Well, I now have the hard drive and the Shuttle barebones system. I ran into an amazing deal at http://www.newegg.com. They had a “refurbished” Shuttle 20th Anniversary Edition system for $120 off the regular asking price. With everything Skippy and I “argued” about in this post, I almost felt a little guilty taking it off their hands. That passed quickly, though...
I was completely on pins and needles waiting for this thing to arrive. My fear was that I would end up with a piece of junk system as it was marked “refurbished”. (I once got burned on a “refurbished” monitor on Ebay that showed up at my house looking as if it had been freshly removed from someone's desk - complete with their mouse holder still attached to the side and kid's stickers on the front.)
Much to my pleasant surprise, it arrived in perfect condition - even the protective bag for the manuals, accessories and case was still in place. I'm “in business” and saved a big chunk of change in the process. Way to go, NewEgg.
All that's left now is some memory and a processor and I'll be assembling this bad boy...