Upgrade plan for elderly mac mini

Hi All,
I have a couple of questions; I'm finally planning to get brave and crack open the shell of my mac mini and upgrade both RAM and hard disk.
Firstly, Crucial inform me that the maximum supported memory in my model of Mini is 2gb (2*1). This is obviously the most that they will guarantee, but is there any benefit to be gained from trying say 2*2gb or will that cause problems? Currently I'm on Tiger but would upgrade once the new memory is in all the way up to 10.6.
This brings me onto my next question. I believe that in order to move from 10.4 to 10.6 you have to buy the Box Set (http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC680Z/A?fnode=MTY1NDA5Mw&mco=MTM3NDgxODU#over view). Do we think that if bought during the black Friday sales it would be in the time period to qualify for a rebate on Lion when it comes out in the summer of 2011?
Finally I just want to double check that there is no problem in upgrading the hard disk up to the realms of 750gb (u.f.), I can't think of one but would love to know of people's experiences with this.
Thanks a lot!

You can put 2 x 2GB sticks in it - I believe the OS will see about 3.2GB of that, but it won't cause you any problems.
You can put a 7200rpm disk in - some claim it will run hotter and/or noisier ("a problem"), but I'm sure others have done the switch and had no problems.
Certainly, a BIGGER disk is always much faster anyway, and a 500GB drive (even 5400rpm) will perform much faster than what you have now. Many people feel 500GB/5400rpm is the "sweet spot" for size/speed/low-heat/low-noise/low-price compromise. Just don't use Seagate - many have failed (including mine) - go for WD. IMHO!
Actually, you'd better tell us just how elderly your mini is! If it's a PowerPC G4 mini, you won't get past Leopard, as Snow Leopard is (and Lion will be) Intel-only.

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Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Type: DDR2 SDRAM
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Upgrade plan for elderly mac mini

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