Just back from my trip. REI deserves serious credit. I'll definitely use them more in the future. They gladly allowed me to return the out of warranty Explorer as "defective."
The morning of the trip I called Garmin tech support, mistakenly Canada, got them immediately and they were familiar with and confirmed the screen problem as hardware based, as well as only a refurbish for $150 trade-in route. Then I called Garmin USA, which had a 1+ hour wait and entered the "we'll call you back" cue.
In the meantime I went to REI, where I exchanged the defective unit for a new InReach Explorer+. So I ended up out of pocket $100 but upgraded to the newest model. As I'm walking out of REI with the new unit, my phone rings and its the call-back from Garmin USA tech. I explain the situation and within 20 minutes the unit is up and running with my account transferred over including all contacts. Pretty amazing.
All considered, the key was REI. While they changed their past "no questions asked return any time" policy a few years ago due to abuse, they still have a solid "defect" warranty. Even if its electronic, if it stops working under normal use, they'll refund your money. And it wasn't a big decision. The clerk just smiled and said that "sucks" we'll take care of it.
As a note, Garmin Canada knew about the white screen problem. The tech recognized it immediately and said it was hardware based. The Garmin USA tech said he'd never heard of it, but it would only qualify for a refurbished exchange for $150. Slight difference, same policy, but between a zero wait vs. over an hour and immediately admitting to a known problem, Garmin Canada gets a thumbs up. Too bad we'd have to move there.
The new Explorer+ is definitely a nicer unit. It seems to pull a SAT signal better. Otherwise, larger screen, nicer maps on screen with better tracking, and an improved SOS button system, so no worries of the false alarms being reported on the old units.
