Yes, it's very similar. Changing the HD is very easy, all you do is take out your old HD, plug in the new HD, format the new HD with evoX or whichever dash you want, and that's it.
The brand is personal prefrence, but I've bought 2 HDs for 2 xboxes, and both have been Maxtor. (one HD was 80 GB 7200 RPM, 8 MB cache, and the other was 120 GB, 7200 RPM, 8 MB cache)
Both worked just fine