best ROM for someone who doesn't enjoy flashing ROMs?

[Frankie]

A quick history: I have flashed my DInc exactly once before and I'm not happy about having to do it again (the ROM is unsupported now & increasingly crashy, and a Verizon OTA constantly pesters me but isn't able to install). I'm a Mac power user, a Linux fan, and do Windows IT for a living, but I'm not an Android expert and I definitely have no interest in cycling through a bunch of different ROMs Goldilocks-style. So if any of you here feel like you can relate to my way of thinking, I'd appreciate suggestions.

Things I am seeking, in decreasing order of importance:

1. not losing my saved documents
2. not losing my texts & account info
3. stability
4. battery life
5. not having to reinstall apps by hand
6. not having to redo settings & rearrange screens
7. Sense
8. speed

Yes, I do have Titanium Pro. But, for example, the description on Redemption ROM says to wipe everything and "I don't recommend backing up data". WTF? Is he crazy, or does he mean some sort of data other than ... umm, my data?

Thanks.

[Ads]

[tweebee]

Lou is one of the best developers out there if not on top of my list! His Redemption and Redemptive Revolution ROMs are solid and most stable than any that I've tried. And doing full wipe and not backup system data are always recommended when flashing ROMs. You can backup/restore user apps with Titanium Pro.

Also, it's not nice to call someone crazy when you haven't even tried out his ROMs...

[Fudsey]

He is talking about system data not app data.

In Titanium, under menu/batch do a user app backup, not a system data backup. You will have to re-do your settings and screens no matter what ROM you choose but you will only have to do it once, unless you use LauncherPro and save your setup. If you make a backup of your current ROM before you flash the new one you can return to it exactly the way it is when you made the backup at any time(ie: if you don't like the ROM).

As for saving your texts, there is one system app you need to back up but I am not sure of which one it is. Someone else will have to let you know what it is(Tweebee?).
As long as you save your documents to your SDCard then you won't loose them.

I would suggest Redemption 2.3 as it is very stable and has very good battery life and fulfills everything on your list basically...

[davidnc]

"my backup pro" (its in the market) allows you to save sms,browser bookmarks,contacts,....etc.and more to either your sd card or on a online server.I forgot if the free verison does i purchased to support Dev.
i use redemtive rEVOlution 2.2

sent using TaPaTaLk

[tktouch12]

skyraider 3.5 is pretty solid. updates dont come very often so i dont think you'll ever really have to flash again.

but, the best rom i've ever used it incredibly re-engineered. he's still working on it though, so i'd wait until he updates maybe one or two more times. however, its good enough right now, that you could use it how it is now and you wouldn't need to ever update. its a really nice rom

[markargente]

Things I am seeking, in decreasing order of importance:

1. not losing my saved documents
2. not losing my texts & account info
3. stability
4. battery life
5. not having to reinstall apps by hand
6. not having to redo settings & rearrange screens
7. Sense
8. speed

Yes, I do have Titanium Pro. But, for example, the description on Redemption ROM says to wipe everything and "I don't recommend backing up data". WTF? Is he crazy, or does he mean some sort of data other than ... umm, my data?

Thanks.

Saved Documents: If they are on your SD Card, you shouldn't have any issues
Texts & Account Info: You can backup and restore your texts with SMS Backup & Restore. It's free from the market and it's really cake. Account info will have to be re-added.
Stability, Battery Life, Sense, Speed: Choose Redemption Rom latest version. The only downside is that he doesn't do flashover package updates (rather full wipe updates), but I was always a few versions behind and had no problems
Applications: Titanium Backup Pro will work for all your installed applications. You can do app+data with titanium, but don't use system-apps (the ones in red). Create a filter and do it batch style.

Hope that helps!

[Medion]

My recommendation is to use Virtuous. Here's why;

-It's based off the stock ROM with bloat removed. It's basically the most stable ROM you can get, but improved performance over stock.
-He updates after an OTA, and generally has it set up so the OTA won't bug you while you wait on the next release.
-When you do update, you don't have to start over. Clear cache and wipe dalvik, but no need to wipe data.
-If you have issues with any aspect of Virtuous, let me know and I can build you a custom patch for the issue that you can flash over the existing ROM without any issues or need to reset any data.

[Frankie]

Thanks to everyone for the useful info. I have a few followup questions

He is talking about system data not app data.

Is this standard terminology in the ROM community? system data = "data", app settings = ???, user files = ??? Also, what category are SMS/bookmarks/etc?

Texts & Account Info: You can backup and restore your texts with SMS Backup & Restore. It's free from the market and it's really cake. Account info will have to be re-added.
. . .
Applications: Titanium Backup Pro will work for all your installed applications. You can do app+data with titanium, but don't use system-apps (the ones in red). Create a filter and do it batch style. Hope that helps!

In Titanium, are the ones in green (SMS/bookmarks/etc) safe or unsafe?

My recommendation is to use Virtuous. Here's why;

Yes, that sounds like what I'm looking for. Time to nandroid backup, update hboot, get rom manager...

[The Bear]

My recommendation is to use Virtuous. Here's why;

-It's based off the stock ROM with bloat removed. It's basically the most stable ROM you can get, but improved performance over stock.
-He updates after an OTA, and generally has it set up so the OTA won't bug you while you wait on the next release.
-When you do update, you don't have to start over. Clear cache and wipe dalvik, but no need to wipe data.
-If you have issues with any aspect of Virtuous, let me know and I can build you a custom patch for the issue that you can flash over the existing ROM without any issues or need to reset any data.

Frankie, I agree with Medion - Go with Virtuous for your ROM; as far as Kernels go, I would look into HeyItsLou's Kernels or KingXKlick's Kernels....

[Asmodeus]

+1 Vote for skyraider. It's probably the best d/d rom. I ran it for months without issues. Most of the time I've had the phone its had SR.

If you said I could only flash the phone one more time. It's what I would put on.