Database Develop

Which Rom You Recomend?

Hello. I want to upgrade my phones ROM because I have and old one from the beginning. My ROM version is 1.19.61.1
So I want to upgrade to new one but I'm confused because there is a very big choice of ROM's here and I do not want to choose poorly
To which ROM you recommend me to update?
Which ROMs are with best performance, least bugs and best features?
First I was very interested in Dutty's V3.7 XT Final but then I also saw that there is lot of wm 6.5 ROMs. Does my phone will have same performance with 6.5 wm version or slower?
Thank You!

ROMs
Sw1pe said:
Hello. I want to upgrade my phones ROM because I have and old one from the beginning. My ROM version is 1.19.61.1
So I want to upgrade to new one but I'm confused because there is a very big choice of ROM's here and I do not want to choose poorly
To which ROM you recommend me to update?
Which ROMs are with best performance, least bugs and best features?
First I was very interested in Dutty's V3.7 XT Final but then I also saw that there is lot of wm 6.5 ROMs. Does my phone will have same performance with 6.5 wm version or slower?
Thank You!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have found I want to experiment lots.
I have experimented with Onkolog, LIA which I had issues with, particularly around customising the phone with themes etc.
Between the big 3, Davideuck, Dutty and Miri, my choice is Miri 6.5 V16.
You may find you want to experiment too.
I personally prefer Manila TF3D over 6.5 Titanium and I don't care at all for SPB Mb Shell 3. I haven't tried PointUI but I am pretty sure I would still prefer Manila.
I suggest you go for it and experiment lots.
You can't go wrong with the big 3.

try ones 6.5 but prefered 6.1
6.5 more stable what they claim
try every ROM the best answer
good luck...

I personally prefer miri's wm6.5 v16 for now.because it's beautiful and stable.

Miri's WM6.5 series ROMs are the best!
I have tried out Dutty, MaryOne, taisee and Miri, and finally stayed on miri's ROMs, among which I have flasehd v9.1, 10, 11,12,13,15,16,16.1.
I have several thousand contacts and Calendar data since 2002 on my phone. Only Miris' ROM works with my data so smoothly and fast.

just a question..
Regardless of which ROM you flash, the flashing method is the same right? I've once flashed using USPL for Dutty ROM. If I were to flash now from Dutty ROM to let's say Miri v6.5 ROM, can I use USPL method again directly?
Thanks.

i feel your thread will be banned...
anyways i am happy to recommend you the Topix 2.1, i used many version of dutty but eventually topix is much more fast and stable. i am still expecting dutty's better wm6.5, i still believe in dutty

test and choose
it depends a lot your usage and your priorities.
for me, the are a lot of great cooker doing stablerom: miri, kwbr, duttythroy, pdaviet,laurentius,...
I've not tested all so I'm not saying that these are the only ones.
As my priority is the speed an fluidity of the phone i help on bench marking rom:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=516190
and based on these results damn small topix is the fastest one.
it's also very stable.
As you can see in the bench result, 6.5 roms are slower but usually they use less ram.
again, all this is my priority.
the best is try some then decide.

houms said:
As you can see in the bench result, 6.5 roms are slower
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do you see that? I don't think that the newer versions of 6.5 "slower" than 6.1.

Sw1pe said:
Hello. I want to upgrade my phones ROM because I have and old one from the beginning. My ROM version is 1.19.61.1
So I want to upgrade to new one but I'm confused because there is a very big choice of ROM's here and I do not want to choose poorly
To which ROM you recommend me to update?
Which ROMs are with best performance, least bugs and best features?
First I was very interested in Dutty's V3.7 XT Final but then I also saw that there is lot of wm 6.5 ROMs. Does my phone will have same performance with 6.5 wm version or slower?
Thank You!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use often Internet on your phone, i recomend you Laurentius L26 2.3 (WIndows Mobile 6.1): this rom provide the best mobile navigation experience with awesome version of Opera tweaked by Laurentius and with a usefull zoomslider.
Also L26 is stable, clomplete of most rilevant applications, strongly optimized and with a confortable and pretty upper menu with battery icon that show exact state of the battery...this is very useful for me.

i liked onkolog's rom if youre looking for speed + lots of free memory and battery life

If you use outlook and associated programs a lot, WM 6.5 is a lot better.
On WM 6.5 Apps can use close to 64M if your drivers and related DLLs are all in the 61 and 60 slots.
Regarding the benchmarks - I would say that a lot of what is importan about performance w.r.t. the end user experience is difficult to measure
: i.e. random stalls and a lack of responsivenes, larency when switching between aps or when touching the screen, and general smoothness of presentation.

