When to replace iBook?

[David Linker]

I have a practical/philosophical question, and would be interested in 
the opinions of those on the list.

When should one replace an iBook that is still working?

The question comes up because my iBook is now en-route to Apple for the 
third time for repairs. It is a dual USB 600MHz that I bought in 
October 2001. The first repair was when the CD burner suddenly stopped 
being able to burn CD's after about 9 months of use. The second was 
when it started to have a problem with the screen-backlight going out 
at certain screen angles after two years of use. It had been back from 
that trip for only three months when the screen went blank and it 
refused to boot, although the chime would come when I pushed the power 
button.

It is covered by Applecare, so I have not had to pay anything, and have 
only had the inconvenience of not having it for several days.

My worry is that now I have sent it in for repairs three times in less 
than 2 1/2 years, and if I had not had Applecare, it would have cost 
many dollars. In about 8 months, Applecare will expire, and I will have 
to pay for all repairs.

Should I get a new iBook before the Applecare expires, and sell my old 
one on eBay?

Complicating the decision is that I would like to be able to boot into 
OS 9, because there are some applications that work better there. 
Cro-Mag rally recognizes my joystick only if I am in OS 9, and Nanosaur 
only shows distant landscape images in OS 9, for example. Clearly, 
these are not mission-critical, though!

An additional issue is that the severity has increased. The first two 
times, I was still able to use the machine, if I had to, for 
presentations and such. This time, it was unusable.

Thank you for your opinions.

David Linker