i'm a n00b and i have a solderless xenium ice and yes, it's very easy to use (if you get the correct d0 point of course). basically all chips will allow you to backup to the hdd as long as you have a hacked bios and a program with which to do the ripping with. (i use dvd2xbox, hasn't failed me yet). how did you kill your hdd? and did you back it up beforehand? if you did, there are tutorials to install a new hdd using an evox boot disc, and it seemed pretty easy. if you didn't, then i don't know what to tell you, i don't have the answer to that one.
