i got rid of all my adds a couple of hours ago so i would not be tempted to buy again. to the best of my knowlege it was circuit city. i called my dad to tell him about it on thanksgiving. it was 39.99 after rebates.
i bought the enclosure last year from compusa when it was on sale for black friday. it was 20 bucks. so last year i got a 200 gig external for about 40 bucks. i saw a real external 250 gig this year for 40 bucks after rebate. all you have to do is attach the cable with the enclosure unit and snap it together or screw it depending on the type. http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=cat3&product_code=312100&Pn=USB_2_0_3_5_inch_External_Hard_Drive_Enclosure above is what i got last year. you can get different types if you want. i would check the compusa site and look for it on sale.
if he has a small hard drive, this would give him more space, but you will not notice a speed increase. staples has ram on sale. that would be your best bet.
i was able to get the the hard drive for 20 dollars online from staples. they have a coupon code that you must enter. free shipping. alot of their other stuff is also available. http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StaplesProductDisplay?prodCatType=1&storeId=10001&noredir=true&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&productId=88043&cmArea=SEARCH
best buy price matched for me last year. i gave them the wal mart ad that had the game cube for 80 bucks. i asked one of the best buy guys while i was in line and he said no problem just go to customer service.