Database Develop

Faster TILT after Hard Soft Reset for Newbies

Reason For this thread:
New easy to find Quick alternative for NEWBIES wanting to know ho to obtain a safe fast responding Tilt without messing the Device.
I THINK AT&T SCREWEDUP this beautifull piece of TECH with the Bloatware and not including HTC custom add on.
Have to say my Tilt was ok out of the box BUT NOW IS WAY BETTER.
Now I'm not expert (I'm more of a newbie) but theese is something I did and is really True and it WORKED.
I kindly ASK
***** Only people with FACTS/EXPERIENCE will POST HERE what they think is not HERE***********
****** NEWBIES with NO EXPERIENCE or with NO FACTS DO NOT POST HERE just READ, so we can keep it clean for all people without knowledge and no time to read QUESTIONS******
What to do:
Just:
1. Hard Reset
2. Soft Reset before the count down of 3 secs end.
So the AT&T SLOWING BLOATWARE (Crap Software from AT&T like Stupid DEMOS and Tricky Charging services, etc.) are not installed.
All this BLOATWARE make your Tilt SLOW.
Bennefits:
1. Faster Respponse "Overall" and I mean "Overall"
2. The so mentioned Slow DIALER, is no more SLOW, now it respond FASTER.
And let me tell you that I have over 300 contacts in my Tilt.
3. Way more free space for you to install direct to the device all Plugins and tools You Want.
4. When accessing WINDOWS folder, is FASTER.
5. Notice Faster Camera auto focus Shoot.
ETC, ETC, ETC, ETC, ETC.................................
Now I know there are some people who post already discussed topics.
How do I know this? BECAUSE I READ ABOUT IT ABOUT 100's of time about it.
And Because I read and someone should put toguether some specific threads (already saw some of them). And is very hard for me to read a thread that is maybe 80% guessing, I don't know, maybe, I heard of, etc, etc, etc.
I did this for all those people that DON't have time to go thru a Thread with over 50 posts mostly of craps and finding the answer somere in the post # 41.
NOW FOR YOU THAT HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE and PLEASE!!!! no "GUESSING" Tell us about additional beneffits, or what important APPS are missing once You REJECT the BLOATWARE if any by replying to this POST and using the Title:
Title: Beneffits
or
Title: Missing
Thanks!!! to all of you.

Thank you for your effort. I didn't know fo all the benefits from rebooting at the 3-second count, I am to used to the custom ROM's, but this is great guide for those who want to stick with the AT&T ROM.

Its already been talked out many times here and on the ATT forums. Its even been added in the Tilt Specific WiKi already at the bottom and shows the difference an whats installed before and after the bloatware removal:
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=TiltSpecificWikiPage
But basically the
Benefit: It removes all the trial ware that you'd probably never buy and frees up space.
Missing: Still not as good as a custom rom that has all the performance tweaks to speed up the device (although the newest official ROM is close). If you know what your doing most of these can be fixed afterwards like the registry tweaks. But if your going to go through all that trouble you might as well just cook your own ROM or find one thats set up to your liking.

True
PsyOpWarlord said:
Its already been talked out many times here and on the ATT forums. Its even been added in the Tilt Specific WiKi already at the bottom and shows the difference an whats installed before and after the bloatware removal:
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=TiltSpecificWikiPage
But basically the
Benefit: It removes all the trial ware that you'd probably never buy and frees up space.
Missing: Still not as good as a custom rom that has all the performance tweaks to speed up the device (although the newest official ROM is close). If you know what your doing most of these can be fixed afterwards like the registry tweaks. But if your going to go through all that trouble you might as well just cook your own ROM or find one thats set up to your liking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But the Problem is that some like to play safe, and I think those are the people without time to read long threads because all the questions.
Then after alot of time reading (again long confusing threads) when you think you found what you where looking for, somewhere appears a known problem you don't want to have.
In my case for example wouldn't like to lose Basic Dialer Alternatives and still confused if it will aslo remove those options if I install any of the dialers or if it will create conflicts and so on, like ohhh!!!!! I install some app and now I'm having problems with something, and then GUESS WHAT, somtimes people end up HARD RESETTING.
Another thing is for example pop up messages that are shown in a specific color that match your theme, then you install something, and BAM POP UP MESSAGES WITH PINK COLORS and so on.
My intention was to make an easy to find info for newbies. Believe me I have read but not alot of time to play, and try to go thru previous POSTS but no response.
Now I put this new threads and for the replies I recived I think I had better results than by going thru old post and actualy thanks for the replies I know that probably people will read this and now will be directed to the wikki.
Like I will do, just Hopping it is complete and accurate info.
Thanks for replies.

