The problem I had was with DrQueue software I intend to use to manage the queues. It needed to update the system files which are compressed so that they can fit on the usb stick and consequently read only. As a result it wouldn't install. I could make my own version of ubuntu with DrQueue built into it as standard and then make my own iso; but given that I've already taken on more than I can chew in this project I've decided to give that a miss for a moment. Which means I'm back looking for 2.5" SATA hard drives on ebay.
I've made a little progress on the hardware front. I've been watching a lot of items on ebay such as PSUs, DDR2, and now 2.5" SATAs. I'm starting to get a feel for the right price now. It's so easy to get drawn in to a bidding war and inflating the price just to have someone snatch it from you in the last second. A scenario which can be both annoying and costly. I also want to were I can by multiples of the same item as I did with the motherboard in order to make the build more generic. So I intend to work out what a reasonable price is for each item and them in most cases do a 'Buy Now' rather than get into all that bidding nonsense.
Indeed I've already followed my own advice. I've been watching five or six sales of ddr2 ram that started at 99p a couple of days ago. For two 2gb ddr2 sticks they have typical finished at or above £10 plus postage of around £1.50. I've found a 'Buy Now' seller selling four sets of four 2gb sticks for £19.49 including p&p. That's works out at only £9.47 for 2 2gb sticks a pretty sweet deal. Now I realise this is only a hypothetical cost saving. If I'd held out I might have been able to pick up the same memory in an auction for only 99p plus p&p as I did with my first PSU. That said it seems unlikely given what I've observed and at the very least I've saved myself some precious time.
I fell foul of the bidding trap I mentioned. I bought my second PSU which I think I over paid for. The average price of the sales I've been watching is coming out at about £11 each. I paid £6 plus £6.50 p&p coming to £12.50 which is not massively over the average. The problem is that I let myself get sucked into a last second bidding war which I know is a trap. Also it stings a little that I paid £6 for this one when I only paid 99p for the last one with roughly the same p&p price. I might just look for a good 'Buy Now' deal for the rest and get it over with. If I can find a seller selling four for about £10 each that would be ideal.
| Item | Amount | Individual Price | Postage | Total Price |
| Helmer Cabinet | 1 | £24.99 | £7.50 | £32.49 |
| Motherboard, AMD Athlon 2 64bit processor and 1gb of ddr2 ram | 5 | £30 | free | £150 |
| 300W PSU | 1 | 99p | £4.50 | £5.49 |
| 25 Brass Motherboard Standoffs | 1 | £3.19 | free | £3.19 |
| 120mm red led EVO case fan | 4 | £2.99 | £5 | £16.96 |
| 120mm chrome fan guard | 4 | £1.45 | 40p | £6.20 |
| Q-Tec PSU Power Supply Unit 500w | 1 | £6 | £6.50 | £12.50 |
| 8GB total 4 x 2 Gb Kingston DDR2 240 pin 533Mhz RAM | 2 | £11.89 | £7.60 | £31.38 |
| Total: | £258.21 |
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