Hey Tom, from my experience the Hi Def units are more efficient and easier on the battery in general. I'm guessing you have a bunk battery, did you check it with a volt meter? If it's a 12V/12 amp it should last longer than that. I use a 12 volt/ 14 amp so I don't have to even think about it. When your sonar dies---it sucks!
I could be wrong, but I believe the high powered, color units will automatically turn off when it gets down to 10 amps. It's not like a bait-tank pump that will run until the battery is dead.
And I'd have to agree with Wade on the stock nautic map with the HDS 5---it's pretty bad a$$ if you asked me. In my opinion, you'd be wasting money unless you're fishing with that unit offshore.
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