I just updated my rom to
RUU_Kaiser_CINGULAR_WWE_3.57.502.2_radio_sign_25.88.40.05_1.65.21.18_Ship.exe
I'm trying to remove the bloatware BUT it reinstalls it everytime. Is there something in the new ROM that prevents me from removing it or is there something new I need to do.
I had no problems removing it from the previous ROM. Thanks

JerryG said:
I just updated my rom to
RUU_Kaiser_CINGULAR_WWE_3.57.502.2_radio_sign_25.88.40.05_1.65.21.18_Ship.exe
I'm trying to remove the bloatware BUT it reinstalls it everytime. Is there something in the new ROM that prevents me from removing it or is there something new I need to do.
I had no problems removing it from the previous ROM. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must do the soft reset before the 3 second countdown.

From what I know of the trick to soft reset worked only with WM6 ROMS, not with the newer WM6.1 ones.

soft reset works with WM6.1
I am one of the "play it safe" guys and the soft reset does work with WM6.1, you just have to catch it BEFORE the customize 3 second countdown even appears. I have used registry tweaks and jacked up my phone plenty, resulting in hard resets and each time i catch it before the countdown. if you miss it, just soft reset and start over again.
Newbs Unite!

Its really not that hard to flash a custom rom, besides you think your device is fast now? Well flash a rom.

kilrah said:
From what I know of the trick to soft reset worked only with WM6 ROMS, not with the newer WM6.1 ones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll second that. I've tried soft resetting at every imaginable point after the restore and every time it just resets and goes right back into the customization garbage.
**After reading Stu's post I'm going to try it one more time. I'll post my results.**
Yessir..it does work. Thanks Stu!

this works on dutty's rom even while it shows the countdown...

Flash ROM or Not?

I've had a Wing for about a year now (t-mobile). During this time I never really read much about modding the phone and such. However, it is a bit plain and very slow if anything is open.
I've been reading a lot and recently changed the pagepool size and am now working on using PocketMechanic to move stuff to the flash card. I do however have a couple questions:
Should I flash my wing or just optimize how it is now? What is a good home screen I can download that doesn't kill my battery life? What will I be losing if I flash? Do all the ROMs kill my battery life? How can I choose the right ROM for me? I can't decide after reading over a lot of them.
I know someone is going to say use the search. I have and have been reading for hours lastnight. If someone can just help a bit I'd be much appreciated.

i would definatly flash your rom, i would use one of the open touch roms they all have good battery life. flashing your wing is like optimizing without having to take the time to find the programs and do the registry tweaks. a good homescreen i think is spb mobile shell, just make sure you disable smart gestures, i usuall can go around 2.5 days without charging.

Downside?
Are there any downsides to doing this?

Cant think of any downsides, its all for a good cause, oh one downside, you might lose your applications you've downloaded if any. Other than that its WAY better that the original T-Mo ROM

You've been wasting your time using the original stock rom. Flash a new rom (I reccommend ITJE or ASERGs) and you're going to see a 2 fold improvement on your phone immediately.

the one downside is that if you dont follow the directions you could brick your phone

So I tried a number of ROMs today:
-Papa
-Multiple versions of the Open Touch ROMs
Here is my conclusion and thoughts. Perhaps you guys can guide me a bit to a final solution.
They all look beautiful without a doubt. I didn't have any initial problems loading or using any of them except the lock program wasn't locking the volume control. However, just do perform quick tasks like I normally do to lock the phone or go to the comm manager felt like a chore to do. They looked nice, but I had to go through a lot to do anything. The Open Touch ROMs with Throttle Launcher were annoying when viewing mail because you could only quickly see 1 at a time with the large mail that pops up when you click the icon.
I really like the look of the SPG Shell Theme they have right on their homepage, but it's not free. Any of you guys have advice? I use this for work a lot so the mail / calendar / tasks view are really beneficial for me to be viewable at all times like the default theme. This is why I was saying SPG looked nice with whatever theme it is they have on their site.
I will try an Aserg on my phone tomorrow as it looks similar to the default.
Anyways, thanks in advanced for all of the help so far. I really appreciate it.

