What do I need to get the most out of a chipped X-Box?

[Sad_Genius]

Hi guys - I'm looking to invest in a chipped X-Box, mainly for use as a media player and for emu's .... What other kit (PC stuff for instance) will I need to get all the cool stuff up & running?

i.e. Can I load apps and stuff from CD's or do I need a DVD writer to put them onto DVD?

Are the programs themselves hard to get hold of?

I'm looking to be playing avi's on it a fair bit ... will they run straight off the disc or will i need to upgrade the XB HD?

Same Q again but for ROMs?

How much will all this likely cost me?

Any help much appreciated...

-Martyn

[insin_]

What other kit (PC stuff for instance) will I need to get all the cool stuff up & running?

Usually, just some way of connecting your XBox to your PC - that means either a crossover cable to connect your XB directly to your pc's network card, of (if you have a hub/network setup) a regular network cable.

i.e. Can I load apps and stuff from CD's or do I need a DVD writer to put them onto DVD?

You can FTP files from your PC to your XBox, then run them from your new dashboard, so it's easier to keep everything on the XBox HD (which you can replace if you need a larger HD).

Are the programs themselves hard to get hold of?

They're all available on IRC from #xbins, which resides on efnet, but the person who does the mod for you will likely supply you with all the programs/ROMS you will need.

I'm looking to be playing avi's on it a fair bit ... will they run straight off the disc or will i need to upgrade the XB HD?

I believe XBox Media Player can stream media over the network, but I haven't used this yet...

Same Q again but for ROMs?

You can keep a tonkload of ROMS on even the default HD - unless you want to have every ROM ever for every system ever on there at the same time, you wont need to upgrade the HD. I think some emulators also allow you to run ROMS off a CD (xSnes9x does this afaik).

How much will all this likely cost me?

Yod@ (who modded my box - I highly recommed his service) quoth: "Xbox mod - ?15 for modchip and software installation, and an on/off switch. You can supply your own chip, or add ?30 for an Xecuter 2 Lite." He'll also give you pretty much all the ROMS you could ever want for most systems (including a load of MAME ROMS) - he doesn't charge for this aspect of the service, it's done as a favour.