Reply to VCI-100SE: Fix It or Move On?

DJTT masters, I'd like your advice.

I bought the black VCI-100SE back in '09 but circumstances became such that I hardly ever used it (I only took it out to one paid gig, really). I know, what a waste. But circumstances have changed and now I want to get back into DJ'ing but it's been a few years and it seems like everyone's kind of "over" this machine and in love with the various alternatives, including some from Native Instruments themselves. I also managed to damage one of the FX faders (the one on the top right) in such a way that it kind of wobbles a little when you slide it. It's also got the original VCI-100SE overlay and 1.3 firmware, not the new one that works perfectly with Traktor Pro.

- Assuming DJTT is still servicing the VCI-100SE, do I pay whatever it costs to bring mine up to speed, or should I sell it as is and invest in a new device? I am on a budget but selling and trading up aren't completely out of the question. Just seems kind of sad.

- When I bought the VCI-100SE, I had been using Traktor for years with just my mouse and became really enamored with the controllerism skills displayed by Ean and everyone here. But in practice I found I was playing very straight electro/house stuff with minimal loops and minimal FX and not at all deconstructing and recreating tracks in the impressive ways the VCI-100SE was designed for. In other words, I believe it was probably too much machine for my purposes.

- I don't have occasion to play live much, but I love to create mixes at home. Some people have told me Traktor is not ideal for making mixes and edits and things like that as it's very linear and you can't go in and tweak your transitions and so forth, not while recording anyway.

- Along those lines, I've been getting more interested in production and Ableton Live (or its alternatives), and believe I'd like to use some kind of tactile interface for that sort of thing too. Maybe there is an alternative MIDI controller that works well with both Traktor and Ableton without much fuss? Or maybe a more ideal combination of devices?

If it's helpful to know, my Soundcloud has one dance mix I made with loads of complicated edits and transitions and mash-ups, many of which I recorded separately in Traktor with just my mouse and then spun in sequence for the full recording (I never want to do that again, I want to be able to produce a mix nonlinearly, like a composition). There's also a completely easy, crossfader-only ambient mix. These are good examples of what I'd like do to more of with with DJ'ing and production.

I know that's an awful lot of text for someone who posts so rarely, so no offense taken if you guys tell me to F off.