Stock Froyo vs Custom ROM for Moto Droid on Verizon?

[GaMeBoY439]

Hey Guys,

So I am still fairly new to Droid modding and I'd like to get some feedback and opinions on whether people prefer stock, vanilla froyo or a souped up custom rom implementation of froyo on their verizon moto droid. So far I have used ChevyNo1's Simply Stunning ROM (versions 4.3 and 4.7) and jRummy's Kangerade v5.0.9. I find that both of them are great ROMs, but I have had minor issues with both of them. Things like wi-fi tethering not working, apps2sd issues, self restarts, etc., but they were very on and off. I'd be able to fix most things, but sometimes things would return, other things would pop up, etc.

I haven't spent much time on the official, stock froyo update for the Droid, but I do know the immediate disadvantages are basically no tethering (wi-fi tether isn't included at all and wired one is way too expensive), no overclocking, no root access, and basically no flash support (I read somewhere that a minimum spec for flash 10.1 is 1GHz cpu, so since the stock update won't allow overclocking, doesn't it really not work well at all on it?).

This may seem like a no-brainer at first since custom ROMs offer all those awesome features and the stock hardly offers anything, but when you weigh in stability, support, and overall user experience it becomes tough. The official froyo update is backed by Verizon and Google, and they want it to work perfectly or else they know they lose money. Custom ROMs are just developed and maintained by individuals or small teams, so support is automatically way less, and more problems and bugs are prone to sneak their way through testing. Don't get me wrong, ChevyNo1's support for his ROMs is phenomenal and I haven't posted in jRummy's threads for support, so I can't say anything bad at all about their support. All I'm saying is that they're just human, so there's only so much they can do, versus two huge corporations that have large teams of tech support people. Also, as stated above, my custom ROM experience so far has been pretty problematic and buggy. Chevy's pretty quick about fixing issues, but more keep popping up, and just overall I haven't been able to get the custom ROM experience to be 100% of what I want.

So with all that said, and considering all of the pros and cons of stock, official froyo, vs. custom ROM froyo, what do you guys think is best for the moto droid on verizon?

Oh and to offer more info on what I personally prefer (as far as features, usage, etc.), I think the most important of the new features for me is Apps2SD because I can definitely run out of phone space easily. I know apps are usually small, but when you consider those big, 3D games (Asphalt, FIFA 10, etc.), they can get up to 20MB+ in size, so there's only so many of those the few hundred megs of internal phone storage can hold. Tethering isn't so big now, but I may get a netbook in the future and I don't want to pay another monthly bill for dedicated 3G for it, so tethering with the Droid may become important at that point. I do love to watch online streaming tv shows, so flash comes into play there. However, I really don't see it working that well on the droid at all. Even when I OC'd it to 1.25GHz with one of Chevy's kernels, flash video playback was choppy at best, so yeah I dunno.

So yeah, that's all the relevant info I can think of. Sorry about the novel, lol, and thanks in advance to all who actually read all of this and can offer me some good, informed advice.

Oh and one last thing: I just bought a case for my Droid, and noticed that SetCPU warned me that the temp reached the critical temp that I set for it to warn me about (50 degrees Celsius). Do cases make it easier for the phone to overheat while OC'ing (is it harder to dissipate heat through the added layer of the case)? I guess that'd a point towards stock froyo, although I could still go with a custom ROM and just not OC, or just back it down. Ugghhh too many options, lol, please help with some insight!!

*** Oh and if your answer is custom ROM, please offer a suggestion of which one you've had the best experience with.

 

[cromo8]

i prefer custom roms due to the fact that they are constantly evolving

like ss 4.6 had an update within weeks

stock is too plain for me now after rooting and getting custom roms. i ran stock from the leak for about a day and a half and just could stand it i was like ugghhhghgh why is it so sluggish

as far as apps to sd if youre using SS or jrummys kangerade there is an option for it to move apps to ur sd

flash runs great for me, the actual flash non beta version and i have a 1.25 ghz kernel but i have it maxed at 1 ghz with a min of 800 mhz

if i were to suggest something to you try installing LIthium mod its simple and very quick and responsive

 

[GaMeBoY439]

Thanks for the input cromo8 (awesome avatar btw, lol).

How has your experience with the 1.25 ghz kernel been? Do you experience a lot (if any) self-reboots? Oh and what voltage level are you running it at (ulv, lv, or mv)?

 

[jsh1120]

i prefer custom roms due to the fact that they are constantly evolving...

And that's why I prefer running a stock kernel.

 

[Eschy]

i think you will find that custom roms generally run better as they are tailored for improved performance and battery life. I have used a lot of roms just testing them out. I ran simply stunning a little bit and it just seemed a bit buggy for my taste. My favorite for a while was bugless beast with smoked glass theme, but its been a while since i have seen an update so i made the switch to source built sapphire 1.0 and havent looked back since. It runs smooth and is extremely stable. The kernels are built specifically for sapphire so they run seamlessly with the rom. As for running the stock there are stock builds with root access and you can use a custom kernel to overclock. These builds generally arent deodexed so they cant be themed although you can probably find a deodexed version.
As for the flash player you arent going to see very good performance on the droid because all the versions of flash have been ported over from the nexus one build, and it isnt a native app. If you find sites that are optimized for mobile the videos playback very smooth. once it comes out of beta and becomes available in the market you will see and improved performance i would imagine.
The case is probably going to cause some heating issues as the back of the phone is metal and disperses a lot of the heat from the processor and will not get the air that it needs. I use a case and it doesnt seem to be a huge problem but the phone will get a bit hotter. Try setting your failsafe at 55 degrees and scale down to 550mhz. It cools down really quick if you do that. Sorry if i missed anything, but my recommendation is sapphire 1.0 its an awesome rom. I run the lv 125-1200 for sapphire (on their website) releases:sapphire-1.0.0 [CVPCS Sapphire Wiki] or in rom manager. All the roms are great i just find that this and bugless beast run the best on my phone. All droids are different you just have to find a rom/kernel combo that works for you.

 

[cromo8]

Thanks for the input cromo8 (awesome avatar btw, lol).

How has your experience with the 1.25 ghz kernel been? Do you experience a lot (if any) self-reboots? Oh and what voltage level are you running it at (ulv, lv, or mv)?

haha penguins rock and ninjas rock perfect combination

i use ulv for my kernel have tried them all my phone seems to handle them pretty well, only had two reboots ever with ss 4.7 on the first day after that works magnificently

i forgot to answer about the battery temp, my phone gets hot as well as they all do esp if you are overclocked, ive run wifi tethering for about two hours straight and its worked great hottest its gotten is about 46 C and i used it to tether constantly playing MW2

 

[AdamPA1006]

I'm sure most people would always say ROM, and I agree, just too much customization to pass up

 

[kermitdfrogdroid]

Custom ROM, Im running bugless beast 4 with smoked glass theme and love ittt. chevy 1.1 ghz custom kernel as well.


But If I could Hijack this thread for one question..... Im getting the froyo 2.2 rollout update message on my screen, I read a thread about what to do since Im running a custom froyo rom already. Download it but dont install? How do i do this since it says it will install automatically. :/ thanks. ps I guess it is downloaded, and it keeps asaking me to restart and install..

 

[HEMLOCK]

Custom ROM! I ran 2.2 for a few days, but decided to root and load up a ROM....the difference is night and day!

At the moment im running UD 7.0, Watermark'd Theme, and a ChevyNo1 1.0 ghz LV Kernal. Running amazing. Like a whole new phone! Theres a bunch of great ROM's out there....its just a matter of finding the one that suites your droid!