Sounds great. Was the silent spinner stiff? I think they're manufactured to be stiffer now so that could be why she didn't bother with it. Either way the silent runner spins really easily and also has an enclosed design to help them feel more secure, so you might find she uses it more.
It's not that it's her personality to try and escape - generally this behaviour reduces in larger cages. Studies show that it tends to reduce upwards of 1000-1500 square inches of floor space. Over 1500 square inches for the behaviour to usually stop (still not guaranteed!). So yes like I said they do require a lot of room unfortunately, some more than others and it looks like you landed yourself a rather difficult to please hamster!
Sounds like taming is starting to come along nicely though