With the discussion on the first Altimeter Worries thread and others, I'm pretty clear on the differences and pros and cons of the Baro VS GPS altitude. Thanks for all the input.
The second part of my question remains:
Has anybody ever had your Vista or other barometric altimeter fail? Garmin knew right away what was wrong with it, even had FAQs about it on their support pages, so it isn't an unheard of problem. They tried to fix it, and it did the same thing next time out and had to be replaced. I'm just trying to figure out how likely it is to happen again with a new unit. Something to do with the "cells" leaking.
Does the 60CSx have exactly the same altimeter in it as the Vista? Or have they improved the system?
When the baro portion quit, it didn't show a GPS altitude either, so I had no elevation at all. I don't want to spend $500 on a new 60CSx only to have a recurrence in a few months. If I could get the electronic compass without the altimeter, I would. I'm thinking of buying the 60Cx and carrying a wet compass that doesn't need batteries or calibration. GPS elevation is plenty accurate for my purposes.
Thoughts?