Ved
Yeh I know about the satellite being turned off, but its not really much of a satellite - it can take up to 90mins to pick you up. 121.5 really comes in for homing by SAR, which I understand they are keeping. In most cases I would exepect to be able to get a Maday call out b4 (or after on the handheld) and I assume airliners & others will contiinue listen out on 121.5 as we're not changing our other radios.
So given 406 units can be 4-5 times price of 121.5 and if money is an object, and like mine its for personal use and not a specific a/c, then I'd still recommend getting one at the moment. And if you can get one cheap then even better! - I think it will have a life well beyond 5 years.
QDM
I guess I'll have to call up the EPIRB guys - thanks for the input