When I configured my USB drive on the 360 so I can use it to install Skyrim, it gave me a message about saving things to it causing crappy performance... does everyone get this message or do I have a crap USB drive?

Anyone?

If you got the standard "does not meet performance specifications" message, don't worry about it. I got it as well when using my maxtor external HDD(7200rpm) and it's working just fine. Load times are no problem in my opinion and I've barely encountered the texture issue, especially after a few hours of play.