Questions on future mods

By the end of this summer I would like to have installed a mid pipe cat back and something for my aode. First of all for the mid pipe im thinking of the VRS o/r x-pipe I think its around $130, I keep hearing how x-pipes make more power so that is my reasoning for that. As far as the cat-back I would like something that makes power but is not too loud. My friends have magnaflow set ups on their cars and I think they sound good, I have also heard the dynomax cat back is good, I have seen that for $279.99 and the magnaflow for $399.99 are these fair prices? Is their a better setup out there? Now for the aode I have heard that shift kits not only help with shifting faster but also help with the life of the aode. I have never been to found of the idea of a shift kit because you need to drill into the stock valve body. However I was thinking of three things.
1. Shift kit and buy a stock valve body and use that to drill into
2. This is the cheapest valve body I have seen However I dont want to sacrafice quality for price
3. Chip
Now as far as a chip goes I have heard you since the 94-95's are controlled by the computer u can get a chip to act as a shift kit, correct? If I where to go this route is a chip something that I can order then just plug it into a port and then remove it if I ever want to, sort of like a plug and play? Also does a chip help prolong the life of the aode as much as the shift kit would?

Thanks for any suggestions or feedback you all can give me.

anyone at all?

Well looks like I will go with the valve body and the trans cooler, how hard is the trans-cooler to install? I will probably get that valve body the trans-cooler if its not a difficult install then the cat-back. I might hold off on the mid pipe. Thanks for the suggestions.