These types of threads never get anywhere. Try some ROM's yourself and choose. Everyone taste are different.

I've used a couple recent Dutty roms and they were great, but now I'm using the fantastic Topix 2.1 rom and I love it. Bug free, stable, fast, and no annoying sms problems.
I've tried a couple different Winmo 6.5 roms and I'm not a big fan of it as it is right now. Winmo 6.5 titanium interface doesn't provide me with ease of use as TF3D does. There is no awesome music player or anything of the sort on titanium, just the same ol crappy Windows Media Player.
I find myself using TF3D even when I have a Winmo6.5 rom so I fail to see the point. The 6.5 notifications overwriting the TF3D ones, app incompatibility, etc, just makes it more annoying for me to use.
I'm gonna wait until 6.5 is more well established...or just wait for 7 =D

If you like TF3D i recommend you keep using WM6.1 ROM's... It just doesn't integrate very well with the new WM6.5 style menu's. It is possible though, but since TF3D replaces a lot of WM6.5's functions the advantage isn't that great. It is however the safest choice if you would like to try out WM6.5, but don't know yet if you want to abandon TF3D.
Personally I'm a big fan of WM6.5, and I don´t use TF3D at all anymore. The new titanium interface is sleek and stylish, and with some plugins from the XDA forums (search for 'CHome' + wat you need) I have all the functionality I need (without out the hassle and memory consumption of TF3D).
As said before by other people, you have to chose yourself. Read allot on the different ROM's, about there features, memory, WM6.1 / WM 6.5, addons / customizations, etc.
After this you'll probably have 2 or 3 ROM's you'll want to try: Do so. Flash these ROM's and you'll know exactly what you like and don't like. This is the only way of finding out if the ROM has and does what you want it to.
So stop reading this thread and do some research Good luck!

For me?? MIRI THE BEST!
Its up to individual.. Try playing with the few roms and u roughly know which you like.

thread closed
this question is not welcome here.....fighting always starts
thread closed

Tired of switiching ROM'S. What's your solution?

Hey guys,
Everytime I switch to a rom that is expected to be really good I end up with a laggy, slow, buggy device.
I tried almost every rom on this site and nothing really works for me.
I am looking for a ROM that is stable and somewhat up-to-date. Maybe manilla 2.1 or something. I really don't like all the new LEO roms, they are SO slow and buggy I don't even understand how some of you can deal with them.
What's the secret? or is my device just faulty and slow?
Can you name a ROM that you found to be fast and not too ugly? I also need 'some' eyecandy. Speed is of course the most important aspect.
Kind Regards
Thomas

Touch X 10.1 is the way to go...very stable, fast and looks good (especially the MrRusch blue theme).
I've tried many of the roms on this forum but yet always flash back to Touch X 10.1. If there was ever a perfect 6.1 rom this is it

exxi said:
Hey guys,
Everytime I switch to a rom that is expected to be really good I end up with a laggy, slow, buggy device.
I tried almost every rom on this site and nothing really works for me.
I am looking for a ROM that is stable and somewhat up-to-date. Maybe manilla 2.1 or something. I really don't like all the new LEO roms, they are SO slow and buggy I don't even understand how some of you can deal with them.
What's the secret? or is my device just faulty and slow?
Can you name a ROM that you found to be fast and not too ugly? I also need 'some' eyecandy. Speed is of course the most important aspect.
Kind Regards
Thomas
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here -tried almost every rom - jack v3.11 using now fast, smooth, no freezes. With HDwall you can change background see screenshots: http://mackosorbar.extra.hu/sex1.htm

Yep, jack v3.11, then either use the included TF3D or use SPB Mobile Shell.

I found Touch X 10.1 to be a dream really but I hoped that all the new stuff will help create a comprehensive rom that is also fast. I must have been mistaken. Some of those highly rated roms out there are a TRUE nightmare. I just don't get why people seem to like them.
When you try to navigate from one TF3D tab to another you get stuck 200 times + it randomly gets really laggy and then you have to restart.
I think I wll give jack a try.

the reason many are slow and buggy are because the manilla nd lots of other things in them are not actually finished by HTC yet nor is wm6.5.x!
wait for manila 2.5 and wm6.5.x to actually complete before you flash another rom if you want ultimate stability!
i lcan live with it because, well i'm a flashaholic

Not to mention you can't really judge a rom based on a version.
One day the rom will work pretty well, the next day it's a new build + new manila, etc, etc and it has entirely different problems.

