Pinnacle Micro Apex drives

These are the 4.6 GB magneto-optical drives marketed about 10 years ago by the now-defunct Pinnacle. We had a few of them and every single one of them went bad (laser head) in less than a year. Repair costs were significant and there was a big backlog. I note that one can still find a few of these on ePay in one of two conditions; (a) powers up and otherwise unknown and (b) good tested, warranteed working. The (a) type usually can be had for less than $20 and the (b) type for $400+. Here's my question. I have a few old Apex MO cartridges that I'd like to read, but my curiosity doesn't extend far enough to spend $400-800 to satisfy. Has anyone had any favorable experience with the (a) type drives or are they all pretty much non-functional? I'm just trying to determine if it's worth the trouble. On a related subject, are there any other drives that will read the Apex carts? Cheers, Chuck