how do i tell its an old one or a new xbox thing is i have to buy three of these one for each of my kids and i'm want to have them chiped so how do i tell
thanks in advance

By the date on the underside- anything after august is ver 2, although some of these can be chipped as they have old Kernel. There is no way to tell that without powering it up.
You will be lucky to find a version 1 anywhere now, I have looked and can't find one anywhere. The new Executer is out at the end of the month, they will work with ver 2 but probably not with XBLive.

ok thanks
but what is XBLive
sorted just do a search found out what it is
thanks

have a look here... www.playstationchips.co.uk

As far as I know, they still have v1 xboxes chipped with Xecuter 1.1

They may have run out but it's worth a look.

I just went out and bought the JetSet/Sega GT pack for a friend. The manufacture date was 9/1 but the bios was still the old one.

You might have better luck picking up refurb consoles at EB or GameStop.