Alright, I did some testing, and the time it takes is in between 2-5 secs, and 5 RARELY happens. So this sounds like normal operation. It is too bad that the memory is soldered on, otherwise I would upgrade.

As for programs running in the background...nada. The only alteration of my Mk 1 is the 4V input jumper switch, and the Startup Image. Everything else is stock. I also have the 4GB unit...so spinup times are probably not that fast.

Thanks for your help!