My solution is to cook my own rom
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=564743
As you know many chefs cook their roms based on what they like, not what users want. After all, everyone has different needs and the chefs cannot customize a rom for everyone. That's why I also released my source kitchen for customization.
Are you looking for WM6.1 or WM6.5 - based rom? I can find you some manila 2.1 packages and put into my kithcen so you can start customizing.

deleted (eh? wassup with this thread?)

Hey Exxi,
I think you have to realise that WM6.5 and the new manila are both in beta. This is really an explosive combination.
For example I have found that pure WM6.5 roms are rather stable. You can use SPB Mobile shell or PoinUI and all will be fine.
Some WM6.5 + Manila 2.1.19 roms are quite stable (I said quite), usually the 23016 builds.
All the Leo roms tend to have issues.
There are many reasons for this, none of which can be attributed to the cooks. In effect the cooks do a fantastic job at making the Leo ROMs as good as they are. I have great respect for them.
As everyone said, TouchX 10.1 is your best shot. That ROM is a work of art.
If you want an upgrade from that, you can try the WM6.1 + Manila 2.1.19 ROMS, such as Jack v.3.11 and TouchX 10.5/10.6. If you want more Eye candy, play around with some nice themes, add some applications.
Alternatively get yourself a squeaky fast WM6.5 rom (23016 or even 23053...or the recently released WM6.5 One off) and use SPB mobile shell + SPB Phone suite + Various resco apps. The result can be quite pleasing.
Alternatively, you can try becoming a Titanium expert. I personally have failed miserably at that...but again...I hear it can be quite pleasing.
P.s. One final word, I have been watching closely the WM6.5 + Manila 2.1.19 ROMs. I would like to point out that while there still is a noticeable difference in performance with the WM6.1+ Manila 2.1.19 ROMs, this gap is closing up rather quickly.

NRGZ28 manila 2.1 roms
Try NRGZ28 2.1 manila roms. Fase and stable. Few things to complain. Last version is 22.09.2009 standard 2.1. Works best for me.
G.

Here too, i tried a lot of roms during the first couple of months with my X1, then when i found TouchX 10 then 10.1 i stayed with them, now once a month i flash to one of those Beta 6.5 or Leo roms to see if i ever can find a new stable fast rom, but most of the times i get back to TouchX 10.1 after a couple of hours.
now i moved to TouchX 10.5 which is as much stable as the TouchX 10.1, the best ROMs ever
and my trick to do everything fast is to backup the entire rom before trying some other rom with SPB Backup, then when i reflash back to TouchX 10.1 i just do a full restore and i am back productive as before, all settings and apps are back in their place..

mcbyte_it said:
Here too, i tried a lot of roms during the first couple of months with my X1, then when i found TouchX 10 then 10.1 i stayed with them, now once a month i flash to one of those Beta 6.5 or Leo roms to see if i ever can find a new stable fast rom, but most of the times i get back to TouchX 10.1 after a couple of hours.
now i moved to TouchX 10.5 which is as much stable as the TouchX 10.1, the best ROMs ever
and my trick to do everything fast is to backup the entire rom before trying some other rom with SPB Backup, then when i reflash back to TouchX 10.1 i just do a full restore and i am back productive as before, all settings and apps are back in their place..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a good approach. I find myself returning to TouchX 10.1 all the time, too. I have finally managed to curb my flashing habit and only flash when I find a ROM that seems to have something I REALLY want to try.
Right now I am using Valkyrie 3.8.53 Leo since it allows me to use the latest version of the Dusk theme which I had to try out. Looks fantastic and it seems that the ROM is almost at the same usability level as Touch X 10.1 now, but not quite.
I don't think it will take much longer for manila 2.5 to be working as well as 2.1 and the latest builds of WM6.5 are also almost as good as 6.1. Still some teething issues, the biggest for me being the WM6.5 volume adjuster app which sucks IMHO.

