DMS4 Pro SE
Matrix Infinity (green dot)
Crystal Chip 1.1 (best for people who play online with backups)
you can not go wrong with any of those.
Duo chips are good for basic stuff, but have no free upgrades like the 3 above
yes, the ToxicOS that you will flash it with if it does not already come flashed has a lot of features made just for IDE hard drives.
see here, go to the bottom of the page and read the manual on the ToxicOS V0.14 which is what you should be running on.
http://www.teamtoxic.com.cn/
I do not have a hard driove but my friend does with his DMS4 Pro chipped V5/6 i gave him. From what i know you can install the hard drive, format it with the ToxicOS it has on the chip, then copy games directly from the disc to the hard drive from the PS2 drive.
Plus you may notice that chip will also have a built in cheat device where you can enter cheats for a game and run them from the hard drive with cheats, no need for AR Max or Gameshark!
more info on that
http://web02063.prolocation.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=11163
