Life Raft & Survival Equipment - Replace battery or go with new Epirb

I have a Guest/Litton cat II epirb which was purchased in 1996. I replaced the battery in 2001. It was $550 to replace the f**** battery. I notice that the second batt. expired 11/07. With Epirbs having gone down in price, it seems that it might be a wiser route to just get a new one. What is the protacol for getting rid of old epirbs?
Are the new small personal epirbs as good as the one I had? I **** the idea of being able to have it on my person during rough weather or when fishing alone. I guess the downside is that it is registered to a person, not a boat.

Todd, as long as you are not a commercial fisherman or have regulations you have to meet you could keep your Litton on the boat and supplement it with a PLB. If the Litton still tests OK the expiration date is a requirement by the manufacturer that you may not still get the 48 hours continuous battery life. But you may get 40hrs or 24hrs, you get the point. Certainly I'm not recommending people ignore battery replacement dates and you can send your unit to us at 3 Maritime Dr, Portsmouth, RI 02871 for proper disposal if you like. A new CAT II with GPS is HT priced at $739. The PLB's start at $499. Even though the PLB is registered to the person there is a field available to notate which vessel you will be on and you can update your profile to change any information online. E-mail me at [email protected] and I'll send you a quote. Thank you, Brian Kinsella