[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] opticyclic:
This is the first ROM I have flashed due to its all in one promise, however, I was quite disappointed.

My very first impression was that it was stock with a boatload of extra settings.

It was only after my previous apps synch'd and GO Launcher Ex was installed that I realised that the launcher wasn't stock as it popped up a choice from the home button and offered trebuchet.

The only difference I can see between trebuchet and stock is some very basic custom transitions. Nothing compared to what is offered by GO Launcher Ex.

There is a custom boot screen which is nice but I thought it had broken on first boot as it says Game Over for a really long time.

I think this was due to the Dalvik cache being rebuilt but there is no indication of this.

When you start there is no customisation of the homescreen.

The wallpaper is stock and the icons look stock too.

There is a music player widget on a screen to the left but thats about it.

I was expecting the ROM to give my phone a new feel.

e.g. LG and Samsung phones feel much more than stock android as their homescreens are well designed and populated and they have their own icon sets and themes plus a few extra propriety applications.

It took me a while to notice that the dialler was different as when I started entering a number it offered to auto-complete.

However, the dialler looks identical to stock so on first impression it doesn't feel as though any change has been made.

HALO is included but it isn't turned on and there is no information about what it is or how to use it.

Same goes for PIE control.

The lock screen with the weather is nice but I've had a custom lock screen for so long I'm not sure if that is custom or not!

I can't work out how to use CM File Manager for root as I can't find the settings in the GUI and it doesn't appear to have anywhere near as many features as something like ES File Explorer or File Expert or GO FileMaster.

The Focal camera looks cool but I haven't tried it yet.

Similarly the DSP Manager looks like it might fix issues with low sound from the GNex.

I notice that a music application called Apollo is on there, but I don't listen to music on my phone so I haven't really looked how it might be different to stock.

On the subject of sound, there is no default ring tone selected so I missed a whole bunch of calls on the first day I used it!

There should not only be a default ring tone selected, it should be a custom ring tone from the ROM.

The browser has the stock icon but it looks like "Browser" with different tabs. It seems a strange choice as it seems to have less functionality than stock.

I liked the option in the notification area to be able to turn on and off tethering with a click but this morning it has disappeared for some reason and I can't work out through all the settings how I might bring it back.

The SMS still looks like the default even though there are some cooler options available e.g. GO SMS Pro.

The other apps like voice dialler, voice recorder and Torch seem OK.

The Gallery seems to be stock as well even though there are plenty of cooler galleries e.g. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.coolandroidappzfree.media

As you can tell, overall I am very underwhelmed!

It doesn't seem like the best of breed applications have been used.

What do you think about setting some more defaults and adding a theme/skin to it so that it is much more obvious that it is a custom ROM?