The short but crude answer would be: stay away from Windows Mobile
No really, it's getting better by the day so there's hope.
Personally, I use mobilevu's V-Lite 4.3. It's a little older but works like a charm.
Titanium only, but I combine this with SPB 3 so I have a stable and snappy X1!

I keep hitting the same brick wall over and over again.
In long term, SE stock R3 tends to be most stable and bug-free. Jack's has been faster, but it has it's own share of bugs.
So after trying out about 10 ROMs every few months i land back on stock ROM and just customize it a bit.

TouchX 10.1, Is the Chosen One.

Using Valkirie 2.9 Firestorm. For me it's best ROM, i'm using this ROM already for more than month. Tried switching to 2.5 but new windows mobile design and 2.5 Leo is not usable as 2016 builds are and 2.1 Manila.

i always return to touch x 10.1
it is the best rom in terms of speed and stability.

mekstro said:
The short but crude answer would be: stay away from Windows Mobile
No really, it's getting better by the day so there's hope.
Personally, I use mobilevu's V-Lite 4.3. It's a little older but works like a charm.
Titanium only, but I combine this with SPB 3 so I have a stable and snappy X1!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
V-Lite here also.Exactly as you told, This ROM+SPB and Resco stuff and one stable and hardworking X1 since one month ago. I can use Titanum whenever I want though. I think mobilevu is waiting for the official release of WM6.5. I hope he comes back to upgrade his ROM at that time.

nawfalah said:
i always return to touch x 10.1
it is the best rom in terms of speed and stability.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed: The best 6.1 is probably Touch X 10.1. Master Smaberg was very good.
6.5 is a different beast. There are MANY GREAT ROM's out there. Each has its own 'issues'. You can usually find the best ROM for 'you' by defining what it is you need in your phone. And go for it.
My needs are, in order, Phone,email, sms, internet, fast, pretty. For these I have found NRG ROMs work best for me.
Christians, Valkyre, Tornado, Jack, and others ALL make good ROMs. Each has an issue that impacts my basic needs. BUT...I try each of their new ones..!!!

Let me get this straight.. (about flashing ROM)

I'm a new Xperia user. I have it for 3 days now and basically what i've been doing these 3 days was studying this awesome xda-developers forum and learning everything about flashing, roms, etc..
I've been determined to upgrade my default WM6.1 to WM6.5. After first day of reading this forum i knew it's not gonna be simple, but stubborn as i am, i managed to get tha hang of it and did everything to flash my X1 with cooked rom. But then came the real dilemma: which rom should i use?? I've been looking for some forum topics to help me decide, but i found out that the only right way to do this is check every ROM individually, read about it first and if it looked good (feedback from users, collection of included apps, gadgets, etc), flash it to my X1.
By now i've flashed 6 ROMS and to be honest, i didn't like not even one of them. And this got me thinking: why would i need to upgrade to 6.5? Neither of rom worked faster than my default 6.1, all of them have this 'unfit' feeling (like when you see it you know it wasn't made for your phone) and all of them are buggy (some more, some less)..
So i'm asking YOU, the happy user for whichever WM6.5 rom:
- Why did you upgrade WM61? What's so much better with WM65?
- Is WM65 really so much better than 61? What are the bigges advantages?
- Which ROM are you using? And which cooked ROM(s) are your favorite?
I know this has probably already been ansvered, but is there any information about official WM65 upgrade for Xperia?
Lastly let me say this post is NOT a criticism of 'cookers' or this forum in general. I would just like to hear some of your opinions to decide which OS i want on my phone.. i really can't decide at the moment, so.. thank you in advance.
greets..

Well there is a bias toward the wm6.5 roms, just because its the latest and and more finger friendly. This is after all xda DEVELOPERS site, so its not meant to be 100%, but from my flashing's its pretty darn close... GO Chefs!!!
But I as well wouldn't mind seeing some wm6.1 roms based on R3 with the latest apps and extras, but I see few to none like this.
But like the saying goes beggars cant be choosers. So i take what these very generous chefs cook up

I'd use Valkyrie Xperio 3.9 + SPB Mobile Shell, or if you want Manila use Valkyrie Leo.
If you don't like those, then use a 6.1 rom like TouchX or Jack's v3.
It takes less time to try them than to get a bunch of people's feedback and then try them anyways.

