yeah. i don't like my options with the phone, right now.

i'm going to wait for the distributor. hopefully it's temporary and comes back. if not, i'll revisit it once i have everything else taken care of.

so,

updated total:
phone (amazon): $105
battery (amazon): $27
2 gb laptop ram (amazon): $2x15 [ships to canada]
8 gb sd ram for mp3 player (amazon): $13 [ships to canada]
4 gb laptop ram (amazon): $2x32 [ships to canada]
2 tb external drive (amazon) : $117 [ships to canada]
50 cd-rs [amazon.com]: $25 [ships to canada]
500 gb sshd laptop drives (best buy or amazon?): $2x80-85 [ships to canada]
2 gb internal drive (amazon or best buy): $105 [ships to canada]
50 bd-rs [amazon.ca or best buy]: $40
ps/2 to usb connector [amazon.ca]: $5
100 dvd-rs [best buy]: $30
200 jewel cases [staples.ca]: $80
square monitor (pawn shop): <$50
  < 140 gb ide hds (found, not confirmed) (kijiji): $2x10
==================
$766-776

total phone: $105
total mp3 player: $13
total laptop 1:  $137-142 + usb sound card
total laptop 2: $149-154 + $117 (external) + editing software?
total desktop 1: $20
total desktop 2:
total desktop 3: $155
total optical media:  $175

i'm going to need to get back to dealing with the sound card(s) this evening.