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As far as specifically responding to your post, Cyanogen is a good place to start and experience an AOSP ROM. Battery life is, in my experience, very dependent upon kernel choice, and I have had excellent results with the incredikernels for AOSP, and gingertiny for Sense ROMs. A good Sense ROM to play with is Nils' Business GingerSense, as the developer puts a premium on stability while also incorporating the latest Android and Sense updates (his 3.5 version, posted today, runs Android 2.3.7 and Sense 3.5). That's as close to Ice Cream Sandwich as we'll have for a while yet.
Be careful to use the right kernel for the right ROM (i.e.,Sense with Sense), and read all the directions- ALL- and actually follow them, and you'll be good.
Hope you find this helpful.
As far as specifically responding to your post, Cyanogen is a good place to start and experience an AOSP ROM. Battery life is, in my experience, very dependent upon kernel choice, and I have had excellent results with the incredikernels for AOSP, and gingertiny for Sense ROMs. A good Sense ROM to play with is Nils' Business GingerSense, as the developer puts a premium on stability while also incorporating the latest Android and Sense updates (his 3.5 version, posted today, runs Android 2.3.7 and Sense 3.5). That's as close to Ice Cream Sandwich as we'll have for a while yet.
Be careful to use the right kernel for the right ROM (i.e.,Sense with Sense), and read all the directions- ALL- and actually follow them, and you'll be good.
Hope you find this helpful.