I posted this about a week ago at teamxodus:
So on Monday the two Gold chips for my friends Xboxes finally arrived (thank heavens!), and I thought I should post here about my experience with the install. Sorry I did not take pictures, but I still have one chip uninstalled and may take some later and post them.
Impressions of the chip: Gimmick or not, the chip is very small and quite attractive. I think many on xbox-scene are right in saying it's a marketing device or mainly aesthetic, but it nevertheless makes for one nice looking install. As for the functionality, I suppose there is an advantage in having a chip with nice rounded edges with no awkward angles -- less likely for wires to get caught.
Impressions of the install: The install is incredibly easy (provided you don't have a 1.0 Xbox and have to desolder). The solderless adapter (1.0-1.5) works very nicely except for one thing: the stability of the D0 wire makes me a little uneasy. If your Xbox is stationary, it won't matter, but I wonder if you plan on moving your box around how well that will hold up. I suppose it's something that can be said of all solderless adapters, though. Anyway, the solderless adapter does sit very nicely, and I had no trouble getting the Xenium OS to boot on the first attempt.
Also, despite what some people say on this board, I still think the pin header soldered install would ensure a much better electrical conduction, and actually would prefer that install for my own box, but the solderless adapter is a very nice one.
Impressions of Xenium OS: This personally is my favorite thing about this chip, and, aside from the ease of the install, the reason I would buy it. I have read many posts on xbox-scene complaining about Xenium OS, but I thought it to be by far the easiest way to upgrade to another BIOS, with plenty of ways to install hacked BIOSes (http of course, and installing onto flash or the hard disk). This, IMO, is lightyears better than Cromwell and FlashBIOS, as I have had problems with those two. What a lovely interface, and it's great that the chip ships with this interface already loaded. VERY newbie friendly.
In sum: a lovely product, and one that newbies can easily use for their install (again provided they don't have to desolder on a 1.0 Xbox). If you have a 1.1 - 1.5, it probably will install in just a few minutes. The only thing that worries me a little is the D0 wire, but should your box mainly remain stationary, and you use care when moving it, I think it should be no problem.
