out. For the “Average” user this is what they need. Turn on and go.
I RARELY touch this anymore and will probably sell it down the road. What I can do on the Gtab doesn’t even compare to the iPad anymore.
I show the G tab to folks and they start to drool. But I quickly let them know this is like a Porsche, it’s awesome but takes some upkeep and tweaks.
Obviously everyone is waiting for Honeycomb to make its way to the G Tab, but I can tell you until then, VEGA-n will get the job done.
If you are just finding this forum and are looking to take your Tablet to the next level, that’s a good place to start.
We are all indebted to developers and users on this forum for all their time and efforts to help all the G Tab owners.
A very sincere thank you…
Nicely Said and Deserved!!!
BRAVO! nicely written.
[email protected] said:
A little commentary for the newbie’s just getting a G_Tab or discovering this forum and feeling a little overwhelmed….
I would describe myself as a high end user with good skills but not a programmer by trade. I’m a good reader and follow processes.
I bought my first G Tab mid November from Sears.
Out of the box I was like “What the @ell”…. I currently had an iPad and the comparison was night and day.
If it wasn’t for “roebeet” it was headed back to Sears faster than I could start the car. TNT Lite saved it from the scrap yard.
I’m naming my first child “roebeet:…
Currently I have 3 VS G Tabs…. “Don’t ask, Don’t tell”…..
#1 is my daily driver I use for work… Current ROM is VEGA-n 5.1 with Clemsyn's KERNEL
I have tied every ROM and Kernel out there and this is by far the most solid. I trust this to go on the road with me and use for work.
Pretty much 95% of apps work and it’s been so long since it’s FC’d or done anything “funny” I can’t remember.
Keyboards, mouse control, GPS connect, BT, DOCK, etc all work as they should.
#2 is my CRASH TEST DUMMY. It has been used and abused with every ROM, Kernel, Apps you can find on this board.
This is the one I use to try out all the ROMS, Apps, Kernels the Developers have all worked so hard on.
This one has been to @ell and back several times and keeps ticking.
Currently running NI Adam…. Not a big fan so far.
#3 is totally stock ROM with VS updates. Doesn’t even have the Enhancement packs.
This is my spare part tablet if needed. So far, so good.
As mentioned I have 32 gig iPad since they first came out. For the “Average” user this is what they need. Turn on and go.
I RARELY touch this anymore and will probably sell it down the road. What I can do on the Gtab doesn’t even compare to the iPad anymore.
I show the G tab to folks and they start to drool. But I quickly let them know this is like a Porsche, it’s awesome but takes some upkeep and tweaks.
Obviously everyone is waiting for Honeycomb to make its way to the G Tab, but I can tell you until then, VEGA-n will get the job done.
If you are just finding this forum and are looking to take your Tablet to the next level, that’s a good place to start.
We are all indebted to developers and users on this forum for all their time and efforts to help all the G Tab owners.
A very sincere thank you…
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great post.
I first flashed to CM7 and was highly disappointed.
I flashed back to stock because of USB driver issues in CM7
Then went to VEGAn5 and have loved the tablet ever since.
I think Honeycomb will take the Gtab even further and I can't wait.
+1
Bought my gtab with hopes Viewsonic update would make it usable. No such luck. With no Android experience Iused instructions here to root and flash Vegan tab 5.1. No problems and tablet is now a pleasure to use. The developers here are fantastic. Can't wait for future releases
Great post - I am enjoying my g-tab. New to Android but good a PC and programming. The openness compared to the ipad works really well for me.
And we only have new developments to look forward to. Pretty cool.
Stock ROM wasn't as bad as I was expecting but that might be because I updated to latest version right away. However, definitely enjoying VEGAn 5.1 far more than stock. Think I hit 8 posts so I can stop posting my opinion everywhere and wait until I have something useful to say.
EDIT: need 10 posts
much appreciation to all
I too wish to share my gratitude, this is a very supportive community
4rs fed said:
Great post.
