Initial Setup:
Ok, that's diff. Have to let it restart itself? Ok, we'll do that. New Droid 2 boot ani, it's pretty neat. That sync-up was pretty interesting. Especially since it wasn't a sync. Majority of my apps did reload, but of course, I couldn't get anything from the Market, due to that known issue. Clearing cache and such will get around this.
Appearance:
Just a stock theme, and the added wallpapers are just the standard Droid X wallpapers that just about every ROM has incorporated. At the time of this post, there's only a few themes available. I chose the Bugless Evolution.
Performance:
Ok, now this should be the BBeast we all know and love, and is pretty much what you come to expect. Screen transitions are fluid, apps open, perform, and close with no issue and no FCs or lag. All this was with the stock 800MHz kernel. My issue was I could only flash one other kernel, slayher's v.1.6 1100MHz.
App and System Function:
That Market issue was quite annoying, but again, could be worked around. Not being able to flash a diff kernel got on my nerves, but did get one to work finally. The only problem I never found a solution for was the Weather Widget Donate, which only gave me a "Not Available" message. Otherwise, all other apps seemed to work, including WiFi and GPS.
Battery life seemed ok. Never got hot or had an issue. Seemed that smart automatic overclocking did a fairly decent job of allocating the use of power to conserve battery.
Goodies:
I absolutely loved the hot keys when Pete first came out with them in late spring/early summer. But by now, just about every ROM out there has those same options from the Power button. The BBeast app makes it very easy to apply scripts, which most ROMs do not have. And the aforementioned smart automatic overclocking makes SetCPU obsolete, but be careful with it. If you use a kernel that you is too high for your Droid, but you scale back, you will NOT be able to use it with this ROM. Most kernel devs offer multiple MHz versions, however.
Overview:
The masses have been waiting for Pete to make his triumphant return with a promised epic new version of BBeast, and fans will be elated. I was very excited to hear v.5 was out, but after testing it out, I'm rather dissappointed. The speed that BBeast once touted has been equalled and surpassed by just about every ROM out there. Except most of those ROMs offer more in the way in terms of customization.
The hot keys are already in our past. The smart automatic O/Cing really limit what kernels you can use. And the whole let the Droid reboot without touching it plus the Market issue, combined with the automatic brightness issue feel like probs that were never properly addressed before release. I do realize that people here have stated they've been testing this ROM for quite some time, but this whole release feels like it was thrown out there, with very little diff between builds.
Rating:
2 out of 5 stars. Average at best, but issues detract.
Aside from that ( and I am a big BB fan, especially when it was 2.1) I thought it was crazy that I had to manually check off sync contacts and gmail. Never had to do that with any other ROM.
