Battery Usage Question

[Hyposprayer]

Hi, I currently have an HTC Eris and my upgrade doesn't come up for awhile. I'm hoping that by the time it comes around that maybe rumors of a Pro 2 will be around, but for now I'm thinking seriously on getting this one. Truth is, I miss my keyboard, and as I've been getting more and more into my job and school, I've needed to text and email more. However, I also love to browse the internet on my phone in my spare time or just browse the app market. I've heard complaints about the battery life on the Pro and wondered if I can take some precautions to make the battery last longer for my needs.

First off...extended battery? I'd like to keep it somewhat slim and while I'd like a case if an extended battery makes a big difference then I'm willing to forgo it.

JuiceDefender. I'll probably install this anyway. I have an unlimited plan so I don't keep wireless on unless I'm downloading something.

Finally...root? I've rooted my Eris only because it's never been in warranty since I bought it off Ebay. I've heard of defective Pros though, so I'd rather wait and be able to exchange my phone instead of buy one and not be able to return it. How are the ROMs for this phone? Do any of them really help with battery life or should I just stick with factory settings? I might root anyway just so I can use App2SD, but I just wanted some opinions.

Suggestions? I really have no idea how long a Pro with a regular battery would last for me.

[StingRay]

As far as the extended battery...it is a necessity, although even with the extended battery my battery life is horrendous....the additional thickness that is added is minimal, and after a while I didn't realize much difference...

at the present time the only reason to root the Pro is to remove some of the garbage stock apps...there are no usable custom ROMs and probably never will be for this phone...locked bootloader doesn't provide for much customization either...

[Kaos2flo]

Yeah what he said. This phone is pretty boring cuz theres no roms for it at all. But I still love it. Like you said that you miss your keyboard, I couldn't live without a keyboard either. So I was willing to give up a lot of things just to have a keyboard. And I really don't regret it.