[RESOLVED] Inaccessable Hard drive (3rd try)

This is my third attempt, as my first posts were lost due to the UBB upgrade...
My situation is an inaccessable hard drive that I have gained more info on since my original posts. The partition table was damaged by some means, making the logical drive unreadable. I've used a "demo" version of the Media Tools repair utility and it is able to reconstruct the boot record and partition tables, allowing me to view the root directory. So, I'm reasonably confident that my data is intact and recoverable. However, the working version of Media Tools is like $300. Now, I'm not cheap, and I'd like my data back... but $300? Ouch.
So, I guess I'd like to ask if anyone has used this software, and does it work as promised? Or even better... Are there any other similar, but more reasonable priced utilities I can use to repair this HDD? Your collective experience would be appreciated. TIA.

I've seen this regarded well on these forums:
http://www.ontrack.com/easyrecovery/