You'll be very satisfied with Aserg's rom. I look foward to hearing what you think.
Keep in mind, any rom you flash, you'll have to set up a couple of things ... such as the device lock today plugin .. settings, etc ... don't expect a rom to fulfill ALL of your needs from the moment its flashed. When you get into a new car, you still have to adjust the seat, mirrors, steering wheel ..etc.. You can't decide to scrap one car because the mirrors weren't in the position you wanted them to be.

Complete dummy (guide)

Please can one of you clever people help me. I have read loads of posts and sticky's but remain totally confused. Let me lay it out:
The first smart phone i had was a motorola A1000. using a symbian operating system. This was a quite a few years ago and I played with this loads, flashing it, making it a remote for my tv, etc. Since then I have got married, had kids, got two jobs, blah blah and totally fallen out of the loop. I used an SPVM500 on Orange as standard for a couple of years and then an HTC Touch as standard for the last couple of years. Never bothering to play or flash or fiddle.
Two days ago I upgraded to the HD which I was happyish with until someone told me I had a great phone, the best phone, infact even better than an Iphone, but within a month it would be out of date because it uses an old operating system (which lets be honest, isnt great) and I would have no access to a new iphone type store, easier menu's, iphone rival home screen etc
Now reading on here, it seems i need to flash my phone to a new Windows Mobile 6.5 release, which I assume will then make it the best phone ever again!!
Right, if thats correct and I have understood right so far I have only two questions
1. Why so many of these roms - is there not a simple list where the best one goes on top when its released
2. Is there a link to a very simple, some may even say slightly retarded, explanation on how to hold phone in one hand and magic rom impregnator in the other and let them bump uglies? I have seen a post by crackwhore (I assume you arent really one, althuogh if you are will you sort my phone for me for a small rock?) but still remain unsure of some of the language, processes and of course, which ROM to use
Basically, I want the ROM that makes everything work to the best of its ability. I also need and use office apps and want to put my tomtom mobile 6 on to it too
****** DISCLAIMER ******
Please accept my sincere apologies for being inexcusably slow - I am starting to feel like my dad needing to be tought how to text.

Hi,
Flashing a ROM is now childs play. All you need to do is put Hard SPL on your phone (See Crackwhore's step by step guide or the wiki articles on the Blackstone), and then download and flash your ROM. Hard SPL allow's you to flash custom ROMs BTW.
There is no best ROM by the way. It's too subjective, Alice's favourite ROM maybe nothing like Bob's, etc... I'd try one of the more popular ROM's on the Front page (Personally I started on Dutty's ROM's many years ago). There are so many ROM's because different people like different things (some are WM6.1, some are 6.5, some have lot's of apps, some have none).
Take your time to read through wiki articles, they go through ROM flashing step by step. All the information is there.
Thanks
Dave

1. There is soo many roms because everyone has different likes and dislikes. Some are based on WM6.1 and either 1.19, 1.56 or 1.57. Some are based on WM6.5
People have tried previously to make a list, but to judge which is better is a different story and a whole new can of worms.
Check out the wiki and section on roms. You'll find a list (slightly out of date) listing roms. Link to wiki in my signature
2. If you follow cRaCKwHoRe's guide you'll have no problems. If you don't want to follow the whole guide, I'd recommend using new HSPL 1.56. Someone on "cRaCKwHoRe's guide" thread will help you out if you get stuck. Link to guide and HSPL in my signature.
EDIT
Arrrgh!!!........I see DavidShaw beat me too it!!!! LOL

Then again if you just got your phone, why the need to flash it right away?
I would play with it for a while, install a few apps here, read through some tweaking guides there. Eventually you will learn to use the phone, and thus also learn how to use your phone. If you have been out of the loop for some time, let it grow on you before you manipulate your newly acquired device. It is a great phone, even without all the roms out there. Many aspects of the newer roms out there can be achieved by installing some apps. Granted not all of the newer features are available on the stock rom (calendar tab for example).
Once you start flashing you will always want more, let me tell you that . So enjoy your phone for a while before you start experimenting.

