Is rooting right for me? (LG Optimus V)

[stupidseld]

Heya first post,
I have three real questions about rooting.

I'm brand new to smart phones but I've had fun in the past with Linux distros and have modded some gaming systems in the past.

Basically, I don't mind only having 300 anytime minutes with VM; but I'm very curious about using google voice instead. It really just completely takes over the way you receive calls, or do you have to do anything differently?

Also, I love emulating older gaming systems (SNES, GBA and such.) Can I just open the emulator after storing them to a SD card or is it a little more complicated than that?

The last thing I really want to have on my phone is just the ability to store MP3's on a SD card and hook up my phone to my car via AUX just to play music on shuffle. I'm sure there are some really nice media players out there that I would probably need to root for, right?

Can I do all of this without rooting my phone?
The ability to tether seems really awesome as wel, but I don't think I'd really use it that often to be honest.

Was planning on picking up an LG Optimus V next payday. The rooting process seems pretty simple to do, but no sense in voiding my warranty if I don't really need to, yeah?

Thanks in advance, duders.

 

[mmarz]

You can do all of that without rooting, even the tethering. You only need apps to enable those features.

 

[stupidseld]

You can do all of that without rooting, even the tethering. You only need apps to enable those features.

That's awesome to hear.
Thanks.

 

[watskyhotsky]

You dont need to root to do ANY of that.

the emulators USUALLY require a BIOS file as well as the ROM files, both of which need to be found seperately. the emulator can be downloaded with a google search. most of them got pulled from the android market.

I use gameboid and snesoid for my gaming on my V

google voice can receive calls but they still use up minutes on your 300 minute plan. i heard there are ways around this but they require different apps and since you never have 100% signal, the sound quality isnt great.

also, its a smartphone. your not used to them, but yes it has a music player integrated into the OS. You know how you have a Windows PC and it comes with different software like windows media player to listen to music and internet explorer for going on the internet? think of android the same way. its a OS similar to windows in that it provides basic functionality with the ability to install more software than just what it came with.

so yes, the music player that comes in android will find the music on the SD card and you can play it in any order you like, even shuffle, through the AUX jack in your car.

tethering only requires a download of an app from the market, its free, does not require root but with virgin mobile moving to a 2.5GB data cap I suggest using wifi wherever possible.


now heres why most people root.

the phone ships with Android 2.2, an older version of android by now. its nice. but they would not have made 2.3 if it didnt have better features than 2.2 right? the problem is that neither virgin mobile or LG have released 2.3 for the optimus V. at least not yet. it exists but cannot be installed without the phone being rooted first.

the community has created some VERY nice versions of it. namely AOSPCM7 which is a cyanogenmod 7 ROM that is based off the newest greatest android version for phones.

you WILL need root to install this new version of android, but once its installed, it functions just the same as if you bought the phone with it installed, you get all the new features of the new android, and still have the ability to run apps that require root, and additional abilities like overclocking the processor of the phone to make the entire phone run slightly faster (can go into detail but not in this post)


also, some people actually like 2.2 for some reason, but prefer to use a version that can be overclocked so versions like Bumblebee exist, which is a android 2.2 ROM, but has features that the 2.2 that came with the V do not.


however, 2.3 is the newest version of the android OS as a whole and more and more we are finding apps that work better on 2.3 than on 2.2


EDIT* i tried to make this simple to understand. some people will tell you that in the 2.3 rom for the optimus V, certain features dont work correctly, like bluetooth earphones and being on wifi drains battery faster than a 2.2 ROM. its true that it has SOME bugs, but its by far a very functional rom.

if, however, you need that feature. then rooting and upgrading your android version might not be in YOUR personal best interest.

however, i hope this explains most peoples main reasons for rooting, and a general overview of what u can and cannot do with a rooted android phone versus a stock android phone.

I dont want to be flamed for suggesting AOSP over a 2.2 rom, so anyone who feels they want to say something against it, hopefully this edit can prevent this thread from getting too off topic

 

[zedorda]

Part of what was missed there was the fact that rooting for custom ROMs requires replacing ur stock recovery.img which rooting gives accesses to this. Rooting doesnt really pose alot of danger to ur phone compared to flashing a recovery.img which can end u with a bricked phone if not done right. Also nearly all the features offered by gingerbread can be obtained through apps on a rooted phone without the need for a custom ROM or flashing a recovery.img.

 

[stupidseld]

Oh damn, I wasn't expecting such helpful replies (especially on a sticky-type level). *__*

I can also definitely see why some people would want to root their devices now. I always thought there were just certain limits on the phone that rooting got past, but I see it's a little more different than I thought. Thanks for all of the information and awesome help.

I've always been the type of person that wants to make something more efficient, but for now I'll just see how well I enjoy the phone.

 

[watskyhotsky]

Part of what was missed there was the fact that rooting for custom ROMs requires replacing ur stock recovery.img which rooting gives accesses to this. Rooting doesnt really pose alot of danger to ur phone compared to flashing a recovery.img which can end u with a bricked phone if not done right. Also nearly all the features offered by gingerbread can be obtained through apps on a rooted phone without the need for a custom ROM or flashing a recovery.img.

flashing a recovery is required for the rom. I spoke assuming that when the OP decides to research flashing roms, hell naturally inquire about recoveries since its required as well, but its so behind the scenes i didnt feel it needed to be mentioned as one of the benefits of rooting.

 

[camf3xu]

If you do decide to root and venture into new Roms, please make sure you look up how to flash a custom recovery over clockworkmod (default recovery) . And never reset factory defaults. My first two errors, thankfully mmarz saved me! You wont regret it tho, only adds cool features that you never would have known were available.

And this forum is full of helpful ppl compared to others IMO. And quick with responses.