[Galaxy S II General] UK_gnubie:
Thanks fred_up! I'm appreciative of the time and effort you expended to reply, lend your views and clarification.

I guess I'd say that it might be best for me at this point just to properly and thoroughly familiarise myself with the device as it is, before I see about such modifications. I also think that such functionality as I would like to improve is most likely to be found in Android Market apps, some of 'em free, perhaps and some not. I certainly have no qualms about paying for the clever and useful work produced by certain programmers.

One app I've considered - though it is pricey as most go (£9.45), is SPB Shell 3D. Has anyone tried it? If this question belongs in another thread, let me know.

You don't need to root to a ROM upgrade. Rooting is to give you access to the full system and some programs require root access to work.

Thanks for clarifying that.

If you are just doing a straight official upgrade, then you can do that through KIES. If your phone is branded to (example) Vodafone, then you can only get the Vodafone upgrade. The branded upgrades can take a few months to come out after the stock Samsung ones do. The stock Samsung ROMs can take there time to come out, as they have to modify and test the next version of Android. The quickest release is the leaked versions from Samsung.

Odin is useful as it goes along way in protecting your phone from bricking. It is not idiot proof - flashing a ROM for another phone (ie SGSI), power outage during the flash, unplugging the usb cable during the flashing.

With Odin you are able to flash the stock ROM to a branded phone, thus Samsung will think you have a stock phone and will in future will supply you with stock ROM upgrades via KIES. WARNING: If you have to reutrn the phone for warranty, then you must flash the branded ROM (available on here).

With Odin you are able to flash a leaked or customised ROM to a branded phone, but Samsung will not recognise the phone's ROM and cannot in future supply you with stock ROM upgrades via KIES. WARNING: If you have to reutrn the phone for warranty, then you must flash the branded ROM (available on here).

OK - great info - thanks!

Now a basic question about branding. I am uncertain if my phone IS branded. I bought it and the 12 month contract from Mobiles.co.uk, and while it IS on the Vodafone network, as I requested, does that necessarily make it branded?

I have noticed an improvement in battery life going from a branded KE3 to a stock KF3 and to the leaked KI3 (2.3.5).

Fair enough.

Well, almost needless to say, one WOULD like better battery life. That's probably the primary niggle I have with this phone in its current form. It eats its way through a battery's charge too quickly. Now I don't mind charging nightly if need be, but sometimes it's difficult to get through a single day of even moderate use on one battery, which is why I've purchased a few more. I've also bought a dock which allows me to charge an additional battery, so I always have 2 or 3 fully charged batteries on hand. I've also considered buying one of those nearly double capacity batteries, which ship with an included deeper rear cover, to compensate for this battery's extra depth. But I'd rather not go that route.

As for customising, you can think of having a car - just use it to do a job of getting from A to B or getting it tunned for better acceloration and more fuel ecconomy. Upgrade the sound system so you can reaaly enjoy the music it can play. Give it a fancy paintjob so that it looks good and stands out from the crowd. Basically that is what the Chefs and tweakers do (and do so well).

Yup - I totally get your analogy on this, though it's not an issue on which I place a great deal of importance, as long as the phone functions well, as least not at the moment. Later - yeah, I might become more inclined to tweak.

Cheers!

Michael