I first flashed to CM7 and was highly disappointed.
I flashed back to stock because of USB driver issues in CM7
Then went to VEGAn5 and have loved the tablet ever since.
I think Honeycomb will take the Gtab even further and I can't wait.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then went to VEGAn5 and have loved the tablet ever since.
Amen....
[email protected] said:
What I can do on the Gtab doesn’t even compare to the iPad anymore.
I show the G tab to folks and they start to drool.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just curious to know what extra things you do with the GTab over the ipad?
btw I'm a fan too.. just got mine a week ago and havent put it down since.
But...
Alright, so I see all the Vegan love on this thread and I just have to ask.... I have been on Vegan for about a week after being on TnT Lite. I LOVE the interface and a lot about Vegan, but it does not seem to be nearly as stable as TnT Lite. It seems to hang from time to time and it just reboot's itself 5 or 6 times a day.
Now I can say that I am running the Kernel that comes with the distribution and I am thinking about changing the Kernel. So my question for the others with stable Vegan installs is if....
a. Vegan just hangs and reboots now and again. (I could actually live with it)
b. I need to change out the Kernel
c. I'm a fool and a noob and I should just wipe this thing and try again.
Try pershoot's kernel. Fast, smooth, and stable for me
After experiencing many CF errors using TNTLite 3.1.3 installed on the original settings I have just re-partitioned (2048,0) and formatted the SDCARD. Then installed TNT Lite 4.2.1.
So far this has been rock-stable.
What advantages do you see in using VegaN instead of TNTLite?
simon-edwards said:
After experiencing many CF errors using TNTLite 3.1.3 installed on the original settings I have just re-partitioned (2048,0) and formatted the SDCARD. Then installed TNT Lite 4.2.1.
So far this has been rock-stable.
What advantages do you see in using VegaN instead of TNTLite?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the comments. I installed Clemsyns kernel last night and it seems that it made a big difference. Things just feel faster and more fluid when using the Gtab with this kernel. I also have stopped seeing the crash/restart when i wakeup the device. I know that others have reported the wakeup problem even with clemsyn, but it fixed it for me.
Noe, for my vegan experience... I really like the look and feel of vegan better. TnT lite is simar to stock. It worked well, but was not as easy to use. Vegan has the full setyings menus and a slightly more detailed front end interface and shell. It has a really nicr status bar as well. I cannot say that it has anything that i could not live without, but it just seems to have everything i need and like.
[email protected] said:
A little commentary for the newbie’s just getting a G_Tab or discovering this forum and feeling a little overwhelmed….
I would describe myself as a high end user with good skills but not a programmer by trade. I’m a good reader and follow processes.
I bought my first G Tab mid November from Sears.
Out of the box I was like “What the @ell”…. I currently had an iPad and the comparison was night and day.
If it wasn’t for “roebeet” it was headed back to Sears faster than I could start the car. TNT Lite saved it from the scrap yard.
I’m naming my first child “roebeet:…
Currently I have 3 VS G Tabs…. “Don’t ask, Don’t tell”…..
#1 is my daily driver I use for work… Current ROM is VEGA-n 5.1 with Clemsyn's KERNEL
I have tied every ROM and Kernel out there and this is by far the most solid. I trust this to go on the road with me and use for work.
Pretty much 95% of apps work and it’s been so long since it’s FC’d or done anything “funny” I can’t remember.
Keyboards, mouse control, GPS connect, BT, DOCK, etc all work as they should.
#2 is my CRASH TEST DUMMY. It has been used and abused with every ROM, Kernel, Apps you can find on this board.
This is the one I use to try out all the ROMS, Apps, Kernels the Developers have all worked so hard on.
This one has been to @ell and back several times and keeps ticking.
Currently running NI Adam…. Not a big fan so far.
#3 is totally stock ROM with VS updates. Doesn’t even have the Enhancement packs.
This is my spare part tablet if needed. So far, so good.
As mentioned I have 32 gig iPad since they first came out. For the “Average” user this is what they need. Turn on and go.
I RARELY touch this anymore and will probably sell it down the road. What I can do on the Gtab doesn’t even compare to the iPad anymore.
I show the G tab to folks and they start to drool. But I quickly let them know this is like a Porsche, it’s awesome but takes some upkeep and tweaks.
Obviously everyone is waiting for Honeycomb to make its way to the G Tab, but I can tell you until then, VEGA-n will get the job done.
If you are just finding this forum and are looking to take your Tablet to the next level, that’s a good place to start.
We are all indebted to developers and users on this forum for all their time and efforts to help all the G Tab owners.
A very sincere thank you…
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You sold me.
This is definitely the tablet I am going to pick up
[email protected] said:
A little commentary for the newbie’s just getting a G_Tab or discovering this forum and feeling a little overwhelmed…
We are all indebted to developers and users on this forum for all their time and efforts to help all the G Tab owners.
A very sincere thank you…
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said... and Ditto
For the last 75 days this tab has been a workhorse for me. A few accessories missing and one or two enhancments would be great, but otherwise a great tab.
Regards,
Been lurking here for a few days now, but this is deff the tab I want from all the post here I have read. The gentlemen here have done such a wonderful job in making it a top tablet to get. Thanks..
I feel very lucky. I started looking for tablets a while ago but was disappointed by what I found at the normal electronics stores. Then I ran across this thing at Sears (who buys their electronics from Sears) and bought one based solely on the hardware specs. I figured if anything could run Android this thing could. Disappointed out-of-the-box (like everyone else)... found these forums, and within a few hours had VEGAN up and running and couldn't wait to squelch a few ipad zealots at work the next day. Thank you to everyone that has shared your knowledge and time with the rest of us.
As a newbie ( my G tab arrived yesterday) and a non-techie (I don't even own a mobile phone), I really appreciate the original post, thank you.
I'm going to put Vegan on mine.
Quick question:
What does a "kernel" do? Is that something like a BIOS in a laptop?
Another noob guilty of lurking for the past few days. Over the weekend I spent many hours googling/researching a tablet. Everytime I thought I had found a keeper I discovered it had serious drawbacks. Then I stumbled upon the VS Gtab. I was impressed with its hardware. I am in no way versed in Rooting/flashing but I can read and follow directions so I do not anticipate any serious problems. I ordered my Gtab yesterday and am continuing to study this site so when the time comes I will be ready to Root and Flash (sounds fun). My son and son in law are both programmers so I figure between the good folks on this site and us three I should have a kick ass Tablet when all is said and done. So "stick it up your nose Apple"
Tt
Not to be a downer, but the infinity came out for almost a month and a half now. Yet, the development is really really slow. I think its a great tablet and everything but i also want more dev support.
Did anyone hear any news about dev update from other teams?
Thanks,
ugotproblemz said:
Not to be a downer, but the infinity came out for almost a month and a half now. Yet, the development is really really slow. I think its a great tablet and everything but i also want more dev support.
Did anyone hear any news about dev update from other teams?
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The closest anyone has gotten is birdman which got AOKP to boot. Currently he is trying to fix BT and GPS before releasing anything. You can follow him at https://twitter.com/_mrbirdman_ for updates.
ugotproblemz said:
Not to be a downer, but the infinity came out for almost a month and a half now. Yet, the development is really really slow. I think its a great tablet and everything but i also want more dev support.
Did anyone hear any news about dev update from other teams?
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was an early adopter of the TF201. It took a while for it to going with nothing but stock roms available for what felt like an eternity. Give it some time and they will start appearing...
ugotproblemz said:
Not to be a downer, but the infinity came out for almost a month and a half now. Yet, the development is really really slow. I think its a great tablet and everything but i also want more dev support.
Did anyone hear any news about dev update from other teams?
