New (used) Eris for my daughter - root or stock?

[kenn]

I am picking up a used mint Eris for my daughter to play with. I know that they don't perform all that well and the new roms with overclocking will help a lot. Basically, after reading the XTR posts, that's the ROM I would use, but I'm not certain I even want to go there. My daughter texts CONSTANTLY, checks email, plays games on her phone, and uses facebook. She loves to customize the look and feel of her phone ad nauseum. She almost never makes phone calls or surfs the web...

If I just root and overclock, how much better is the phone? I have read that over time it gets slower. Could I back up apps and settings and do a phone wipe every couple of months and then restore backup to get back to decent performance? She loves to tweak so she'll want to play with themes, colors, backgrounds, icons, and so on. I know she'll also download a bazillion apps. I'd like to leave the stock sense system alone or try things like go launcher or launcher pro but don't wan the rom to battle with apps or make her have to do anything outside of normal to use the phone if I ROM it.

If I get XTR5.0, I see that sense is still intact and LPP isn't included which is better for me. Are there any issues with the ROM that prevent the average user from using it the same as one would use a stock ROM? In other words, will the market still work properly, applications still update, icon-changing software like better cut work, launchers like LP/ADW/GL etc.? If so, I'll go this route for certain.

Suggestions/comments?

 

[doogald]

First, it is xtrSENSE that has the Sense launcher. xtrROM is mostly based on stock as well, but has a different default keyboard, no Sense launcher - just the stock Android launcher, but you can obviously replace that with anything - and I think there may be one or two more things that I am forgetting that are slightly different from stock.

The market will work fine. In fact, either choice is better than stock, as the xtr ROMs use a feature called cache2cache that moves the Dalvik cache files of the third party apps that you install yourself into a different area of internal storage, opening up quite a bit more space for user apps and data.

There are apps that can manage your text messages for you. I believe that there is a for-pay one that you can do things like set an upper limit of the number of messages, by time, messages per contact, and total messages stored and will roll off the oldest messages to keep the message store pretty clean. I'll post a reply with the name of the app a bit later.

You surely could, though, keep a Nandroid backup that you restore to bring it back to a certain reference point - that will work just fine.

It is surely my opinion that running xtrSENSE with the default overclocking will be better than running stock - it's faster when you need it and runs slower when the Eris is idle, so you actually get better battery life as well. There are slight risks of bricking the device when you root, but if you do it right - follow the Universal Root for Dummies method in this forum - I think that you'll reduce the risk completely.

I do have to ask that if she rarely calls or uses the web, would she be better off with a different phone? The Eris has a mandatory data plan requirement - I think it's back to $29.99 per month unlimited data as your only option right now.

I'd really go with one of the xtr ROMs if I were you. The Froyo and GB ROMs are great, but there is some fiddling involved sometimes, and there are users who report that receiving text messages suddenly stops, requiring some quick fiddling. You never see that with xtrSENSE or xtrROM.

 

[doogald]

There are apps that can manage your text messages for you. I believe that there is a for-pay one that you can do things like set an upper limit of the number of messages, by time, messages per contact, and total messages stored and will roll off the oldest messages to keep the message store pretty clean. I'll post a reply with the name of the app a bit later.

Message Cleanup: https://market.android.com/details?id=uk.co.jads.android.messagecleanup&feature=search_result

 

[kenn]

I do have to ask that if she rarely calls or uses the web, would she be better off with a different phone? The Eris has a mandatory data plan requirement - I think it's back to $29.99 per month unlimited data as your only option right now.

I'd really go with one of the xtr ROMs if I were you. The Froyo and GB ROMs are great, but there is some fiddling involved sometimes, and there are users who report that receiving text messages suddenly stops, requiring some quick fiddling. You never see that with xtrSENSE or xtrROM.

Thanks for the input! In addition to texting, she wants the android platform for games (like angry birds) and other apps. I don't believe there are any android devices that use the standard 9.95 data plan are there?

