With that sort of light(ish) use I'd say it was poor tbh. I found much the same with KH3 but I think much has to do with installed apps, network vs modem, and whether there's an R in the month. IOW it's a crapshoot that only trial-and-error can make sense of.

The VR devs know their stuff, v2.4.2 is tried-and-tested, and I saw good battery economy when I used it.

You assume correctly. If it's not stored on either the internal (USB) storage or external card then it'll be nuked by the wipe. If rooted then Titanium Backup (and perhaps other solutions) can backup system settings such as accounts, APNs, wifi APs etc but restoring these between different firmware can be problematic, even if the base OS version is the same. It's safest to just bite the bullet and set everything up from scratch.

Hmm, tough question.... if you like tinkering, want to improve performance, and are prepared for the additional maintenance required such as regular backups, nandroid images and occasional but inevitable "issues" then root it. Make sure you know how to restore to stock, and understand that even then a warranty claim may be rejected. Having said that, I've thoroughly abused a Hero and a Desire Z (and the GS2 is catching up fast) and they're still going strong.

It's a good choice. Looks and acts like stock, but on steroids.

Maybe not immediately, but Ninphetamine is a nice match for VR in any case. You don't need to overclock (or undervolt) to appreciate the difference.

VillainROM Forum download page

I highly recommend Steslatt's guide here as an easy-to-understand walkthrough. Any other questions or concerns, post 'em up. The only dumb question is the one you wanted to ask but didn't.

 

I went from the pre-installed O2-Carrier-Branded KE1 to stock KG5 and have found nothing but problems... apps crash/stop, battery life worse, apps laggy when starting...

 

sorry hawker, this is a bit off your original subject, but darren - lots of people seem to find KG5 fab - if you haven't already, I would suggest you do a full wipe (see post 7 of this page http://androidforums.com/galaxy-s2-all-things-root/407722-boot-loop.html - Ironass gives an excellent summary of how to do it) and then try reflashing

 

it's a bit random, and generally not necessary - it's more importnat if changing roms

but sometimes there seems to be the odd issue swapping firmware, especially with the newer/unofficial versions. it's a bit random. personally if I were just updating firmware I would flash and only do a full wipe if there were bugs/problems

"I assume you will have to re install all your market apps, restore your contacts, email accounts and wifi settings after doing one of these" - yes, although google account should save you're apps/contacts etc. but progres in games etc will be lost.

with a factory reset, some files are left on your phone and can still cause conflicts - the full wipe will remove these too.

 

I'm running kh3 with root and my battery life is ridiculous. I am getting home with 40-50% after a 10 hour day. I never used to get this.

I have power savings enabled and froze a few apps. Screen always at 40%.