Best time to get a hardware flasher?

I'm currently on OFW 4.30.
I was on CFW 3.55 a long time ago, but updated because there was no progress and I wanted to play new games (there were no fixes for 3.55 back then).
Now, with the release of CFW 4.21 and 4.30, is it the best time to get a hardware flasher?
I mean, you could also wait for a exploit to install CFW on a OFW, but nobody knows when it will happen and it's pretty handy to have a hardware flasher anyway.
I want to hear your opinion about this.

Also, what's the best hardware flasher to buy? I'm thinking about the E3 right now.

So I also have a friend who upgraded to a higher firmware and now wants to go back, my question is:

how hard is the e3 flasher to use? does it require any soldering?

And how much of the console do you have to take apart to connect it?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AcuraKidd

how hard is the e3 flasher to use? does it require any soldering?

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The e3 flasher comes with a NOR-clip, so you don't need any soldering.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AcuraKidd

And how much of the console do you have to take apart to connect it?

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Well, you have to connect the flasher to the mainboard. Watch some YouTube-vids.