Ati75 said:
Then again if you just got your phone, why the need to flash it right away?
I would play with it for a while, install a few apps here, read through some tweaking guides there. Eventually you will learn to use the phone, and thus also learn how to use your phone. If you have been out of the loop for some time, let it grow on you before you manipulate your newly acquired device. It is a great phone, even without all the roms out there. Many aspects of the newer roms out there can be achieved by installing some apps. Granted not all of the newer features are available on the stock rom (calendar tab for example).
Once you start flashing you will always want more, let me tell you that . So enjoy your phone for a while before you start experimenting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good advice.
Yes definately get to know your device and read up on the wiki. If after all of this you want to flash, at least you'll be prepared

great advice, thanks all - will try and get tt6 working first as thats what is really annoying me most!!

mineistaken said:
great advice, thanks all - will try and get tt6 working first as thats what is really annoying me most!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your problem is that your most likely not using correct version of tomtom. TT7 is out, but you'll need to check which build or version of 7 works on the HD.
Go to Themes, Applications and Software forum and do a search for tomtom. I've started you off with these 2 threads:
TomTom On HD
TomTom - What Version??
Hope this helps

fantastc - thanks so much. will be bedtime reading for me tonight
(its the same tt6 i had on my touch. i have just taken the mini sd card out of one and into the other which has the .cab files and maps already on it)

mineistaken said:
fantastc - thanks so much. will be bedtime reading for me tonight
(its the same tt6 i had on my touch. i have just taken the mini sd card out of one and into the other which has the .cab files and maps already on it)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd keep all your files, especially the maps etc. Go onto one of the threads I listed above, probably the first is the best one and they'll be able to guide you in the right direction. I'd imagine your maps should work on another version.
I have version TomTom 7_910.9185 working with no problems. If you PM with your email address I'll happily email it to you. I do however believe their is some newer versions, though some have had problems with them

Let's say "Official"...

Hi everyone! I recently bought a T-mo Wing on ebay and as it's my first pda phone I did exactly the same every newbie does: I've messed things up.
The first problem was that I started to download and install every app I thought I would use. Soon realized that IN FACT I would use 10% of all that ans started uninstalling things. Till there, I was good, but then I found pocket mechanic pro and its "registry tweaker & cleanup" killed my voice command and made the phone loop forever on bootup unless I remove the memory card. Besides, I have memory shortage problems and lots of things I will never use like myFaves, t-zones, tons of icons and silly images .... So my questions are ....Is there any T-mo "official" ROM with all the T-mo stuff removed?? I don't have problems with the rest of the apps and bricking the phone is not an option: I'm latin american!! used wing was really a financial effort for me!! The second question would be: Is there any way to restore the registry keys that pocket mechanic erased?? I know the answers might have been already posted but I've been browsing the forums for about 6 hours with no success ..... Can anyone help me on this??
Thanks
Wow.... really long

alvarete62 said:
Hi everyone! I recently bought a T-mo Wing on ebay and as it's my first pda phone I did exactly the same every newbie does: I've messed things up.
The first problem was that I started to download and install every app I thought I would use. Soon realized that IN FACT I would use 10% of all that ans started uninstalling things. Till there, I was good, but then I found pocket mechanic pro and its "registry tweaker & cleanup" killed my voice command and made the phone loop forever on bootup unless I remove the memory card. Besides, I have memory shortage problems and lots of things I will never use like myFaves, t-zones, tons of icons and silly images .... So my questions are ....Is there any T-mo "official" ROM with all the T-mo stuff removed?? I don't have problems with the rest of the apps and bricking the phone is not an option: I'm latin american!! used wing was really a financial effort for me!! The second question would be: Is there any way to restore the registry keys that pocket mechanic erased?? I know the answers might have been already posted but I've been browsing the forums for about 6 hours with no success ..... Can anyone help me on this??
Thanks
Wow.... really long
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The easiest way to go back is to do a hard reset. (Hold the two softkeys and press the soft reset key.) As far as "official" ROM, there isn't, but there are a lot of third party ROMs. If you hardSPL your phone (which runs the slight risk of bricking your phone) then you brick-PROOF your phone.

