i dont use the thick backup tool because:
1) its not configurable
2) you cant tell what it does so you dont know whats safely backed up
3) it backs up to a thick binary you cant read without the phone
4) its slow because it does the whole shebang every time {as opposed to incremental, where it only takes time if you added a lot of stuff}
5) theres no easy way to have it copy the backup over to your computer via wifi {because you dont get notified programmatically when its done}


instead, i invoke a series of scripts from my computer that backs data up efficiently in a human-readable format, and backs up the binary files i would cry if i lost {pictures, videos} with rsync.

it fires at 5am, and backs up DCIM, SMS, calls, contacts, qtodo notes, and my swype dictionary. it also syncs my pidgin logs, mydocs, and music, which i only change on my computer but like to have up-to-date on my phone.

as for installed programs, desktop background, camera sound file, gconf settings, terminal vkb, home icon positions, etc, i have an interesting model for making sure these are always backed up. i NEVER change these with the phone interfaces, and instead modify a set of config scripts stored in my git repo, and then re-run them.
{e.g.: when installing coderus' new qml firefox ui, i add 'qmlmozbrowser' to my package.pl script and invoke it from my laptop. it installs it, and then i commit my script.}

so if my phone got bricked and i had to reflash {or if it drowned in a hurricane}, i would just run my installation scripts, then run my backup-restore scripts, and have the precise same phone, except the **** that happened since 5am, like taking awesome pics of a hurricane drowning my house in seawater.