DC 40 collars. Are they reliable?

I've had 2 of them for well over a year now and I'm happy with them. You're right that they aren't as durable as our old style radio collars......however, the trade off is well worth it to me. There are 2 things that you can do to get the most out of your collars,.... if you're not doing this already be sure to keep your receiver and collars updated. The other is to give the collars and receiver time to get hooked up to the satellites before you put the collars on your dogs.....it doesn't take long, but it's a pretty big deal seems to me. Also, get a long range antenna if you don't have one yet....you will need it sooner or later.