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am sure I am going to get flamed for this, but I have to chime in on this one...six weeks is hardly "slow" for development. This is a) an extremely expensive tablet and most devs pay for their own equipment b) there have been lots of issues around unlocking the bootloaders for ASUS tabs, which is a pre-requisite for tablets, c) JB is just now hitting the streets which impacts development and d) most devs are doing this for the love of it, which means they pretty much all have other things that are full-time occupations.
The fact of the matter is that we do have a couple of custom ROMs out there, so there are devs working on it. It just takes time and goodwill, and a more realistic set of expectations.
pbrauer said:
i am sure I am going to get flamed for this, but I have to chime in on this one...six weeks is hardly "slow" for development. This is a) an extremely expensive tablet and most devs pay for their own equipment b) there have been lots of issues around unlocking the bootloaders for ASUS tabs, which is a pre-requisite for tablets, c) JB is just now hitting the streets which impacts development and d) most devs are doing this for the love of it, which means they pretty much all have other things that are full-time occupations.
The fact of the matter is that we do have a couple of custom ROMs out there, so there are devs working on it. It just takes time and goodwill, and a more realistic set of expectations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The cost of the tab is a bit intimidating, and also, the new toy is the Nexus 7, as a Google nexus device, is cheap and fun to play with for the devs, who are having a competition to see who can push it the farthest. Lots of great teams are really hung up on it right now, and not showing a lot of desire to pull themselves in a new direction, it seems.
I would also be sceptical about getting a tf700, and sticking my neck out with so many complaints about its build quality and performance. I think it's an amazing device and I love mine, but someone who just casually checks the new device forums might be a bit put off. I know that I was with the Nexus 7, which also had mucho complaints at first. I got mine and it was great, and a lot of people got good ones and then the development floodgates opened wide. The same may happen here.
pbrauer said:
i am sure I am going to get flamed for this, but I have to chime in on this one...six weeks is hardly "slow" for development. This is a) an extremely expensive tablet and most devs pay for their own equipment b) there have been lots of issues around unlocking the bootloaders for ASUS tabs, which is a pre-requisite for tablets, c) JB is just now hitting the streets which impacts development and d) most devs are doing this for the love of it, which means they pretty much all have other things that are full-time occupations.
The fact of the matter is that we do have a couple of custom ROMs out there, so there are devs working on it. It just takes time and goodwill, and a more realistic set of expectations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I would second the JB just hitting the streets. Why put so much work developing custom ICS roms when JB is just around the corner?
ugotproblemz said:
Not to be a downer, but the infinity came out for almost a month and a half now. Yet, the development is really really slow. I think its a great tablet and everything but i also want more dev support.
Did anyone hear any news about dev update from other teams?
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also not to be a downer, but you can always start your own development endeavor to speed things up and have some fun along the way
If I was going to do any dev for this tablet, I would be waiting for the JB update to come out before I started. I expect we'll see more updates once it's out, but as some have already stated, 6 weeks for a new tablet is hardly slow.
I dont think jellybean has anything to do with it... just not many devs picked up on the device... I would love to see miui on this baby. I was thinking about switching to the note 10.1 just BC development looks like its going to be better for that tab but the screen was a let down.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2
hopfully...it will make this tab SOOO much better...
Novel idea guys......why not simply do your buildprop tweaks, speed things up a little, and just enjoy the beautiful product that asus has given us, as it is? I love development as much as the next person....but my C7 model Infinity, aside from a little notification menu lag, runs fantastic, stock. I mean.....if you can not enjoy this product even as it is right now, without dicing it up with some currently half-baked efforts. Do you ever really enjoy any of your devices at all, or are you so caught up in the flashing addiction, that you fail to appreciate the truly awesome hardware underneath? I just love owning this little piece of work, walking around with it, being proud that I am an Android owner in a sea of iPad users on campus.
