David: Thank you for the reply. It is a 30gig unit, so I would be interested in replacing it with a same-sized drive. Would the manufacturer of the drive offer me the ability to swap? Every other 3.5" IDE drive has that option.

Tony: Since I'm reviewing the unit on escrow, I can't open the top. Maybe I can work something out with the seller. But yes, I believe the player is just fine. Too bad I paid (current) full price for it and the drive is crashed.

matthew_k: Yeah, judging by the static boot logo, it's only got 1.03 on it. I could try to put 2.0b13 on there, but the drive sounds like death. I'm going to see if the seller has any more 30gig units to swap me. This is a fire-sale unit and he mentioned that he has sold more. I am trying to tell him that if he takes this unit back, he can fix the problem without too much trouble. I just don't think it should be on me to pay $700 for a new 30gig with a bad hard drive (considering I paid $700 for my first 30gig and it's 100% perfect).

Thanks for the tips everyone, I'll see what I can do.