UPDATE... so after 6 months or so of being sniped I FINALLY won an eBay Virus auction!!
YAY for me. Snagged a new condition Snow for half retail price. Fortunately my brother lives close to the seller and was able to go hands on test it before paying cash. On its way to me now... in the meantime, can anyone suggest some fantastic tutorials and patch libraries for it? Just to give me a head start really.
I'm sure I'll have questions and comments to share after I get the hang of it... will post up laters