I'm using the same raid 0 external I used on my day one unit. The system OS is faster I still have my two launch units in other rooms. Some games are noticeably smoother on it. Call Microsoft and get your free Kinect adapter I call Thursday and it will be here on Saturday. My only issue is I have my external drive and the USB tv tuner so I'm going to see if I can use a powered USB 3 hub for Kinect and the tuner. Since the Kinect port is gone.I agree totally. I got it on launch day and its been sitting about a foot away from me near my PC because I'm doing my HT setup. I've played a few games and I haven't heard the fan yet. Its way quieter then the PS4 by a mile. Are saying the internal drive load times are faster then your external? I haven't timed it but for the games I've tried the loading seem just as fast as the internal for me.
My only real complaint is I would've liked it to have been black and have the kinect port because I do like the kinect for redeeming codes because I'm lazy lol. But if they implement a barcode scanner into the smartglass app then I'll be fine with no kinect anymore lol. I do like the feel of the controller, my hands get sweaty so the textured grips are nice.
BTW you can redeem codes from the Xbox one phone app now