Mod-Chip and the PS2

[Jynx]

I have been looking at modchips for the ps2 and had some questions. Is it worth it to buy the mod chip and the gameshark 2 to be able to play backups? I have heard horror stories about unrepairable ps2's. This is a $300 machine and if Im going to spend another hundred I want to make sure it at least wont ruin my system. Who will install it? I have had no experience with a solder. Will an electronics store do it for me? I have heard that some games like EA Sports games are troublesome to boot up...
What about skipping? This was a big problem for the original playstation. I see they have ps2 laser calibration on psxcopyworld. What are your experiences with skipping? I orginaly tried to adjust my psx laser and had to send it in :-(
Finally what program to use/what disk media-are some games over 700mb?/what are the dangers of installing a modchip.
Good god I wrote a lot...Thanks go out in advance for any brave soul who replies.

[Toaster]

You need action replay2 version 1.3 and the neo2. The EA games need you to hold down the reset button untill the menu appears, the disk stops. when you release the reset the tray pops out and you swap for the backup. continue to the start game menu and the game boots. SSX will freeze in game but you eject and reinsert and continue with no more freezups. Other games will either need you to select with codes or without codes from the AR2 menu for them to boot. It seems that each game has to be booted in either of these 3 ways. The lazer does not need relcalibrating if you choose your neo2 that comes with a 1uF 63V capacitor, this stops the clicking, although without it I didn't really notice anything untoward.