Wow!! I can't believe you ...I mean YOU, took som time to answer my post!! I read lots of stuff here made by you. Thanks man! I'm really honored.
The thing is that if I hard reset my wing all the T-mo stuff will be there again, and some of it is non removable. There are lots of pictures and icons that I won't ever use. What if I take the latest T-mo ROM and delete all that without modifying anything else?? I mean, no t-zones, no my faves and no TONS of avatar pictures.... would that be possible?? Again, thanks for answering

alvarete62 said:
Wow!! I can't believe you ...I mean YOU, took som time to answer my post!! I read lots of stuff here made by you. Thanks man! I'm really honored.
The thing is that if I hard reset my wing all the T-mo stuff will be there again, and some of it is non removable. There are lots of pictures and icons that I won't ever use. What if I take the latest T-mo ROM and delete all that without modifying anything else?? I mean, no t-zones, no my faves and no TONS of avatar pictures.... would that be possible?? Again, thanks for answering
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol. Thanks for thinking so highly of me.
It's possible, you have to dump the ROM and then recook it, though.
You could also wait for my SuperJustKitchen and build your own custom ROM. ^_^ But either way, you HAVE to HardSPL. There are no ROMs that can be flashed with the stock SPL other than the stock one.

That's exactly what I'm going to do!! I'll wait for your SuperJustKitchen and remove all unneeded stuff from the latest official T-mo Rom. In the meantime, I will try to recover my voice command without hard resetting just for fun. I really don't need it because my spoken english is horrible and by the time it worked, almost never recognized what I said . Anyway, it really annoys me that a supposed registry cleanup made by pocket mechanic messed up the system that way. The Wizcode forum has a solution that actually works just for the full version of MVC. Nor upgrade nor OEM are fixed by that "patch". I would like to know if there's any way to decompile it and make the corrections manually. It's supposed to restore some deleted registry keys but I couldn't find wich ones ....Would that be possible??

If it's a cab, it can turned into a OEM/EXT package which lets you see the registry keys by themselves.

Sorry for the delay....
Hi again! It was not a .CAB .... It was a [email protected] .exe file. Tried to open with winRAR and 7zip but with no success. Finally i found the dump of the .reg file that voice command uses. I was not able to import it (there are some path errors and I know NOTHING about reg scripting), so i had to write all the keys and values manually. It worked!!!! After a soft reset voice command was there! After that I disabled it because my english sucks and VC could not understand what i said ..... but still works!! Still waiting for your kitchen to make a new ROM for my wing .... Thanks again for taking the time to answer me ...

I don't know well, but...
Maybe you can have good luck in hard-resetting and do not enter into customization, but soft-resetting.
Another way is going into Extended ROM and analizing the .cab files there, and erasing some of them (better if you save them into another place).
Please wait till someone "better than me" will confirm those data I told.
On the other way, if you don't like T-Mo ROMs the best you can do is Hard-SPL and flashing a new radio+ROM. You by yourself realized Ivan has good ROM's. And the one I'm using now is also good.

Suggest a Rom and GUI for me.

OK, my first post so be gentle.
I have MDA Vario that has been flashed with TPCElite series V11 MEGA wm6.5 23017. It also has the touchflo GUI running. Now having tried it for a week (only just purchased it a week ago) I can say that I'm not a fan of the touchflo prog. It seems to hang on occasions and I often end up selecting something I didn't want only to find the phone connecting to the net. So I have switched it off. There is a windows default one that is working fine, but I can't see a way to customise the menu so I can add what I want to it.
So my dilemma. Do I flash with a "lite" rom and add a GUI myself afterwards - this way I can uninstall it if I don't like it. Or should I just leave it deselected and install a new one? Will this have any performance/memory issues - ie is the lite rom a better way to go.
I had a Mio PDA with iLauncher on it and I liked the ability to add my own shortcuts etc.
If I should flash can anyone recommend a stable reliable rom. Also is there a better GUI? Been looking at Manila 2D v2 but I want to be able to customise the main menu and I don't want it sluggish.
One final thing. Is it possible to get the phone to ask permission before connecting via gprs rather than scurrying around for the disconnect. I've looked through the menus but can't find anything. Don't mind using it if I want it, just fed up of it dialing it by mistake -(I have sausage fingers.)

i recommend the t.i.r element v5 rom. ive been thru many roms including the tpc series that you have tried and i find that t.i.r element v5 is the best w/ smooth graphics, great gui (full landscape support etc.) i cant post a link as of now since i am new to posting on xda so please look it up and give it a shot!