Hi! Welcome to the forum!
I must admit I had a similar dilemma when I first flashed my X1. I find I keep going back to Smaberg's Touch X 10.1. It's a 6.1 ROM with manila (TouchFlo) 2.1 and it is fast, smooth, stable and fully functional. There is a new version with weather on the home tab (10.7), but there are still a few small issues which need to be ironed out before it is as stable and usable as 10.1.
For testing out 6.5 I love the Valkyrie ROMs by Agent_47. They are usually very well set up (with a good selection of apps and performance tweaks) and bugs are found and fixed quickly. My favourites are the Topaz/Rhodium versions since there is almost as much eye candy as the Leo roms, but less bugs / missing functionality (landscape works in manila, for instance) and they usually run a bit faster. If you want to try just a basic 6.5 rom without TouchFlo, I recommend Experio. You can install SPB mobile shell on it, too. If you want to go the full eye candy route, the Leo ROMs are nice and Rotastrain's ROM is worth trying.
The advantage of 6.5 is that it is more finger-friendly than 6.1 and there are a few usability improvements. One thing I personally don't like, though, is the volume control with the latest 6.5 builds. So far the cookers haven't been able to work around it. Also, it runs slower and since most builds are still beta there are bugs, but they are getting better.
There are a few 6.1 ROMs out now with Leo manila (touchflo 2.5) but there seem to be a lot of dependencies and it's not easy to get them to play nicely together. They give a good blend of speed and eye candy, but I find the clunkiness of the underlying 6.1 clashes with the looks of touchflo 2.5.
Hope I haven't made things more complicated! Have fun flashing and enjoy your X1!
-Oobly

the how to?

hi, i just got my x1 a few weeks back and im looking to upgrade the rom and what i realized is it involves many more steps than what was required for my universal before?
i upgraded the official rom via the SD card method and that worked like a charm. But what i dont know is which rom can i upgrade to on my x1... as it seems that they are all based on R2... R3... etc?
so what im lookin for is a fast and simple answer on which roms i can upgrade on my x1. The method is not a problem. The rom selection is. And plus, which is the best rom you would recommend?
thankx

The best way is, imho:
Check the threads here. In each, you can find a description of the ROM,
a discussion about possible bugs and solutions, and recommendations from
the xda community.
Basically, you can flash any ROM you will find here. Some like the newest,
more "unofficial" builds of WinMo 6.5 with the Windows start menu at the
bottom, others prefer the "official" build with the menu at the top.
Again others prefer either a Windows only ROM, some Manila 2.1, some the
"latest" version 2.5, these are from the "Leo".
Almost the same applies to the radio/rilphone version.
If you have some spare time, make your own trials - start maybe with the
ROMs from agent_47, NRGZ28, spikegotti, itje, MrRusch... and soon, you
will have your very own, personal preferred solution.

thanks. another question? what is "manila"? unfimiliar with this term.

mazlano27 said:
thanks. another question? what is "manila"? unfimiliar with this term.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Manila is the user interface by HTC, which seems to be a favorite of many
X1 users here at xda - there are many ROMs which are cooked with it.
Version 2.5 is taken from the upcoming Leo model, while 2.1 is from other
models, such as Rhodium and Topaz - those are the closest to the X1 from
hardware specifications. One kind of a "disadvantage" in the perception of
some users in the 2.5 version is missing landscape support for virtually all
functions, while 2.1 is fully landscape.
Manila brings eye candy, but also finger friendliness to WinMo devices. You
can easily recognize it with the big digital clock at the home screen.

tictac0566 said:
(...) One kind of a "disadvantage" in the perception of some users in the 2.5 version is missing landscape support for virtually all
functions, while 2.1 is fully landscape.
(...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd like to point out that the 2.5 version seems to be a little heavy for the X1.
The manila 2.1 from Rhodium\Topaz have a nice look & feel to them. Also battery life is VERY good with these versions (3 to 6 days on a single charge, depending on how you use your X1). Manila 2.1 does not have the Facebook and Twitter tabs, and has different Favorite and Home screen layouts.
My advise would be to go with a manila 2.1 ROM. My personal favorit is the FireStorm Rhodium\TOPAZ by Agent_47. It's loaded with lots of extra programs, and runs very stabile.
Excelent everyday use!