If you must have something custom, then use Zeus. It runs pretty slick as well. I would just stop complaining though everyone, give development time to kick in, and enjoy your product in the time being. I had the Prime, and it took FOREVER for real development to catch on....practically until the day I traded it in for this. LOL
TheAnarchist1 said:
Novel idea guys......why not simply do your buildprop tweaks, speed things up a little, and just enjoy the beautiful product that asus has given us, as it is? I love development as much as the next person....but my C7 model Infinity, aside from a little notification menu lag, runs fantastic, stock. I mean.....if you can not enjoy this product even as it is right now, without dicing it up with some currently half-baked efforts. Do you ever really enjoy any of your devices at all, or are you so caught up in the flashing addiction, that you fail to appreciate the truly awesome hardware underneath? I just love owning this little piece of work, walking around with it, being proud that I am an Android owner in a sea of iPad users on campus.
If you must have something custom, then use Zeus. It runs pretty slick as well. I would just stop complaining though everyone, give development time to kick in, and enjoy your product in the time being. I had the Prime, and it took FOREVER for real development to catch on....practically until the day I traded it in for this. LOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 for this response. I have rooted and tweaked my build.prop, and then frozen some of the bloat and am loving the device without having done anything else. Compared to the Prime (I got one of the very early ones and then went through 4 of those) this is SO much better.
Thanks! Yeah, same here. I had an early model Prime, went through no less then thirteen exchanges, the situation barely got better. I traded up on the same money from the Prime, and I have been happy since I had this. It strikes me, as though unlike the Prime, MOST of the flaws, and shortcomings of this device, are thankfully software related, and not hardware. Once applying the proper buildprop tweaks, installing Apex Launcher, and getting my trust application roster settled. I have been happy as a clam. YES, Jellybean, and most definately CM10 will make this device FLY (it almost managed to redeem my Prime even, right before I traded it) and I am as excited, if not more, then the average person, but my Infinity is (thankfully) fully functional, great battery, MOST applications work in some way shape or form, (excepting a few games). I can simply take a look at the Infinity, and tell, by the attention to detail, that this has become asus's baby, and mine as well. I appreciate it, and can wait forever for development to catch on. :laugh:
I wrote out a whole post but realized it was mostly rambling so I figured I would condense it, although its still pretty rambling:
It seems like our phone (Maxx HD) just missed the developer bandwagon and that roms aren't really going anywhere and never actually will. Everything seems like a quick port and I have had very little success with most of them. The only stable one I have found has been Nexesque, although its basically stock with a few tweaks and add-ons.
I have been running XenonHD for the past 2ish weeks, 3 maybe with horrible battery life and a heat problem. I was running with all of the regular performance tweeks, a very dark blue (almost black) solid background, low brightness and a black theme so I have no idea what could have caused it. I would run out of full battery by 12 or 1 half of the time with an incredibly hot phone, and the other half of the time I could make it to 6 or 7 but no later. I have reflashed and am almost positive I followed the steps correctly.
I'm not asking what the best rom is, but I'm asking if there is a rom that people are actually happy with out there (preferably 4.2) or if there are any real hopes for a tangible one to come out in the near future. It seems like we're kind of screwed as the user when compared to other phones development, and while I have nothing to offer outside of small donations I would just like to know if my predictions are accurate. Is everybody waiting for something that will never come out?
VCavs said:
I wrote out a whole post but realized it was mostly rambling so I figured I would condense it, although its still pretty rambling:
It seems like our phone (Maxx HD) just missed the developer bandwagon and that roms aren't really going anywhere and never actually will. Everything seems like a quick port and I have had very little success with most of them. The only stable one I have found has been Nexesque, although its basically stock with a few tweaks and add-ons.
I have been running XenonHD for the past 2ish weeks, 3 maybe with horrible battery life and a heat problem. I was running with all of the regular performance tweeks, a very dark blue (almost black) solid background, low brightness and a black theme so I have no idea what could have caused it. I would run out of full battery by 12 or 1 half of the time with an incredibly hot phone, and the other half of the time I could make it to 6 or 7 but no later. I have reflashed and am almost positive I followed the steps correctly.