Is there a CLI version of a rom for this phone or is someone just trying too sound fancy? Since when is touchflu a GUI? I am totally confused.
Do I flash with a "lite" rom and add a GUI myself afterwards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uh my head is hurting make it stop.. SOMEONE REPLIED TO THIS?? awmg
If I should flash can anyone recommend a stable reliable rom. Also is there a better GUI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am so confused, it's like trying to mess with a womans bra (Full Landscape support) for the first time, what do I do.. do I call her new hair doo a pair of panties? AAAHHHHHHHH
Stylez close this **** down.. REASON.... Doesn't make any sense at all..
I used the GUI version of this forum to reply.. Thanks.

hi DTBrum,
touchflo - i never liked it too, don't know which files are responsible for its running and if it could be removed, seems like it's part of needed htc drivers to me, but this will switch it off completely:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\OEM\TFLOSettings]
"EnableScroll"=dword:00000000
"EnableCube"=dword:00000000
you need a registry editor to change those values.
===
you can't replace gui, or you can theoretically but what you mean is sort of launcher, or today manager. I tried more and didn't like any, they all seems to be laggy to me.
windows in default uses today screen and start menu, it's the same way as in pc edition, there are folders with shortcuts in them for start menu
look in \windows\start menu folder. and on today screen, you can set what you want to see there in settings/today
I use start replacement called quickmenu which is a very small prg with lots of tweaks.
if you don't like those fancy launchers and controls, better you make your own rom. it's very easy with tools from xda. nearly all custom roms lite or full you'll find here have some kind of launchers and today replacement already in them and it's hard to remove or disable them.
there is a lot of different apps like iLauncher, you can install/uninstall.
no one will recommend you any custom rom here, you need to go through trying one after another because everybody's preferences differs. look in wiki.
automatic connect. no, there is no way to disable this. you can use app called 'nodata' but then you'll have to run it to enable/disable every time you want to use internet. But it solves problems in roaming.
Some programs can be set to not auto dial. and another option is, you can set a fake internet connection, make it default and then when you want to go online you'll dial the real one manually. But you may find that some programs would not want to use other then default connection.
and don't get discouraged here on forum, some people are smart here, true, but not all of us here get born that way.

Thankx for the replies.
What I found with touchflo was that there are occasions where I try to scroll from left to right and nothing happens, then all of a sudden I find it has selected something like maps or internet and the phone is trying to connect to the net. Then it starts responding normally. So as a front end user interface for me I'm not that keen on it. Also I can't see a way to remove the categories sucj as maps, and add my own. I have a registry editor and will try changing the values suggested and see if that helps. I'll do a search for the other bits recommended.
Apologies ChumleyEX, not sure if I used the correct terminology. For me a program such as touchflo is an alternative GUI that sits on top of the windows GUI. Just want to know if there are better, more reliable ones. Doesn't have to be fancy. I want to be able to customise it and for it to be quick and responsive.

Sorry I'm sure I was too harsh, I was feeling a little too good last night.

No problem ChumleyEX - no harm done.
Papo - thanks for you time and help, you cleared a few things up for me. Registry edited and touchflo now disabled.
As I said I've only had this device a week and only just found this site recently, so I'm not really up on the terminology so I'm hoping you can look past my shortcomings please. I'll get there. I'm no novice with pc's or pda's but I'm not in the same league as most people on here I admit.
My question about installing an alternative to touchflo was because some of these other programs such as ilauncher like to be installed to the device memory rather than storage card. I don't want to find I start running low on resources so I was contemplating flashing the phone with a wm6.5 lite version with all the MS bloatware removed and adding a launcher/today screen manager afterwards. At least this way if I don't like a particular one I could un-install that. I have no option to remove touchflo.
I was hoping that by describing what I was after people would recommend something that fits the bill. But for now I keep looking at the roms and reading the comments until I find one I like the look of. There is some really nice work here on this site - so tempted to give it a go. I guess we all like different things so it's a matter of personal choice really. Key for me is functionality/responsiveness. It's no good if the interface gets in the way no matter how good it looks.
Off to read some reviews of roms on here now. I'll check out t.i.r element v5 as suggested by agent1001 first.

