EDIT: more like urxvt + screen + solarized. as far as i can tell, the only thing byobu really has going is the neat status indicators. not that they are bad, i just don’t need them.
urxvt + byobu + solarized (emacs, urxvt palette) = YES
gnome 3 is annoying.
You can get the neat status indicators in screen if you don’t mind a little tinkering. You can do a lot more than just the time and system resources as well
This is my screen for my netbook: http://imgur.com/tYUYZ
ah! looks rad, i always wondered how to do that.