Rooting and 2.1 questions

[ilaifire]

Hullo, I'm new to the forum and have a few questions. I just got a Hero, and it already has the 2.1 update on it. I looked around here and elsewhere online and found that there is currently no way to root the official 2.1 release. I went back and was told that since I'm within my first 30 days I can go and exchange my phone for one with 1.5 on it.
My questions:
1) In all the instructions for rooting I've seen, they all require flashing a new ROM onto the phone. One of the reasons I chose the Hero was because of the Sense UI. If I do root the phone, will I still have the full Sense UI and everything that came on the original phone (don't care about the Sprint bloatware, so that can be present or missing on the new ROM)?

If I do keep the Sense UI, then the questions I have are:

2) How likely is it that someone will try figuring out how to root the Sprint Hero running on 2.1? Or should I just go and get it replaced with a Hero running 1.5 and root from there?

3) If I do need to go replace it, is there an easy way to back up my apps and (phone) contacts? I was able to get the pull and push command working through USB.

4) I haven't ever rooted a phone before (this is my first smart phone actually) and was wondering if people could point me to a good and simple set of instructions on how to do it. I've seen several different instructions and I don't know the differences between them.


Thank you very much for reading and responding.

 

[Darkshneider]

1. If you root your phone, you wont change anything unless you flash another ROM onto it, all your doing is getting administrator privileges. There are plenty of ROMs that include Sense UI or variations of it

2. If you can get a 1.5 phone, go for it. Root it then flash a 2.1 based ROM and you will have the benefit of root and the advantages of 2.1

3. Your contacts should be on your Google account, if not, change them to Google and not phone, that way once you log into you Gmail account, all your contacts will come back up. For apps, Ive never tried backing anything up, but Ive heard good things about Titanium Backup from the market.

4. Follow Gbhil's guide on rooting your phone. Read + try = root = profit.

 

[Darkshneider]

Or to quote regaw_leinad over at XDA forums:

"[GUIDE] How to Root Sprint 2.1 Release for CDMA Hero
Coming at 9pm PST"

Link

 

[srkmagnus]

Ditto on what Darkshneider said. Also, there have been released ROMs for rooted devices that are stock 2.1 with no changes. http://forum.androidcentral.com/htc-hero-roms-hacks/9522-sprint-2-1-leak.html

Wait for the 2.1 root method to be released tonight. You'll like the phone that much more once you gain root (or trade it in for the Evo tomorrow). lol Nonetheless, welcome to the community and enjoy your stay

 

[ilaifire]

Thank you so much for the information Darkshneider.

...or trade it in for the Evo tomorrow...

Actually I don't plan on it. When deciding which of the two to get in the past month I decided on the Hero because I'm not in an area getting 4G any time in the next 2 years (based on the cities that currently have it, and the ones scheduled to get it Madison, WI area does not seem to be of the correct size) and I'm still a college student with limited income. Also, I saw it at RadioShack today, and the size felt very unwieldy.