dude, stop fretting and just try out as many ROMs as you can...and remember to search and read a LOT! it will help in the long run to build your concepts.
i have TWO more suggestions/clarifications for you:
1. you might have big fingers, but what i suspect is that you are using your device as if it has a capacitive screen...which it doesn't. the kaiser (like many htc phones) has a resistive screen. essentially, what this means is that the screen will respond best with a good amount of pressure, applied at a point. so the best suggestion i can give you that will tremendously improve your experience with the device is...use your finger NAILS! the effect is as if you are using a stylus and once you get used to it, any "GUI" will become usable.
2. what you call a "GUI" is not a GUI, technically. this is what chumleyex was alluding to. these "GUIs" run as today screen plugins. they are just that...they are "today screen plugins"...also called "home screen" in other contexts of discussion. you can have many such plugins installed on your device. you can even have many such plugins running at once on your today screen. however, some take over the today screen completely, so you can only use them exclusively. manila2d/manila3d, spb mobile shell, and quite a few others are such kinds of today screen plugins. installing multiple such plugins only takes up storage space. RUNNING multiple such plugins is like running many applications at once...which will consume memory and may slow down the phone, etc, etc.
as always, you should have read the forum rules...which clearly state that "best of" threads or "suggest me a <insert requirement here>" style threads are against the forum rules. which leads me to believe that you probably haven't read the other "stickies" and "wikis" either. start there and then you'll find yourself asking a lot less basic questions that clutter up the forum. don't be surprised if this thread is closed soon by a forum mod. cheers.

Thanks ASCIIker - screen is more responsive with more pressure. Guess I was worried about cracking it.
I did do loads of reading before posting - mainly to do with how to, hard spl, soft spl, roms, radio threads. Sorry if I missed the bit about asking for recommendations.

DTBrum said:
I don't want to find I start running low on resources so I was contemplating flashing the phone with a wm6.5 lite version with all the MS bloatware removed and adding a launcher/today screen manager afterwards. At least this way if I don't like a particular one I could un-install that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get the feeling that you think those fancy things in full custom ROMs are taking up space. they are not. and not using them, disabling them, or deleting shortcuts from start menu would do the same as uninstalling.
you've got:
flash memory - (ROM)
int. memory - think about it as HDD: depends, typicaly little over 100MB
RAM, operating memory, like on PC another 100MB: to be used by progs.
those names differs, to add confusion, some refers to int.memory as ROM
MS bloatware & fancy stuff from custom ROMs which you don't want could still rest in peace in ROM and not bothering you. you'll still have your 100MB int.mem. And as long as they are not actively running you still will have 100 RAM and no processor power used. but exactly like mentioned every plugin on today screen means it's running too. get an fdc task manager or alternative to see all processes and other stuff running. (not just tasks) You can find a way to disable nearly everything.
I have no option to remove touchflo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think there is any. even with ultra lite, i could be mistaken with this, but i tried hard and it looks like it's part of required htc drivers. so you only could disable it...at least! i hated it too no matter about fingers. it seems better on htc pro2 anyway.
But for now I keep looking at the roms and reading the comments until I find one I like the look of.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep, the look would be the main difference i'll say.
but if you want functionality/responsiveness, than you probably better stick with using start button and today screen without unnecessary additions.
* installing on SD card means it will go much slower and (at least on my kaiser) will sometime create errors on card from crashed apps and when I dropped phone or it died w/o shutdown or when contacts on SD card get loosed. many times I even lost complete SD contents.
You have 100MB of int.mem!! it would love to be used by progs.
I suggest you to try all of available and up-to-date custom ROMs then after getting an idea of what is doing what, just mix your own rom. it's a matter of check-in what you want inside basically. and you can add your own stuff too. like programs you buy or are not in any ROM. I have over 110MB of programs fitted in ROM and still 100MB int.mem. and speed of the device and ram is not affected too, because i let only 3 - 4 apps from that running in background.

