Is this needed? I do not want the jailbreak to take forever. I have always restored, and really don't know why it is needed or if it is. Please help and let me know if you jailbroke without restoring.
honestly, i would "restore as new" and then jailbreak with GP. yes it takes a little more time and other than having to add all your email accounts you can sync your music, videos, photos, apps etc.. back onto the device
in the past i've had bugs carry over from restoring from a back up. it's just always a good idea to begin with a fresh start. plus it has helped eliminate any battery issues for me as well
i'm not saying you have to do it but peace of mind can go a long way
lol now you have both sides of the argument. The reason some people like to restore before a JB is because with the restore and setting up as new you know the firmware is completely new with no problems. If you end up with problems you don't have to guess if maybe it's caused by JBing over an altered firmware or restoring altered files. So really it's up to you it can be done either way and I'm sure you'll find people for each side who haven't had any problems with their method.
