The good news is that I found my 5 year old Vista hcx today so I no longer suspect mischief. The bad news is that I left the batteries in it and both negative ends were leaking. The upper left battery post was corroded so I did a nifty Bush fix with a bit of strip metal that holds the thumb wheel in on a Bic lighter. It does power on to the point where you can touch the power button again to adjust the screen brightness but none of the other buttons seem to work except for powering the device back off.

Does anyone know whether the battery compartment is leak-proof as far as anything getting into the innards? If not, did my Garmin die of a) old age, b) loneliness, or c) skullduggery? The area around the SIM card was dry so nothing got in through there.

I wouldn't expect that any warranty would be valid after 5 years, especially since I left the batteries in there for over a year and they leaked. Nor do I have any feeling for what it might cost to have a $200 device repaired professionally. Thanks.

deepdave: "If not, did my Garmin die of a) old age, b) loneliness, or c) skullduggery? "

I'm sure it was skullduggery by a band of nefarious ne'er do wells.

It caught a virus!!!!!
Bad joke but that's me. The battery compartment is not sealed and the micro chip connections are right below the batteries, it's toast. Buy a used/refurbished Garmin GPS64 for $180-200. I'm on my 4th GPS from Ebay, all used or refurbished one was sold to a member here the other 3 in my possession and fully working after many years, 62ST, PN40SE, PN60.

butthead

I May be able to find you a replacement for 50 bucks. Buddy asked me a few weeks ago if I was interested in one. He may still have it.