Back when I got my Gnex... one of the first ROMs I installed on it was the BlackIce 40.5. Evo owners have had a port for a while now and I've been running that on the Evo while moving on to Baked BlackBean on the Gnex.
Soon as the Evo was deactivated I had the same idea of using it strictly as a media device. I striped down the black ice ROM quite a bit and removed anything network related to reduce battery drain. With an extended battery and screen off I left the evo playing music accidentally in my luggage during a recent trip to Dallas for 4 days while visiting family. WiFi was on and music playing, after 4 days I still had 8 percent battery.
You've got a great idea here... encourage starting from an ICS aokp base for optimal settings and theming options. Running a DPI of 180 also makes things look slightly better. You can use an app such as Titanium to freeze things first before removing to ensure there are no app dependencies prior to removing them. Truly, u can just disable mobile data and edit the build prop to disable network communications on any existing ROM. WiFi access is a must to implement this as a true mini tablet option. I was considering this all with a paranoid android port but gave up on the idea as it hasn't been a priority for me.
Good ambition my friend, I will keep an eye on this and I am available to test anything for ya... at least compare it to my personal set up to see if there are improvements.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
---------- Post added at 08:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:29 PM ----------
Check build prop property
ro.cdma.home.operator.alpha
Change value from "sprint" to whatever you want it to say instead of sprint or no network.
Can't remember if that was the right adjustment, don't have my evo in front of me, that's just off memory
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium