Wasabi (or Xkey) -- Is It Worth It? Options

[mickey797]

Guys,

I've been looking at Wasabi and right now it can be had for around $99. To me, personally, it's going to cost a little over $35 because of a paypal gift card. But I can't undermine that it's still close to $100.

My question: Is it worth it?

Here's my situation ...

I have an old (3 or 4 yrs old) Phat XBOX 360 Elite. The "Red" resident evil version that came out some time ago. It's a Jasper box with a LiteOn flashed to iXtreme LT+ 2.0

I NEVER go on XBOX Live with this box. This box is 100% OFFLINE. I have another untouched/unmodded Slim that I use for online gaming. I reserve this modded box for OFFLINE gaming only.

The "hardware" installation of Wasabi doesn't seem like rocket science. And I would love to be able to play my backups off a connected Hard Drive as opposed to popping discs in & out. I was wondering if someone who actually owns & uses a Wasabi (or xkey) can comment ...

Firstly, is the software setup hard? Do I need my drive's original FW dump?
Secondly, do you need to keep updating the FW on Wasabi? Is it hard?
What about he Dashboard? Does dashboard updates impact Wasabi in any way? I use the USB/Offline update method for updating my dashboard ... and I sort of like the newer Dash updates they come out with. I don't even know if you can update Dashboards if you use something like Wasabi or Xkey.

All in all -- I really, really would like to play my backups off a connected hard drive & build a game library on my hard drive as opposed to burning discs; and this is a 100% offline box so I that's not even an issue. That said -- is the Wasabi worth it?

On a side note; I know a lot of people will jump in & suggest "RGH". Let me clarify on that -- I cannot RGH myself; I have no thumbs when it comes to soldering, I won't even bother! Secondly, my Phat is a few years old now -- I don't expect a very long life expectancy. It'll pop one day soon enough - and then RGH is moot. If instead I have something like Wasabi, I can pop it out of the dead box & put it in a new one. Thus my reasoning to go with an ODD as opposed to RGH.

I'm open to all suggestions & comments.

Thanks!!