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[rtheil]

Notice how quiet this forum is? That's because people don't have all that many problems with the x-chip. I'm one of those people. Mine worked from first try. I'm also looking into the x-lite. I imagine it will be a great chip!

[christineyoung]

Well well, low and behold my xlite arrived yesterday and let me tell you it is a very full featured chip.


1st thoughst when i opened package, crap they forgot to sent the external module.  Well they didn't, it's on the PCB still together and you( end user ) must break apart.  very simple routine.  Comes with standard 2 by 6 header and  blue cable to attache the modchip to teh external module.

2nd impression, wow i'm ready to install thsi thing but have to remove the annoying tape from the switches, not hard but when you want to jump straight in every second counts and this tape held me back a whole 10 seconds.

Now since i had a preinstall of the xchip with sodlered header I have a nice sweat headstart on installation, just opened up the xbox and removed the xchip and programmer ( lazy me left the blue wire from this still routed through my xbox , yes saves me time again )

So I connect one end of the blue cable to xliite and insert on my header, with the marking on the pcb that says case edge heer will help newbies who install xchip on backwards.  Now I connect other end of blue cable to external module and power up unit, now after waiting for inifinity ( pun intended, a few seconds ) we are displayed with a Xchip Cromwell screen.

1st option flash bios through http , so i tried, but opps i forgot to connect my network cable, so i power off connect cable and repower and re-enter the http upload screen, and within seconds I get an IP address of my Xbox.  Now on my pc, I typ ein my webbrowser ( http://192.168.###.### displayed ) I am presented with a simple screen, backup eeprom and flash so i do thsi action, with in a few minute scomplete, then I decide yo write teh infamous Evox 1.3 so I hit browse and find fiel on my pc and click flash, within a few minutes teh flash is done on screen xbox tell me what its doing ( erasing, programming , done, press A to continue ) SO I press A and then i power off unit.

I repower unit and see my Evox laoded successfully , must be a sweat person who installed as worked 1st time ( heheheh ) so i decide to power off unit and then make swith on external moduel set to disable, that was too much fun, then i conenct to xbox live and played a few games and a few conencts and guess what not banned so teh disable works fast and not liek other chips that sometimes are still enabled when on live and you find out to late.

So now i decide crap, what is this recoevery mode feature so I cahne switch from disabled to on for modchip then i choose recovery mode switch, and guess what happens when i power up........tada back to teh 1st screen i had when powered xchip cromwell  This is looking promising, but now I'm worried i lost my evox, so i powered off and turned swith to disable recovery mode and guess what my evox saved, so it does not automatically flash banks with original code when in recovery mode, it allows you to get your chip into shipped state if you really screw up writing and have aworking chip quickly, but you msut remember to disable recoevery mode after rewrite ( forgot once and almost crapped my pants , just kidding )

all and all after playing with xlite and pricing this will be going on my shelves for sale and will be highly recommeneded to all at an amazing $35 for a modchip that does all you want ( play backups and more ) and at this price it will sure stir the market.

I by no means put down the xchip as its an amazing chip as well, but if you don't want/need debugging mode, or mind a slower write of flash ( http ) rather then through USB and don't want to control your bios banks via your pc, by all means the xlite is a #1 item that I will be stocking soon and selling.  If you want PC power/control the xchip is for you but consider ist little brother as an alternative..

Rating : 9.9/10
Support/Documentation: 5/10 Vague documents on eb2k website now,
Installation: 8/10 same as xchip very straight forward.

Average 7.6/10 This low count is due to lack of documentation about chip, but then again its new and works 100% with the XCHIP special bios.

P.S. did i forget to mention all modes on external model each have nice LED light up and you can disable led's if you wish

Also the cromwell bios denates everything as xchip, and i found out the cromwell can be laoded on a xchip since same hardware and gives video on 1.6 boxes, helping improving instalation on 1.6 boxes.  The software in cromwell under tools denotes chip as a XLITE as it is.  Also you can lock/unlock your harddrives in the cromwell menu SWEAT

[rtheil]

Thanks for the long story. I'm very glad to hear that this chip is everything I thought it would be. Unfortunately, I've been fucked by spider, and I bought 15 of them. I have 13 xboxes to mod, and I can't get the v1.1 chip to work. However, in my personal xbox, my x-chip is better then ever! Kick ass.

About the only thing I wish they would do is provide support for an LCD. That would be awesome. I'm seriously considering ordering an X3 with LCD to replace my wonderful x-chip. However, if I do that I might just have to buy another xbox just so I don't feel bad about leaving my x-chip out in the cold!

[christineyoung]

rtheil: Honestly, LCD support, why...add $30 USD for display, so you can see mp3's playing in media player and from 3 feet away, from across room i doubt you can read text that well , midas well just use the TV display  SPI is something that does not turn many heads, sure it look cool , but after spending $30 on LCD and $5 - $10 on LED's, you can drop a $8 hit of acid and enjoy the night.