 

[Podivin]

I'm a big fan of the Eris, but you have to know that it will not properly play Angry Birds. It MAY not play it at all (some do, some don't), but if it does it will be slow and choppy. If AB is a priority for you daughter then I'd recommend against the Eris.

*I* am not aware of an android phone on Verizon that will allow you to use the $9.95 data plan, to my knowledge they all require the $29 plan that Doogald mentioned.

 

[doogald]

Thanks for the input! In addition to texting, she wants the android platform for games (like angry birds) and other apps. I don't believe there are any android devices that use the standard 9.95 data plan are there?

I think that there was a small period of time when you could get a 125 MB data plan for $20 or something, but that Verizon went back to $30 unlimited when the iPhone was introduced.

Yep, I just checked: $29.99 plan required for all 3G and 4G smartphones.

 

[kenn]

Ok, wow. I can get a mint one so cheap, I thought she'd have something cool to play with but it appears to be so crippled. Perhaps there is another alternative (tiny android phone) that would be a better choice.

 

[doogald]

Ok, wow. I can get a mint one so cheap, I thought she'd have something cool to play with but it appears to be so crippled. Perhaps there is another alternative (tiny android phone) that would be a better choice.

If she wants to play Angry Birds, the Eris is probably not a great choice anyway.

You could get an Android phone on a prepaid service like Virgin Mobile or MetroPCS or something, supposing you have good service from them where you are. LG Optimus V on Virgin may be a good choice?

 

[bberryhill0]

Angry Birds seemed to run fine on my Eris.

 

[kenn]

She just wants an android device and we are on Verizon already (under contract). I went ahead and grabbed the used Eris, rooted it, and installed xtrSENSE 5.0.1. It is so much faster with this rom and it still feels stock.

Her contract is up in about 9 months. We'll use this until then and we'll get her a newer device with the latest bells and whistles.

 

[bberryhill0]

What did you pay for the Eris? People want at least $125 here in Central Oregon on Craigslist.

 

[kenn]

I got it for $60. It had an aftermarket charger instead of the OEM one. I also got a leather case she carried it in. The outside is in great shape - no scratches. The screen has a protector on it and underneath was like new though the protector was a bit worn... I guess it served its purpose. I'm hoping to find another for $75 in similar condition.

 

[bberryhill0]

You must be back east. In the west Erii seem to hold their value better. I paid $10 for mine with a new contract.

* I never put a screen protector on my Eris and 14 months later it still has no scratches.

 

[ttran97]

Did VZW get rid of the $15 for 150 mb data plan? I put my mom's Eris (formerly my dad's Eris...hehe) on that $15 plan because she doesn't use it for anything except checking stocks and weather. You might have to call VZW and request that data plan.

 

[kenn]

Did VZW get rid of the $15 for 150 mb data plan? I put my mom's Eris (formerly my dad's Eris...hehe) on that $15 plan because she doesn't use it for anything except checking stocks and weather. You might have to call VZW and request that data plan.

They have that data plan but only for older generation smart phones. Anything Android (I asked, begged, pleaded) requires the $29.95 unlimited data plan. Perhaps if I was an older customer it would mysteriously be available, but I just joined V a year ago.

 

[doogald]

Did VZW get rid of the $15 for 150 mb data plan? I put my mom's Eris (formerly my dad's Eris...hehe) on that $15 plan because she doesn't use it for anything except checking stocks and weather. You might have to call VZW and request that data plan.

They dropped that data plan when they added the iPhone a couple of months ago. That $15 plan was not available for very long.

 

[mc48]

Angry Birds seemed to run fine on my Eris.

Same with me as long as I use an ad blocker and set the screen not to time out Angry Birds works fine.

 

[kenn]

Same with me as long as I use an ad blocker and set the screen not to time out Angry Birds works fine.

What is your choice of ad blocker?

 

[mc48]

Adfree works fine for me.