I'm not asking what the best rom is, but I'm asking if there is a rom that people are actually happy with out there (preferably 4.2) or if there are any real hopes for a tangible one to come out in the near future. It seems like we're kind of screwed as the user when compared to other phones development, and while I have nothing to offer outside of small donations I would just like to know if my predictions are accurate. Is everybody waiting for something that will never come out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest I think you need to step back and put everything in prospective.hash dh etc are working on a from scratch kernel that will fix the nagging problems the 4.2.2 roms have had. This kernel is a work in progress, but I think it will be finished to a point acceptable to most people soonish. That being said, besides the annoying gps flash from stock issue and no camcorder I'm not sure there are any major bugs with the 4.2.2 roms. There have been a lot of ports because there are a lot of good roms out there for other devices that people wanted to bring over. We were "screwed" when we bought the phone as this phone had a locked bootloader(with no apparent unlock) and there were never a ton of devs to begin on moto due to the same bootloader issue. That being said, I think a lot of devs have rallied around the hd since the unlock and things will only get better after hash gets the kernel up to speed. I agree nexesque is awesome (it's what I'm running right now in fact) but there are already a lot of choices on each of the 4 most popular forums.
Tl/dr patience lol
sent from my xt926 RAZR maxx hd
I really like this device atm I am using stock Rogers Fw . I have tried many of the 4.2 I prefer to hang back and let it get better the phone itself is a nice piece
My2c
Sent from my XT925 using xda premium
I imagine that we will probably also get get an android update at some point (though very unclear what and when). Maybe this will renew developer interest in the device?
I the meantime I hope the kernel development will play out well.
Personally, even if I love personalization and community development, I actually think the stock rom (xt925 Vodafone) is quite good. Good battery life and better ui than much of the competition.
Sent from my XT925 using xda app-developers app
I was an Android early adopter and I've carried 6 or 7 different Android phones. After having stability and battery issues with every droid I touched, I jumped ship and have been happily on a jailbroken iPhone the last two years. I felt like tinkering and I haven't touched a droid since they went to multi-core CPU's, so I got an S4. Had some problems that could probably be fixed by flashing Cyanogenmod, but I was so disgusted with yet another Android phone that came to me broken out of the box that I just put it back and was planning to throw it back at AT&T. I've been thinking on it though, and I still really want to play with it, but at this point I'm just risking getting stuck with it if something goes wrong and I can't get it to flash back to stock.
So remind someone who's been away from Android since 2.3, what's out there that makes this better than my 2 year old iPhone 4S? Any other iOS converts care to share what I'm missing? From what I've seen, the battery life is worse, the stability is questionable, and the responsiveness and speed are about the same. As far as apps themselves go, seems like anything on one can be found on the other. Why bother switching from a stable phone?
I'd also be curious if anyone has successfully flashed from the Cyanogenmod Stable back to stock. I've spent enough hours of my life frantically researching flashing issues while my phone is a brick to not risk flashing this phone while I'm still on the fence about keeping it.
Thanks for any input, and please no one scream at me for liking something different than you. I like my iPhone because I can trust it, I don't begrudge anyone else for what they use.
All these questions can be answered with ofsearch at XDA. Please read and follow the rules. We have about a thousand of these already here at XDA. Not to be a jerk but these type of posts clutter XDA when simply sitting down with a cup of joe and reading the forums on a Sunday morning will make for much learning and interest... :good::laugh:
Hi all! I'm a noob to the site and a noob to smartphone modifications, so please forgive me for my questions and concerns. I've used forums for years on many topics and found the knowledge base to be incredible, so I hope you guys will help me out, too.
