[jrochet]

Thanks for the advice. I also found by Googling "2242 SSD Chromebox" this other post where you had provided a link and it's still valid. Very tempting, though I think I'll sleep on it and check out all of my options. I will cut the SD card / USB plan out from my options now - thanks for the warning.

just to be clear, there's no performance issues with having the OS installed to the 16GB internal SSD, and storing your media externally, either on SD or USB-attached flash/HDD/SSD. Which makes the most sense depends on your desired capacity and portability

Gotcha. Portability / self-sufficient'ness seem to be my main concern but money-wise'ness is always there as a concern too. Such tough choices for the indecisive type.