My imac has died.. SOB

[MedusaIsHavingABadHairDay]

Really..the unthinkable has happened.. my 3.5 yr old imac just conked yesterday.. grey screen of death with ever spinning wheel, wouldn't load from disc, wouldn't..well do anything :(

I have taken it to the local mac people (as I'm 70 miles from nearest Apple store and don't fancy lugging a 24 inch mac though a shopping centre!) hoping they can fix it.

Does it sound like a dead hard drive? Does anyone have any idea how much a replacement drive might be? Currently posting from an old lap top and rocking :(

Sounds like it certainly could be... :(

A new hard drive isn't expensive (they use the same type/size of hard drives as a PC of a similar age - depends on capacity but you're probably looking at somewhere in the 50-75 quid region) but they are a right faff to get to, since you have to remove the screen (witch suction cups!) to get to it, rather than having a convenient access panel in the back, so the labour will probably bump up the price. Did you have everything backed up?

with witch suction cups!