I've got an early model XBOX with a thompson drive. It's been steadily getting more and more DDE's. I've read through all the tutorials and browsed the sites selling replacments and remedies. Just for the hell of it, I decided to try to get the part from MS ... just to see what they had to say. The first rep I talked to quoted $91.50 to repair the unit with an extra $10 or so to ship it to the repair center. I'm curious what steps other people having taken to try and convince them to just send a replacement drive.

I'm in the process of getting a hold of the parts department at the company that handles xbox repairs. They sure do get bent out of shape trying to find out who gave me the number. Anyone else trying to follow this route?