What do you guys think?  I have never rooted a phone before, but I keep hearing how much more there is to do on a phone that is rooted.  I know Craptacular has some stories to share, so speak up.

CyanogenMod FTW!!! I have rooted multiple phones with no major issues. Once you root, install rom manager from the android market and flash clockwork recovery. Next, back up your stock rom and go to town. 

Tweaked

drdoomuzi4u

You should know the risks involved with rooting before you do it. You can read up on guides and what is available for your phone here.
I love having root access on my phone. It is worth it just for free wireless tethering alone. I can also back up all of my free and paid apps in case a developer tries to screw up the app by adding stupid and intrusive ads or takes away features in order to make a paid version. I can also batch restore all of my backed up apps with one click.
Rooting also lets you get rid of ads, in webpages and applications; I have never see one since I rooted my Incredible. Download AdFree Android and you are good to go.

Then there are custom ROMs you can install and further customize your phone. I have been running stock Gingerbread (2.3) for the last month or so. I'm installing one of the latest Sense ROMs as I type this.

The Mytouch 4G natively supports wifi hotspot with Android 2.2 Froyo, so that no longer requires rooting to do, and as far as I am aware the same is true for being able to install apps to the SD. 

I think all 2.2 phones support it natively. The difference is whether you want to pay for it using your carriers application or get it for free. I know there are some workarounds that don't require root, but rooting is just easier in my opinion.

OK guy does Rooting mean to OC your cell phone cause I'm  

drdoomuzi4u

Tweaked

drdoomuzi4u

You should know the risks involved with rooting before you do it. You can read up on guides and what is available for your phone here.
I love having root access on my phone. It is worth it just for free wireless tethering alone. I can also back up all of my free and paid apps in case a developer tries to screw up the app by adding stupid and intrusive ads or takes away features in order to make a paid version. I can also batch restore all of my backed up apps with one click.
Rooting also lets you get rid of ads, in webpages and applications; I have never see one since I rooted my Incredible. Download AdFree Android and you are good to go.

Then there are custom ROMs you can install and further customize your phone. I have been running stock Gingerbread (2.3) for the last month or so. I'm installing one of the latest Sense ROMs as I type this.

The Mytouch 4G natively supports wifi hotspot with Android 2.2 Froyo, so that no longer requires rooting to do, and as far as I am aware the same is true for being able to install apps to the SD. 

I think all 2.2 phones support it natively. The difference is whether you want to pay for it using your carriers application or get it for free. I know there are some workarounds that don't require root, but rooting is just easier in my opinion.

 
T-Mobile does not charge for wifi tethering.  Yay Tmobile.

I say do it, best thing you can do with an Android based phone. They should all come unlocked with the ability to change the ROM as you please. Sprint took forever to come out with 2.1 for the HTC Hero and they're not upgrading it any further, currently running 2.3 Gingerbread on my Hero thanks to root. Much faster than stock and battery life is 2-3 days with regular use.

seabigbear

OK guy does Rooting mean to OC your cell phone cause I'm  

Yes it does.  If your phone allows custom kernels to be loaded.  I'm running the original Moto Droid and it is stock at 550Mhz and the stock kernel caps at 600.  I have a custom ROM and kernel loaded and am currently overclocked to 800Mhz.  I've ran it at 900 and 1Ghz before as well though with no issues other than a bit more heat than I liked. 
 
For Rovian, My battery life is actually way better even with the overclock because I use an app called SetCPU.  This app supports profiles so I can do stuff like underclock the phone to, in my case right now, 250Mhz when the screen is off.  This way you get performance when using the phone, and you get power savings when you're not. Also my current kernel is a low voltage kernel which means it runs less voltage than the stock one. 
 
For the OP, besides just the extras like the wi-fi, rooting allows you to do all the nice custom ROMs and kernels to provide much more functionality than the stock T-Mobile loaded OS with root (essentially like going from normal user to full admin rights on a windows box).  Custom ROMs will integrate the latest changes to the Android OS that your carrier's version will not see for months if ever.  You can also find some amazing themes, or create your own if you're interested in learning a bit about the OS.
 
In my case, the Droid will never see an official Gingerbread update likely, but there are already 3 released GB ROMs for it, and a 4th (Cyanogen) on the way.  I'm personally waiting for that one because the dev of my current ROM Sapphire moved to the CM team to specifically handle the Droid branch for them and his work is amazing.  Also the other 3 have a few bugs atm and I'd rather wait for what I know will be a more stable release lol.
 

I've rooted my droid x and love some of the additional apps i can run now, plus free wifi.  I haven't quite tried a custom ROM yet because i'm afraid of tripping that efuse thing they talk about and don't want to have to get a new phone already LOL.

hey guys not to hijack a thread but what about BB warrenties? i bought the insurance with accidental for my incredible does that mean that they will replace it if it bricks?

or.....OOPS =P

flyinion

Wasn't there a law passed a few months ago that said they could not void warranties for rooting/unlocking phones?  Or was that just saying that mfr's had to allow you to be able to do it?  I don't remember the specifics now.

No, still voids warranty, but it is LEGAL do it. Aka, there are no more legal implications for changing something YOU own. Which previously, although you owned the phone, rooting it was ILLEGAL because you tempered with the original software. But you owned that so now its legal!

T-Mobile isn't very heinous about rooting. Several guys from XDA have reported that their rooted phones encountered hardware problems and got replacements despite them being rooted. I'm sure there is a way to un-root as there is for other devices such as my G2, essentially all you need are the original files and know what to do with them. If you go on XDA and ask about it or look around, you should definitely get some information.
 
Also, rooting does not mean overclocking your phone at all. Root is mere total access over the phone, something the carrier tries and fails to prevent every time. They're getting better at preventing it, but they haven't stopped it. Root is definitely worth it though, the ability to do everything you want with your phone modding and development wise is great. Flashing ROMs is a plus as said earlier, I'm running Gingerbread on my G2 already and it's only out for the Nexus S I believe. Using SetCPU (which is a paid app in the market but is free if you get it from the XDA forums) with a custom kernel can allow you to overclock and set profiles for how you want the clock speeds to run. The kernels may also modify your phone in other ways such as voltage tweaks, etc. There are also some apps on the market you wouldn't normally be able to use without root access, but now you'd be able to. I was a little scared about this myself the first time through on my G1 awhile back, but once you get used to doing everything it's a breeze. If you do go the modding route with rooting your phone, be sure you're making back-ups all the time in your recovery and are following guides to the last letter, because if your phone gets caught up in a messy situation, you may need that back-up to fix it.