ROM Picks: ODJDub HD Express 3.0 Updated Sense 3.0 for the HTC EVO 4G
ODJDub HD Express (The Express) is a Sense 3.0 ROM for the HTC EVO 4G that has everything working (4G/WiMax, Bluetooth, 3G, data, etc.) and comes with a slick installer, theme, and overall experience.
On installation, the Aroma Installer allows you to pick from six different kernels, multiple themes, and which apps you want installed and which ones you don't. This means no rebooting to install a new kernel or uninstalling what you consider bloat after startup.
The Rosie launcher and lockscreen have been modified to allow for landscape orientation, comes prepackaged with Sony's Bravia photo engine and Xloud audio enhancements, and has completely working HDMI and WiFi hotspot right out of the gate.
I'll confess, I've never installed a ROM that uses the Aroma Installer before, so I was impressed by that right off the bat, but things got even better after the ROM was finally installed. I had not seen a graphical install from a non-graphic recovery (Amon Ra) until today. The choices and themes really gave me a feeling when the ROM loaded that there was not much work left for me to do after the install.
Depending on what kernel you choose, your performance is going to vary. I'm not terribly impressed by the ROM when it's on the stock kernel – it scores Quadrants in the low 500s – but it's easy enough to swap the kernel out later by either normal methods or just reinstalling the ROM on top of itself. It's a bit longer than an average kernel install, but not by too much. It would be nice if they gave the option to just swap kernels from there and not flash the entire ROM again, but it doesn't appear that's the case, and it doesn't take too long to re-flash with all your settings kept intact.
Flashing the Underworld SBC kernel that came with the ROM, I doubled the Quadrant scores (over 1000) and the ROM is now snappy and impressive without changing the clock speeds off of the stock.
During my initial install, I noticed the AnthraX #3 kernel that's listed failed to flash. I'm not sure what's up with that but installing any other kernel did not result in receiving "failed to write boot.img" like AnthraX did, so my guess is there's either something wrong with the kernel package inside the main ROM zip, or there is something new in the EVO 4G world that I do not know about as to why it's not working on my phone.
You have some theming options when flashing the ROM, but if I remember correctly that was the choice between red and blue themes. The options included aren't aesthetically pleasing to me, but re-theming is pretty simple.
ODJDub HD Express includes a tweaks app that allows you to change the lockscreen carrier caption, unlock the phone via menu button, or use the camera button . . . which the HTC EVO 4G does not have. It also features some options to tweak Rosie a bit for smoothness, although after playing with it in stock and super smooth mode, I'm not feeling the change.
Speaking of Rosie, it seems to have been ported from another phone with a slightly differently sized screen, as things will line up slightly off center and then snap to attention in the right place. I think this Rosie came from a wider resolution phone.
This ROM gives me a little bit of the excitement some of the first ROMs I ever installed gave me, and for that it's worth a look, although look without the stock kernel. That really was unimpressive.
[xda-developers]
