One thing I came up against though was that most of the information I could find assumed you were a PC user, which is something I've never been as I prefer Macs. I handled that old chestnut well didn't I? Anyway... onwards. Once I started gathering information it became apparent that you really didn't need a PC to get XBMC up and running, and asking friends to use Nero to make CDs and DVDs for you on their PC wasn't going to be necessary. Hooray for that!
The menu on the left runs you through what I did.
(In case anyone is confused, the picture above is of XBMC with the MC360 skin installed to make it look like the Xbox 360)
As for the Xbox itself, I could have bought one new for £79 but decided to go the ebay route to save some cash and perhaps get some games with it. Although the Xbox I bought didn't match the ebay listing description (don't you just hate some ebay sellers?) it worked OK and just needed a good clean up inside and out. It turned out to be a 4 year old version 1.0 Xbox with a Thomson DVD drive, which is probably the worst combination you can get, but hey-ho it works and that's the main thing!
Update: I had some problems with a couple of games so replaced the laser in the DVD drive - but nothing has changed so I guess the laser was OK after all. It was an easy job to do though, and I may well sell my spare laser on ebay.
My Xbox came with Halo 2, Half Life 2, Call of Duty and Pro Evo Soccer 4, which for £45 including the console was a bargain, despite it being a bit grimy when it arrived. Since then I've also bought Forza Motorsport (my main reason for buying an Xbox as I love driving games), Rallisport Challenge 2 and Voodoo Vince (only 99p!). Luckily my brother no longer needed his Xbox remote control so I gave him a fiver for it and we were both happy.
One last thing - DON'T PIRATE GAMES!
If you don't buy them they'll stop making them!