I've ordered an Xecuter3 modchip. Is there anything I can do while I wait for it to arrive to get ready to install it? I have a soldering iron, solder, etc. but are there any applications or other software I should get as far as flashing bios or running programs. Also I have seen some mods such as an xbox controller dongle that can hook up to a usb port. What can this do other than make your xbox controller usable on PC? Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

Get the bios, get the dashboard, get any apps. Read the tutorials, threads, pinned topics, etc. Just make sure you know exactly what your gonna do when the time comes.

YEs What NightFire says.. I you want the easy way out of dashboard and apps installation, Download a auto installer

Are the bios on the chip usually any good compared to others that you can get? Like say Evolution X. What are some good apps that you would personally recommend or have found more useful over others? I'll go take a look at those tutorials.

The bios's that come on the chips are only there so you can reflash a hacked bios onto it, thats their only purpose.

Dvd2xbox, xbmc, dvdx2, emulators, roms, music, etc, etc are all good.

Your chip will most likley come with a cromwell bios. This means when the chip is correctly installed and you turn on your xbox it will give you a message that says please insert bios CD.

Just make sure you have a CD with a dummy file and a bios on the Cd ready to go.