I bought a new Cortes December of 2007, and have used it fairly often (2-3 times a week) throughout the year and continue to as I'm going today also. The only other detector I've used is a mid 1980's Whites 5000d, and to be honest is not a fair comparison either, the Tesoro has about 22 more years technology behind it not to mention its tiny and light as a feather next to the Whites. But anyway what really sold me on the Tesoro brand was the warranty and the price (new $679.00 from Cleavengers in Kansas city). When I first got it I started going to some older parks (1880's to present) in town that were picked over and pretty trashy and it seemed as if it was too sensitive, beeping on every single piece of trash no matter how I adjusted it, notched it, turned up the discrimination etc. I've since learned to keep discrimination low (at Iron) and use all descriptive outputs (tone, bar graph, readout) to determine to dig or not, being rewarded for the effort also (more digging = more finds). Occasionally I have also run into some electrical interference (voltages 440v, and buried lines) which really puts a damper on a prospective area, it still works fine but makes constant noise while detecting.
But all in all I have been pleased with the Cortes, it is a very good detector that has a learning curve as I think most do. I have never had anything broken or any repair nor warranty, its always worked, absolutely excellent battery life. I've read from other posts and brochures that all detectors have these same issues to varying degrees. Would I like to try other brands? yes. would I buy the Cortes again? yes. Your finds will depend on your research and how much time you invest in the hobby, What ever you buy, use it, learn it, listen to it, enjoy it.