[gamecock059]

thank u for giving me a better idea of what im am buying. i only read a  few reviews of x chip and and got the wrong impression thanks for clearing that up. the only ones i read was a/b problems with instalation. im not good at soldering or i just dont trust myself n e wayz i was wondering how good the solderless adapter is. most of the instalation problems i read was b/c of the solderless adapter.any info on it

[vernonjr]

completely off topic im sorry, but i saw your username? your a gamecock fan eh? Im a huge fan and i live in lexington sc? I go to a few games a year  

[christineyoung]

gamecock059: The issues many encounter with any modchip is installation.  #1 culprit is user thinking 100% he's sure ist doen right when it isn't, slight issue always comes out 1-2 days after nitial post and many do not report back there success finally.  As for solderless installation, simply put you allign , make flush with mother board and hold snug while you screw down ( works 90% of times ) other times need to clena the mother board area with rubbing alcohol.  Also note eb2k did ship a few wrong solderless adapters and was all sorted out , but people tend to always pick at there mistakes ( they only human, and to erro is human, to fix/remedy situation is called support and not lie about shipping worng adapter ).

Solder install is pretty straight forward, just prepare yourself to know what xbox version you have, and it worse some to worse local TV repair shosp will install for you at a minimum fee as its easy soldering to them.

[Easybuy2000]

QUOTE(christineyoung @ Feb 3 2005, 11:14 PM)

Well well, low and behold my xlite arrived yesterday and let me tell you it is a very full featured chip.

[Easybuy2000]

The X-Chip and X-Lites are BOTH very solid products.

We could have added the LCD support but decided not to. How many pople really are going to use that feature and then there is the additional cost of the LCD itself. We decided to leave that feature out. Also most people keep their Xboxes about 5 to 10 feet away from them and at that range the LCD is barely visable.

The X-Chip / X-Lite is a gamers chip and the X-Chip is also a developers chip as well.

Quality is top notch you can see the quality in just by holding the PCB. .see how thick it is compared to other mod chips in the market.

Think of the X-Lite as a budget chip to the X-Chip. If you want  top notch mod chip and don't need the built in USB support then the X-Lite is the chip for you.

[rtheil]

QUOTE(christineyoung @ Feb 3 2005, 05:46 PM)

rtheil: Honestly, LCD support, why...add $30 USD for display, so you can see mp3's playing in media player and from 3 feet away, from across room i doubt you can read text that well , midas well just use the TV display   SPI is something that does not turn many heads, sure it look cool , but after spending $30 on LCD and $5 - $10 on LED's, you can drop a $8 hit of acid and enjoy the night.

[christineyoung]

easybuy2000: 3 page pdf file for  a simple concept of switches that is labeled on PCB, yes you hacking guides and just adding stuff as the master guide is hacks of other peoples work, why not a fresh guide would had made life simplier now you need to take images, etc of xlite installation on pin header install etc.

Like i said documents and guides not all inplace and rated vague guides as no gudies with actually images of xchip install anywhere.

rtheil: in small room and close to xbos the lcd's can be handy but far away not really see whats playing.

easybuy2000: X-Chip is also a developers chip, with debugging and X-Pipe control.  Also, when is whoelsale answering mails emailed them 3 times and tried andre with no response on price on 20 units.

[Grilf]

@Christine: Love your review, and your criticism... maybe you should be more specific about the lack of documentation though!
*Ok you did come with a few suggestions i noticed after reading again sorry!*

@EB2k: Listen to your customers, no matter how well you think your manual is, don't complaint about customers complaints !!!! Instead ask how it could be made better !

Sorry im pretty drunk, ... couldn't help it

Love my XCHIP

[christineyoung]

Grilf: Thanks for you feedback.

As for documentation:
1) Lack of image of installed item
2) Lack of explaination to conenct cable and break off module ( yes cpoc mentison this on h-f forums ) But many will not look at hf for help and waste call to tech support over thought missed shipped item
3) Details on flashing product no documents or explainations anywhere ( obvious, but CPOC and EASYBUY2000 always say they make guides for NEWBIES and some may not under stand )
4) Product launched and tech support saying he needs to find out info for himself, just curious but aren't developers responsibe for manuals and documentatiosn even if vague    
5) told to switch 1 off modchip if 1.6 xbox, but why??? what would happen if i don't...never says.


Why is none this info on product page as 90-% people look there and only there and do not even use teh h-f forums.

This is just off top my head without, actually researching, but as you can see I was fair and offered a 5/10 as stated use old xchip guide as similiar except for switch on 1.6's

Easybuy2000: I fail to accept you accept any grave reviews as you used alot of stock materials and alot of work in master install guide was not yours but work of others.  You had stated in your support forums, you where making a step by step complete guide from scratch, and 2-3 montsh later you whre stating not done due to webmaster had no time to edit images ( majority where stock ).  I can tell you are intelligent, but you must understand.  I critic's actually factoid son product.  Read above, thats documentation missing, you say all documentation present and yet yourself say you are editting and refixing master install guide, so in reality can you honestly say "ALL PRESENT" or can you agree as I stated "VAGUE" or must we agree to disagree and state "VAGUELY PRESENT"

[rtheil]