Root new to rooting -- do I need to?

[SyracuseWolvrine]

Hello. I'm a newbie looking for advice and information.

I've got an Evo 4g, and have been relatively satisfied with it. Right now, my phone is pretty much sprint/factory default. I've had the phone since release day, and have applied all the OTA updates that have come out. (Android 2.3.5 / HBoot 2.18 Locked)

The main reason I've been thinking about rooting is to get rid of all the Sprint bloatware, but in doing some research, being able to upgrade to HTC Sense 3.0 and/or Ice Cream Sandwich (before Sprint/HTC make them available as an OTA) have arisen as secondary reasons. I have no need for wi-fi tethering, as I live/work/play in a part of Orlando that is further south than Sprint's 4g coverage. (Plus, I already have wifi available at home and at work)

I consider myself a reasonably tech-savvy user. I know what it means to have root/su access, but when it comes to the world of Android rooting, I find myself getting confused. I don't know which ROM is best to use, and once I pick a ROM, I'm not sure how to install (flash?) it on to my phone.

So, in short, my question is, do I need to root my phone? What is the absolute easiest way to do it? (I see a lot of "step by step" guides that tell me to do things that I'm not sure what they are ... nandroid? amon ra?) Once I do root, will everything still work?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Rxpert83]

Do you NEED to root the phone? Of course not. I will say though, that now that I have rooted a device and seen the other side I will NEVER own a non-rooted phone again.

The ability to unchain the device from Sprints shackles and give it the increased performance and battery life is awesome.

When you accept OTA's, it generally gets harder and harder to root the device as HTC patches vulnerabilities that we use to gain root access. Therefore, if you plan on rooting a device it is generally a good idea to not accept OTA's

With H-boot 2.18 you basically have 2 options. You can do TACOROOT to downgrade your H-boot and then use one of our prior methods, or you can use the tool HTC gave us to unlock the bootloader. There is an option step with HTC dev in which you can download the bootloader to gain S-OFF.

I would personally like to try tacoROOT, but it may be more technically difficult.

 

[ocnbrze]

and do not forget about captain throwback's method. basically he uses the HTCdev method and then you downgrade your bootloader so that you can use any of the previous methods to get s-off.

@SyracuseWolvrine if you have any questions on how to root your phone, please feel free to ask them. the guide you will need is this one:http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all...-rooting-gingerbread-2-3-5-dummies-guide.html

and i will always root any phone i get from now on. it also plays in my decision on which phone i get as well depending on how the root community for that phone is. root it and you will never look back.

here is a great thread with links on info about root:
http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all-things-root/491123-evo-4g-all-things-root-guide.html

edit: tacoroot is really not that hard. it is just copy and paste the codes that are in the guide into the command window. just follow the guide step by step.