Yeah #xbins is the spot on efnet. You also might want to checkout www.xbox-scene.com All kinds of good tutorials and what not.

The X-ecuter 2 Lite modchip is the best IMO out right now. The pro version will be coming out soon. Only difference is you can flash the bios via LPT.

Here are pics of my xecuter 2 install. Was pretty simple.
http://belozero.slacknet.net/x2liteinstalled.jpg

http://belozero.slacknet.net/moboback1.jpg

www.extreme-mods.com is a good source for the xecuter 2 as well.

Oh.. and you don't lose Xbox Live support with all modchip installs. You can install a spst toggle switch to turn off the mod. you just have to be careful and remember to turn it off each time you want to use the live service.

www.xbconnect.com - (like xbox live but no headset and its FREE)