thanks for the offer vorghagen, thanks for the really kind offer but i wouldn't feel right borrowing something from someone i don't know ( I void warranties

). i think i will ask my close friends if i can borrow one.
but i can suggest you look at
www.freecycle.org in the sydney area, freecycle is where people post up offers to a yahoo group of things they don't want anymore (good things ,for example, i have picked up a brand new electronic keyboard that was worth $250 from someone moving to china) you reply and they just pm you the location and you go and pick it up.
i also like to go to those "massive" clearences those shouty people advertise on tv after the sale is over and pick up ridiculously dirt cheap stuff or if you are really lucky you can catch them giving away perfectly good things for free ( tv's, toasters, boxes of batteries, random electronics etc).
i also have friends who know people who have good stuff for free .i picked up 25 p4 1.5Ghz+ computers from a guy my friend knew in the Australian department of defence when the department he worked for upgraded their computers. i gave 22 of the computers to the charity mum works for who sent them to papa new guinea. i suggest you just ask your friends if they know anyone who could give you something, it took me long enough to ask and i probably missed out on amazing stuff.
alot of it this is just being at the right place at the right time (and knowing where to look).