PS2-v1.30U laser, what works for backups?

[Ferret]

Hi all! The good news--I finally bought me a ps2. whoohoo.

The bad news--I noticed that it has the new DVD laser v1.30U which is known not to work with GS v1.0-1.3. Apparently, it does work with v1.4 however.

I haven't bought a GS or modchip yet, so a couple questions--

1- does anyone know if the knife/tray trick will work with GS v1.4? The info I got suggested it does not... It would be nice if I could do it that way and not void my warranty.

2- does anyone know if there are any problems with the NEO2 chip and GS v1.4? I'm guessing the reason Sony changed laser versions was partly an attack on GS, but I certainly don't want to shell out money on both a GS and a modchip if they're not going to work with my ps2.

3- does anyone know if there are any issues with the NEO key/SBOX plugin with GS v1.4 and the new DVD laser? It SAYS that it works for all PS2 versions, but I haven't found any references to the new laser version.

4- Can someone tell me how to figure out what version console I have? I've seen instructions for NEO key installation which are based on SCHP-30001 v1 to v4, but the back only says SCHP-30001 without any version.

Thanks for any help or info you guys have. Feel free to flame if I'm rehashing any obvious stuff