It's a real useful option. Just getting rid of the drive noise makes it worth it. Shorter loading times are a sweet bonus and some games are way more responsive (fable 2 pause screen menu, mass effect doesn't freeze in the middle of a level to load, etc).
It's a shame I can only have one game installed at a time, owning a 20 giger. I have to admit ever since this new update has been pushed I've been considering the idea of grabbing an elite to replace my 06 xenon I got as a refurb from MS last year. It's got quite the resale vale the old bugger, having one of the easy to hax dvd drives they used in the past.