Balancing robot for dummies

Many thanks to everyone, especially kas, for this awesome thread. I'm building my own balancing robot, and I've learned a lot here. I think I've read every post, but I might have missed something. Can someone please give me some guidance on these points:

  1. Is a 10ms loop sufficient, or should I try to go faster if my peripherals allow it?
  2. I can't access the A2D on my CPU. I need to purchase a separate A2D chip to read the gyro. Is a 10 bit A2D sufficient, or should I go 12 bits?
  3. Can anyone suggest a good standalone A2D for a balancing robot?

TIA. I hope I can post a movie of my robot balancing soon!

--Osman