So why we upgrade the ROM?

[GatorDeb]

Other than having WM 6.5.X early, what are some cool stuff you can do with a modded phone that you cannot do with a stock rom?

[racemepls]

Basically the chefs strip all the junk htc and sprint puts in the roms then they add thier own flavor and optimize your phone for speed. They also add new and updated drivers and programs.

[Victor_A]

The wifi tethering is cool too!

[GatorDeb]

WiFi tethering? Is that the same thing as turning the phone into a Wireless Access Point? Haven't tried it yet but I know I can turn it into a secured WAP for my iPod Touch.

[Victor_A]

Yup, makes the phone act like a wireless router

[MrObvious]

If you're happy then you don't need to I suppose. But try it first.

[rstoyguy]

Moved to the Touch Pro 2 forum.

[Russellhi]

Among other things, better battery for me.

[a_c_s]

The gist of why you do it is that the carriers develop their ROMs, which are 6 months old by the time the phone is launched in volume, and a lot changes... they typically offer one OS update on a handset if you're lucky... the chefs will cook up ROMs with all kinds of goodies embedded as others have mentioned (wifi, facebook, etc) as well as the newest registry tweaks and mods to make the phones function more quickly and with better battery optimization...once you try custom ROMs you won't believe the difference to be honest...

[Sim-X]

I think 6.5 sucks - it slows down the phone more than 6.1. I'm trying to suck it up and get used to it since that is all there is gonna be. Since htc overlays just about everything in windows mobile I don't know why people like 6.5 so much - The stock rom ran faster than the new mighty