PRS-950 Weird lines on the screen... now it's time to make a decision

[anabolina]

I opened the cover on my 950 at lunch today and it looked like the attached pictures. Unfortunately, I decided to be a nice person and give my T-1 away last week to a friend who's running low on money and is going through cancer treatments that keep her away from the active stuff she's normally spend her spare time enjoying. I don't regret giving it to her. She says she loves it, but I do think I'll go into e-reader withdrawal without it. I guess I could dig out my Nook color. I moved this week and it;s buried in a box somewhere.

So I did both a hard reset and a soft reset and then chatted with a Sony support rep who said that the only solution left is servicing it. Does anyone know how this works? The base cost for a repair is $88 and there's the following notes:

Based upon the information you have entered, your unit appears to qualify for the Flat Rate pricing quoted above. Not covered under our Flat Rate pricing is the following:
Units requiring replacement of display devices*
Internal corrosion or moisture damage
Cosmetic parts **
Physical abuse.
Misuse or excessive wear. ***
Units older than seven (7) years from last market date.
Damage resulting from prior service.

It's the same notes for repair and an exchange. If my screen is broken, does this mean that if I opt for the exchange, I'll later be billed for more money? The exchange is $171.21, and while that's a lot more than a new T-1, I sort of prefer the bigger screen on the 950 and PRS-Plus to the T-1 modified Android OS.

What do you all recommend? Is it worth the exchange? Has anyone done one through Sony? Could my devce be fixable? I have no idea how the screen broke. It was fine this morning and I keep it in rigid case that I thought protected it well enough.