I've been following this thread now for a month. It would be helpful if someone could sum up the pros and cons to this ROM. I know 4G and HDMI do not work but what else can't I do with this ROM that works on sense? Will I have 60 fps? Will I be able to overclock? Etc..?
These are all my own opinions and personal preferences. I have had an EVO since launch day, and rooted shortly after and have tried a number of ROMs by all the different developers. I am really appreciative that people take the time to contribute and what I say isn't intended to downplay or speak ill of any other developer efforts.
Pros:
In my opinion, CM is the most thoroughly developed ROM. Unmatched smoothness and speed.
Battery life. I don't use my phone with super intensity -- I'm a lawyer...my day doesn't allow me the ability to play with my personal phoen. On a normal charge, it is running usually around 15-20% of the time. Screen on time is less than that. I keep it on Wifi most of the time as well. However, I regularly get 36+ hours of battery life. The battery life on this with the stock CM kernel is far beyond what I got on any Sense based rom. I have Hardware 002...you results may very because every phone is different.
CM, without any sense/motoblur skin stays snappy forever. I felt like with my sense ROMs, after a few weeks they would start to slow down. Usually a new version would be out, and I'd just re-flash the new one and it'd be great again, only to fuddle itself to death in bloat after another 3 weeks. I used CM6.0 Stable until 6.1 came out (like 2 months), never saw a single drop in performance over the time.
Comes with the included AOSP android tether and usb tether, which work out of the box.
Because it lacks any skin such as Sense, it is entirely customizable. This results in a 'Con' too, which I will discuss, but I've come to love the fact that I have this customizability.
ADW Launcher is great and has far far far more customization options than the Sense launcher. Lots of people prefer launcher pro, which is also fantastic. I use ADW because it is built into CM and LP doesn't offer me enough that I choose to use it over ADW.
Cons:
Because it doesn't have a skin like sense, you will probably be looking for some widget/app replacements. Things like Android Calendar and Gtasks are great for replacements for the sense counterparts, but for 4G widgets, sense clocks, etc. you may find yourself in a position where you'd have to buy apps to adequately replace what you got for free with sense. Other things like Sprint Voicemail, etc. do not work out of the box on CM. There are superior substitutes to these things (Google Voice for my example), but if you want the familiar, you'll have to add them to CM.
HDMI and 4G don't work at this moment. I feel like there should be an asterisk here. HDMI has the code pretty much complete -- it just needs to be polished a little. 4G is currently working for testers. However, like HDMI, there are a few things that need still need to be ironed out. CM never gives ETAs, but I think it is safe to say that both of these features will be added without too much of a further delay. I personally have never tried to use HDMI. And 4G is available where I work in DC, but I use Wifi instead...which I would do anyways, so it hasn't turned out to be a big deal at all.
I know a lot of people prefer the AOSP contacts & phone app, but I think that Sense has AOSP beat in this area. Although I will never switch from CM, the AOSP dialer leaves some to be desired. Mainly because you can't start to type a number and then see which of your contacts you could be trying to call. There is an App called Dialer one that can be used to replace this. I'm sure that Google will eventually revamp this and make it on par with Sense.
Today I flashed the new radio, wimax, NV, & PRI just fine...flashed a sense rom, updated my profile and prl, then flashed 6.1.1 -- its working fantastic!
Edit: Yes, you have 60fps...well 54 really..the Evo can't hit 60. And yes, you can overclock.
