What kind of ROM you looking for? Closer to stock? One chock full of features? If the former then CM9, Pete's BuglessBeast, or Bamf. Bamf has more features than the first 2. If the latter then aokp and liquid (very similar almost too) have all the gizmos on board. They're all very reliable and stable. Tips? Do not use titanium backup to backup anything Google related and absolutely no system data. Another tip? Have a frigging blast flashing all the goodies available for this phone. I think we have the best group of developers there has ever been for any device, ever, in the history of Android.

 

I recommend either Redemption Rom or BAMF

 

bamf ftw

 

Personally, I'm all about AOKP.

But here's the thing: there are a ton of great ROMs for this device. There's a crazy amount and speed of development happening for the Nexus. And everyone who stumbles upon this thread is going to recommend something different.

I know your purpose was probably to try to narrow it down but jbdan is right, you just have to jump in and try some and see what you like, and honestly, what your phone likes, because each phone runs a little differently on different ROMs and kernels.

Mine is just about perfect on AOKP b33 and leankernel 3.2.2. AOKP has lots of customization, and while I don't use all of it, the things I do use have me spoiled and I can't imagine my phone without them. I don't feel like I have any noticeable lag or stuttering, and my battery life is great.

 

The awesome thing is, you can try them all and find out what works for you. If you always do a backup in Clockworkmod before you flash, if you don't like it, revert. Reverting is like going back in time to the point you made the backup. I've had a bunch of different ROMs on my phone. I've settled into LiquidSmooth for stability, speed and almost bottomless customizatons.

 

Liquid liquid and uhhhh liquid. Lol...sorry, I really like it.

 

Liquidsmooth. v1.3 is about as perfect as it gets. And Franco has joined in on development, so it's just going to get better.

 

I recommend you start reading and make an informed decision.
I wanted my first ROM experience to be positive so I chose the ROM that seemed to have the fewest complaints.
If I get bored, I will try others and if I have issues, I know I can always come back to bamf.

 

I peronally love Codename Android and it is very close to stock. IMO, probably the fastest and most reliable ROM alongside AOKP.

 

Axiom patient zero is the most customizable ROM I've ever used. I've tried others since but nothing comes close which keeps me coming back

 

ICSourcery, 100's of options inside our toolkit. 7 themes loadable from within the rom..kernels and more..

 

Why is this?

 

you can back up google data, but you do not want to restore system data


basically if you back up system data on BAMF
and you switch to AOKP B34
and you restore system data..

prepare for FC, possible OS corruption, and eventually needing to restore your device back to stock, or a simple data wipe might fix it.

google data back up is different

it doesnt play well, but there is no harm in doing it, i have done it multiple times with google music, i do not recommend doing it with gmail. (a lot of headaches)

but you do not need to back up google data, it all re-syncs automatically

 

i havent tried icsourcery but i may try it over the weekend. i can barely see the screenshot so i dont know what the themes really look like lol

 

Flashed AOKP back around/before Milestone 2 and have not run anything else since that time. Love it! As stated though, there are others that are good with different tweaks, some closer to stock, etc. Read up on the features and pick what is right for you Don't be scared to try multiple ones either. Flash one and give it a week, flash another for a week, etc.. Keep in mind what you like and don't like and then go back and settle in on one. Some people never settle, they flash weekly or sometimes daily! I like to find a ROM and stick with it and AOKP is my bread and butter.

 

Lots of people have trouble when they backup and restore system apps because when you flash a ROM and GApps, you already have one set sitting there, and trying to restore another set on top of that can cause stability issues. So it's generally recommended to only use TiBu for user (downloaded) apps.

 

Quicklives summed it up nicely. It's just easier to preach it like this as it avoids people running into issues. You can try restoring anything you'd like and in any way you'd like. Always always make a backup so you can revert anything you might have restored that corrupted your system.

So instead of getting into the specifics on what one should or shouldn't backup (it's quite extensive and those who do have spent many trial and error hours figuring it out for themselves AND there are plenty of tutorials out there on how to use TiBu), it's easier to just tell the masses to only restore 3rd party apps and their data. It avoids complications and hours upon hours of troubleshooting things like "why are my bars gray or why is this FC'ing"

 

I highly recommend CM9 and AOKP. CM9 for the stability and simplicity, AOKP for the awesome features.

 

I installed the stock Sourcery theme yesterday, I really like the phone dialer.

 

Your best bet is to look at the descriptions of all the ROM's listed and see what looks like it'll fit your needs best.
I've personally run AOKP and Liquid. Both have great support by their devs and themers.

 

So I can't backup my bookmarks? I hate having to manually change that all around. Is there a better way to back these up?

Sorry for the threadjack. I've only tried aokp m4, but have been itching to try something else. Well, I did try liquidsmooth on my og droid, but the phone was already messing up so I didn't really get the experience.

 

Copy them into another browser and back that up using TiBu.

 

Are you using the stock browser? It syncs (if you have it turned on under accounts/google) not only your bookmarks, but your history and bookmarks bar as well. Use Chrome on your PC? All that you do there gets sync'd to your stock ICS browser as well and vice versa!

Post #18 in this thread I mention why I say what I do about TiBu. Probably a little on the lazy side, but I do mean well

TiBu is a totally awesome app and powerful. I don't use all that it has to offer. I have used it for over 2 years though and the troubles I've experienced, and the issues people post about over that time is crazy. So I just try to simplify it and post a "simplified" version of what not to backup for a restore. There are plenty of tutorials and info out the wazoo on how TiBu works and how to use it properly, but I know a lot don't take the time to research it, hence my comment.

To clarify a bit, when I said "Google related" I mean data from and Google apps like gmail. System data, when restored from one ROM to another ROM can really bork things up. AOKP User Brainfire over at rootzwiki has posted a nice little write-up on TiBu. Here is a pretty nice TiBu guide as well. Sorry for the confusion

 

Thanks for the response. I understand what you're saying, I was just wondering if there was another way to restore my bookmarks on the stock browser. I read your posts, I just quoted that to get a direct response from you ; ).