So, while my Skyrocket has generally worked very well for the past 2+ years, I have always felt it's not living up to its potential. I've read numerous threads on many forums to see what my fellow Rocketeers were doing. I think I've come to the conclusion that flashing a new ROM is the way to go, but I am a bit wary since I've never done this nor know anyone who has. My thinking goes along the same lines as my experience with computers... If you buy a Dell, HP, etc., you get the garbage that the manufacturer bundles in along with Windows. If you wipe the HD and install your own clean copy of Windows, you can usually get better performance without all that other stuff. Hence, the idea for a new ROM for the phone.
A few things have me wondering, though... There seem to be more ROMs available than flavors of Linux! I know choice will end up being a personal thing. My goal is really simple... I just want a clean OS that is stable, efficient, and runs the basic functions I am accustomed to. So, I am not looking to experiment or push the envelope. I want a phone that doesn't crash at the worst possible time, and one that can actually make phone calls! I assume that I will still be able to use the Google Play store to download apps (after installing the plugin thingy). My phone is from AT&T and is unlocked. Will it say unlocked after flashing a new ROM? Will Visual Voicemail still work? I occasionally use FoxFi to create a mobile hotspot. Will I still be able to use it? Or do other ROMs already have this feature unlocked (or bypassed)? I use apps on my phone mostly for email (Yahho/Gmail), calendar, FB, Instagram, YouTube, taking photos/video, viewing forums, and the like, besides making phone calls. In other words, what should I expect from a new ROM? How will things be different? I'm really trying to gauge if this is a worthwhile endeavor for me.
Sorry for the long post. I appreciate your opinions and experience.
It's always worthwhile.
The Skyrocket, to me, was always a case of OEM software that limited its potential. If you really sit down and tweak it, custom ROM, new governor, overclock, it's a beast of a phone that can still keep pace today. You'll have to balance performance with battery life--overclocking and switching to a more aggressive governor doesn't do you any favors there, and some ROMs are better about battery life than others. It's a great phone with a lot of life left, though, much more so than the vanilla S2 because the Rocket has LTE capability.
To hit your other questions, any app that is available on the Play Store will work. If a ROM needs a second gapps flash to get the Play Store (along with everything else Google ships) back, that will be made available and is a very easy install. I've never unlocked a phone, but I don't believe that a new ROM would lose that. Wait for someone else to reply, but I'd be shocked if it did. As far as what you want, there's a ROM to suit any desires. Most ROMs are pretty basic and look and feel like you'd expect a Skyrocket to. Some are designed to feel a little more like iOS, some are designed to be stripped-down (and faster as a result), and some are based on stock firmware and very closely replicate the original experience. It's up to you to read through the dev forum for the Rocket and pick the experience that's best for you.
As far as how difficult it is, spend a couple hours reading about flashing, how it works and why it works. Once you have that basic understanding of it and can follow a few simple instructions that are pretty universal across ROMs, you're set.
Well, I'm giving this a try tonight. Fingers crossed!
One piece of advice: when you pick a new rom from "Android development" read the WHOLE thread associated with that rom, with special attention the the first couple of pages. Make sure you understand the process and any potential pitfalls.
First rom I tried I spent probably six hours reading. It was worth it.
Success!!! I now have the latest CandyKat running! It ended up being not too bad at all. Now I need to figure out how things are different from the AT&T Jelly Bean this replaces.
Thanks for the advice and thanks to everyone who contributes to the site,
I have Kandykat. It seems to be a good solid rom. The Google Now launcher is buggy though. I changed to Nova launcher. Other than that it's been fine.
Thanks for the tips, Chris. I've been using Launcher3. What's the difference between these launchers? Everything seems to be running fine on my rocket now. Any tips on increasing battery life? Any tips on some nice customization?
Google Now launcher seems to have the annoying habit of forgetting the screen setup (app positioning) during reboot. Launcher 3 also exhibited the same problem. Launchers are a matter of taste, but Nova launcher seems solid and looks right to me. YMMV. It's easy to try a few.