noob questions on unlocking and roms

[mtnbkr]

I just got a TP2 (i know, late to the game). It's on Sprint and brand new. I've been reading through the forums and searching and I've got a few lingering questions that I'm having trouble finding answers to.

1) Do I have to unlock my phone to load a custom rom? (I believe yes)

2) Does unlocking the phone cause problems for me if I have problems with the phone and want to claim warranty? Can you relock a phone then and pretend you never did anything?

3) Themes and roms confuse me a bit. I understand that roms change the actual underlying functionality of the phone and often optimize it. I also see that roms add some "eye candy." Can themes add this eye candy and offer the same user interface that a rom provides, but perhaps with a performance hit since the theme doesn't optimize the phone at all? Do people flash a rom then install a theme? Does the rom come with a theme? Can themes be loaded on any rom or only stock?

4) I also so threads on optimizing the phone and cleaning off the clutter. Does that really matter to me if I flash a new rom?

I apologize for the basic questions but I haven't found 100% clear answers and really need someone to SPELL IT OUT for me. Thanks in advance.

[touch-this-pro]

1) yes
2) possibly, you can always go back to stock rom and lock your phone
3) most cooked roms are optimized for memory and speed. The stock roms come with loaded crap that make the phone sluggish. A good Rom will solve most of the slugging-ness and memory issues.
4) a good rom will do this as well

hope this helps

[boredandtattooed]

1 yes

2 yes you can relock and act like nothing was done

3 CHT can be used without flashing a ROM... something like MAXSENSE i believe is still only available via ROM flash(both of those are very eye candy intensive)... Themes can usually be used on anything as long as they are for the right platform format(ie sense 2.1 or 2.5 etc)

4 Most of the clutter will be gone when you flash the new Rom yes

edit apparently i dont type fast enough, 2 posts in a row me and the above poster are right after each other lol

[touch-this-pro]

boredandtattooed, I am on fire today, watch-out. I am typing faster than a red-bulled maniac lmao