Newbie questions about ver7 ps2

[BaDaBooM]

Sorry about the newbie questions but I just bought my PS2. I have a version 7. I looked around on the forums but alot of things were for previous versions. As I understand it you have to have a mod chip if you want to use non-patched burns, is this right?

If so, what is the best mod-chip for ver7? I'm not that great at soldering, but I could get someone who is if I have to. Also I'd like to use the black media if I can.

What is the best black media to use (CDR and DVD-R)? It is DVD-R and not DVDR+, right?

Thanks for you time and info!