If you have all the files saved, else where, I wouldn't recover... just get a new EHD and then make a copy from the other location...
However, do you know what happened to the EHD? Does the "disk" inside still spin? If so... I'd pay $19.99...My hard drive went on my computer a few years back and as long as the disk still spins, you can try recovering the data yourself... one of the designers I used to CT for had a hard drive failure and I told her about the adapter, she wrote a tutorial on her blog... if the bearings went, then you won't be able to do it yourself... but if it's the boot sector, there is hope...
http://keepinglifecreative.com/tutorial/how-iecovered-the-data-on-my-hard-drive/