Root Should I root?

[skittensro]

I have my phone all customized and set other than a few things which I can't/are hard to do. I also have some concerns about doing it.

1.) How often do they brick? If so what can I do?

2.) Is it hard? Will I got lost half way through?

3.) Can I keep everything as it is or do I have to start over? (Not a big deal.)

4.) Can I under-clock it to save battery? Without noticing to much.

5.) Take screenshots.

6.) Disable the 5 second delay after you press home to make WidgetLock stop yelling at me.

Is it easy to try new root things like it is on a jail broken iPod? What is there? What are custom ROMs, what do they do, and do I want them? Also do you think at this point it's worth it for me?

 

[Slug]

1.) How often do they brick? If so what can I do?

A true "brick" is so very rare to be an almost negligable risk. It can be "semi-bricked", but even that is rare nowadays thanks to proven rooting methods. The handset is recoverable from this state in any case.

2.) Is it hard? Will I got lost half way through?

It's quite straightforward provided you follow the procedure(s) correctly in order.

3.) Can I keep everything as it is or do I have to start over? (Not a big deal.)

Yes, your existing setup won't be altered unless you have to downgrade the existing ROM - this will require a factory reset.

4.) Can I under-clock it to save battery? Without noticing to much.

With a third-party kernel, yes.

5.) Take screenshots.

I believe so, although I just use the SDK if I need to take screen captures.

6.) Disable the 5 second delay after you press home to make WidgetLock stop yelling at me.

Not disable it, but root access allows it to be bypassed. See "Root Helper" in the Advanced section of WidgetLocker's settings menu.

What are custom ROMs, what do they do, and do I want them?

They are unofficial device firmwares, either optimised/tweaked versions of the official HTC ROM or compiled from scratch from the Android source code. They can change the appearance of the UI, offer additional features, improve performance.... whether you want one depends on what you want from your handset, really.

Also do you think at this point it's worth it for me?

Only you can answer that, I'm afraid.

 

[skittensro]

Glad to hear bricking isn't an issue.

I might do it on my next weekend that isn't packed.

Another thing, Why do you root? What are reasons to do it?

Also, I know I said this but, is there a place you can go to see root only things like the Cydia store on the jailbroken iPod touch?

Thanks again!

 

[Slug]

Why do you root? What are reasons to do it?

Me personally? Much as I like what Sense offers, I still prefer the vanilla Android experience. Rooting allowed me to replace the ROM.

is there a place you can go to see root only things like the Cydia store on the jailbroken iPod touch?

There are many root-only apps in the Android Market.

 

[skittensro]

Thank you.