FireStorm Rhodium\TOPAZ by Agent_47? will give that a try? the htc leo is the HD 2 yes? and thanks for the clarification on the manila. been a great help. Is there much difference in the manila and the touch flo 3d cab? the cab seems to be stable too... and im not a big fan of wm6.5. ive never tried it before... how much free ram is there after the update?

mazlano27 said:
FireStorm Rhodium\TOPAZ by Agent_47? will give that a try? the htc leo is the HD 2 yes? and thanks for the clarification on the manila. been a great help. Is there much difference in the manila and the touch flo 3d cab? the cab seems to be stable too... and im not a big fan of wm6.5. ive never tried it before... how much free ram is there after the update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Manila is actually a nickname of what was called TouchFlo3D earlier, and to
complete the confusion, you will maybe read "Sense" sometimes, too. In fact,
that is again the same. Most people here use "Manila" and versions 2.1/2.5.
To install Manila with a cab is definitely quite a fast procedure, but the real
performance of your device will not be as fast as possible - even if stable.
The free RAM is different from ROM to ROM, lower WinMo "pure" ones are
somewhat around 30% memory usage, the lowest Manila ROMs are at
around 35-40% with 2.1, 45-55% with Manila 2.5 - but then again, this is
different from ROM to ROM.
In the sum, maybe a Touch X 10.8.2 or agent´s "Photon" ROM (standard)
could be a good point to start.
Once your are happy, the chef most probably will not be unhappy if you
take care of his/her donation fund...
Happy flashing!

thanks buddy uve been a great help. one last question, i have just upgraded my rom using the micro sd method. if i wanted to go back to my wm 6.1 official R3A rom which was released a lil over a week back, could i use that .nbh file to downgrade as if upgrading?
what im trying to ask is i just put the R3a rom file in my formatted sd card and load the phone in boot loader more and let the magic happen or a more complex process is required like backin up and restoring stock rom?

mazlano27 said:
thanks buddy uve been a great help. one last question, i have just upgraded my rom using the micro sd method. if i wanted to go back to my wm 6.1 official R3A rom which was released a lil over a week back, could i use that .nbh file to downgrade as if upgrading?
what im trying to ask is i just put the R3a rom file in my formatted sd card and load the phone in boot loader more and let the magic happen or a more complex process is required like backin up and restoring stock rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I´ve seen your 2nd thread asking about speedy ROMs, and it seems you´re
already happily flashing...
Here´s the link for what to do in warranty/service needs...

yes happily flashing indeed. thanks buddy. just played around and got the hang of it. i understand it now.

Question about ROM updating

Hi all,
this is a really simple question. I'm using my Blackstone with a dated, but very reliable so far, Dutty's ROM v1.2 , never had a problem with it.
My question is: apart from getting the newest, cutting edge technology o.s. version for my phone, is there any really true advantages (features, performance and reliability, I'm relatively interested at fancy graphics) in upgrading to one of the newest ROMs? I'm talking 6.5.x.
Thanks!

ybraz said:
Hi all,
this is a really simple question. I'm using my Blackstone with a dated, but very reliable so far, Dutty's ROM v1.2 , never had a problem with it.
My question is: apart from getting the newest, cutting edge technology o.s. version for my phone, is there any really true advantages (features, performance and reliability, I'm relatively interested at fancy graphics) in upgrading to one of the newest ROMs? I'm talking 6.5.x.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is plenty of 6.5.1 around, they have each their own thread, so any concerns and problems encountered you can find solutions there. but be WARNED Win 6.5.x ROMs are generally sloooower than Win 6.5 ROMS, also Man 2.5 (HTC Leo) ROMs tends to be slower than HTC Sense Man 2.1 ROMs like the official update for the Rhodium.
I suggest you start with Win 6.5 and a Rhodium Port, like Miri V32, or Topix Vanilla Series Rhodium 24Nov release, which is to me the most stable and fastest ROM around, it would not surprise you that its thread isnt always at the top, as many who has tried it has not had so much of a problem, mostly praises for how good the ROM is.
have you flashed a cooked ROM before? I recommend to use USPL 2.5

All flashing queries should be posted in this thread
Personally I find the latest builds including 6.5.1 and manila 2.5 more finger friendly, especially latest builds 23xxx, 28xxx etc with buttons at bottom. Yes they are slightly slower, but this is due to Leo 1.48 which is meant for the HD2 (Leo) and not the HD. The CPU for the HD is not as good as the HD's. If you want the latest you have to pay with a 'slightly' slower rom. IMHO its worth it but. Best advice for you would be to try them and make your own conclusion!!