[CovKid66]

The phrase "eye candy" is becoming such a cliché!!! I would not confuse manila 2.5 with "eye candy". Yes it looks really nice, but it is more than that. Personaly I never used TF3D 2.1 because I just didn't find it useful. I had to go to too many places to find what I was looking for. I considered 2.1 "eye candy" personally.

With 2.5 I have some of my most used icons on the home tab, and I have an agenda view I can keep always visible in my calendar instead of some monthly view. To others I'm sure the twitter tab is useful too, amongst other enhancements. These are not merely eye candy, they enhance productivity.

I don't know where you're getting your info on battery life from. I've had no issues with mine and as far as I can tell it lasts as long now as it did when I was running stock. In terms of performance, the ROM I'm using now is fantastic too.

I personally don't use my phone whilst in manila in landscape, so that's a non-issue here. I also don't use MMS, so that's not a deal breaker either. If do you rely on either of those two functions / features then yes you should weigh up your choices / options first.

Just my $0.02....damn, another cliché!!!