PB dying =( -- HD grinding

I think my PB is dying (if it hasn't already). Stupid me, I fell asleep reading an article and my PB was resting on my lap, when I woke 5 hours later, I realized it was tented over on my bed and the hard drive had been spinning probably for the entire 5 hours. I woke my powerbook up and the mouse was moving and responsive, but it wasn't cooperating with any of the applications. AND, my hard drive started making weird noises =(--grinding and at one point sounded like it was whistling (like your break pads do on your car when you're down to the metal). I force-quit and shut down my PB and let it sit for a few minutes. When I went to turn it back on, the hard drive was still making that grinding noise and it wouldn't get past the grey screen with the apple.
Now, I get the question mark with the folder =(.
I've tried attaching my powerbook to my sister's ibook as in target disk mode, but it says that the device i've attached has no recognizable volumes, ignore or initialize. I took it to the genius bar and from the sounds of it they said my HD is probably shot and unlikely unsalvagable. I've had a ding on the bottom left corner of my casing for the past 2+ years and they said because of that, Apple would probably charge $600+ to change the hard drive and replace the casing.
my question is, is there ANYWAY to save my data??? They suggested Drive Saver and I've found a couple other places, but is it worth the $500+ to try to save my HD? Can anyone recommend a place for me to turn to? And, do you know what the cost would be to save my data at the least (if it even still exists)?
Any words of wisdom (or support) would be MUCH appreciated!
867ghz 720ram 12 inch Powerbook   Mac OS X (10.3.9)  

If you were content with your pb (speed mainly) and could do anything you wanted to do, then just keep it and replace your harddrive.
if you were missing features like a Superdrive or airport Extreme or ... then I would really think if you need them now. Yes as answer: buy a new pb without waiting.
If you can wait for some features or don't need them now: wait.
If you have a hidden gold mine and no money problems: buy a new whenever you want and send me one too
Sorry if I don't sound serious with the last point, but your decision is really hard to make. I lost my 1.5 year old pb12" to my dads car. Okay, it still runs, but the screen is gone. I would have used it, since I was really content with it. But since I try to sprint to finish my PhD I decided i buy a new one now and don't care about MacWorld and its new products.
Volker

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    Quote from: flobelix on 30-October-07, 06:12:31
    Be aware that you have to keep an eye on shader clocks when oc'ing the gpu. With common tools you're oc'ing gpu and shaders at the same time. Since I'm suspecting a misproportion of gpu/shader clocks to be one of the reasons for problems with factory oc'ed Geforce 8 you should try with different combinations. With the latest Riva Tuner you can change 'em seperately without having to mod the bios.
    Memory is at it's end I suppose, that's the problem with most high end cards, no potential. Seems as you have to live with that.
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    "You're ungrateful! That good old 3500+ oc'ed so well and was once a real performer and you call him crap.... bad boy. "
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    "Be aware that you have to keep an eye on shader clocks when oc'ing the gpu. With common tools you're oc'ing gpu and shaders at the same time. Since I'm suspecting a misproportion of gpu/shader clocks to be one of the reasons for problems with factory oc'ed Geforce 8 you should try with different combinations. With the latest Riva Tuner you can change 'em seperately without having to mod the bios."
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    "Memory is at it's end I suppose, that's the problem with most high end cards, no potential. Seems as you have to live with that."
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    "Could be your psu is too weak, maybe really time for the new Corsair. On the other hand should be strong enough I guess."
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    Later,
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