FWIW, my Delorme inReach has been pretty good. It also uses the Iridium network. I've had a couple of message transmission failures in non-emergency mode, however--out of a total of twenty or thirty sent. Not faultless, but not too shabby.
Given the dirt, moisture, and shock-prone many of us operate in, an occasional hardware failure doesn't bother me all that much. If it were a longer or higher stakes trip, I'd want redundant capabilities (separate system or EPIRB) anyway.
I got mine at a pro discount, and it's staggering technology at that price point. My father was approaching the end of his life, I wanted to go on an extended AK trip, and it gave us both great peace of mind.