Well I've tried flashing it and had to visit the toilet as things didn't go well.
I flashed with a lite rom, plan being to leave enough free space on the device to install a nice front end/today screen/touchflo etc to the device when I settled on one I liked.
Rom flashed fine - quite like it.
Radio didn't go well. Got stuck at the dreaded tri coloured screen.
Mtty.exe didn't recover it either.
Visited toilet.
Flashed back to standard rom from manufacturer. All now back up and running.
Have changed underpants.
At least I was able to use the info on here to get it back up and running OK.
Problem was a write error flashing the suggested radio - at 99% got an error 226.

DTBrum said:
plan being to leave enough free space on the device to install
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
check my previous post.
try flashing from SD card, a lot of troubles with cable/pc/connector
format small (256MB) SD card with FAT32,
rename ruu_signed.nbh file to KAISIMG.NBH place on root of SD
hold camera button and start or reset pda

I think to be honest I'm a little paranoid about keeping the device memory free. The reason is my wife has an O2 Orbit which was running wm5. It has been updated to WM6 and she has very little free storage memory at all on the device to the point where we have struggled getting some programs installed. I know most give you the option to install to storage card or device, but some don't. Also the ones that do install on the storage card often put some files onto the device, such as help or configuration files.
I know this HTC has a lot more memory so it probably isn't an issue in reality.
I'm up to speed about the different types of memory and whether an app is consuming processing power or just storage space depending upon if it running or not. I just didn't have a chance to read your reply before I posted- wife wanted the PC back. And I was relieved just to have the phone back working.
Papo - thanks for you help. Really appreciate it.

I had my tilt for 2 years and never worried about memory.

OK, flashed the phone a couple of times yesterday and I've now found a rom I like a lot. Even the GUI - touchflo - works like a dream and with the programs that came with the rom I can even customise it how I like. It's smooth, quick and I am yet to discover a bug.
I'll give it a run for a couple of weeks and if I decide to keep this then I'll donate.
Interestingly I flashed back to stock rom from T Mobile through links I found on here. Worked without a problem, provided a 6ft+ 16stone bloke is happy with everything in pink. So I then flashed back to the standard HTC rom wm6.1 and had lots of problems. Basic things like selecting tick boxes didn't even work well.
I understand that everyone wants different things from their phones, how they look etc and that is why it is impossible to say which rom is best. But through this site, I have a customised phone that runs so smooth and quickly and looks damn smart. So at the moment I am well chuffed.
The only really difficulty I encountered was I lost all my contacts. Activesync wouldn't restore them and the backup I took was incomplete as I only backed up the sim and not the phone. D'oh. Anyway I've now sorted this out as I found all the old contacts in outlook deleted items. I restored them back to the contacts folder and synced them again and it's all now back up and running.
Off to have a play
If she lets me I may even flash the wifes O2 Orbit XDA. It's been upgraded from wm5 to wm6 and the new rom leaves very little free memory on the device itself and we do struggle at times getting some software onto it. The version of TomTom I have doesn't let you choose where to install it to, it just goes onto the device. I have manually moved it back to the SD card and made new shortcuts etc, but I feel a new rom from this site would be the way to go.
Thank you to all who helped me.

DTBrum said:
difficulty I encountered was I lost all my contacts. Activesync wouldn't restore them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
activeSync & outlook played tricks on me too, deleting or doubling all contacts... even easier than backing up by backup program, is to copy 'RAW' database in pda before re-flashing. it's all in one file called PIM.VOL in root of phone. calendar is there as well. you can copy this to SD and upon reflashing copy back to root of pda and see what PC's outlook will have to say to it. or just keep on SD as 2nd backup.
note, the file may be locked by running programs (contacts, messages, home plugin) kill them from taskman in that case.
The version of TomTom I have doesn't let you choose where to install it to, it just goes onto the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tomtom app is two files tomtom nav.exe and data.chk, put them anywhere you like and the rest, config files, will be created by it.
but it runs really slow from SD. and taking 13MB, so again, it's best to have them in ROM.