After 7 months of playing, prodding, reading and trading, I have become content on having all I need for my detecting hobby. Knowing that there is no perfect or best detector, each of us has their own needs as to what would be the ideal unit and set up. Many posts on the forums I have visited have the typical "which is deepest" or "which is best for $$$" posts which there is no true answer for. Buying detectors are a lot like buying cars in the respect that they all get you from point A to point B, it's how you want to travel. Some have the creature comforts and some don't, some are less expensive, some are better for tall occupants, some are faster, some use more gas, etc.
Because there is so many diversities, what's good for one may not be good for others. The trend that I see, is that every detector has been sold on eBay by people that have used it only 4 or 5 times. This could be becuase people just didn't get into the hobby, but many times it would appear that the detector just wasn't their ideal unit. This can be an expensive hobby if all people do is buy and sell looking for that ideal detector. After all, most of us can't just go into the store and try out the different units to see which one suits our needs and works to our liking.
I can see the enjoyment one gets when their new detector (traded or bought) arrives and the excitement one feels to take it out and see how well it does. But after using the unit for X amount of hours and playing with air tests, if the unit shows that it can get coins, jewelry, etc. quite well at 6", and you read a post that someone pulled up an Indian Head at 10", you get the feeling your unit is sub standard and you want to be able to do that also. So it's off to the races to get something a little better.
It's human nature to want the best. Whats best for one may not be best for another. I have come to the conclusion that there is no unit I can get that will do it all. A high end MineLab might be the deepest, but it is expensive and heavy. A Tesoro with a HOT coil might be lighter and less expensive, but I want a target and depth visual ID. The light, inexpensive, deep, 4 tone, TID with fast recovery rate, auto ground balanced, DISC or true all metal mode, lighted display detector just doesn't exist. At least for me.
So I figure I am at the point where I have what I want and need. I have really gotten into my Deleon. It is my main detector in that I fist bought a Bandido uMax off of ebay for $235. I traded that for a CXIII with 2 coils, then tarded that for the Deleon with 2 coils. With the shipping on both, I have a $275 Deleon with 2 coils.
My back up is my original Ace 250 with 2 coils. $210 plus $60 for the sniper. Total for all is $550. Since I am not in a highly mineralized area, the ground balance is not as important. One machine has true all metal, both have TID, the Ace is quite light and the Deleon is light for what it does, both have great depth, though not the deepest, both use AA batteries, each has it's own discrimination type, I don't hunt at night, so a lighted display is not necessary, I don't competition hunt so I don't need the different frequency switch. For me, this is perfect. For someone else, probably not.
The perfect detector is only true in the wants and needs of the operator, not in what everyone else thinks is perfect or best. Find your own needs first, then you can determine what is your perfect detector.
Now, excuse me while I get really good at using my set up.
Just my thoughts,
Dan
Because there is so many diversities, what's good for one may not be good for others. The trend that I see, is that every detector has been sold on eBay by people that have used it only 4 or 5 times. This could be becuase people just didn't get into the hobby, but many times it would appear that the detector just wasn't their ideal unit. This can be an expensive hobby if all people do is buy and sell looking for that ideal detector. After all, most of us can't just go into the store and try out the different units to see which one suits our needs and works to our liking.
I can see the enjoyment one gets when their new detector (traded or bought) arrives and the excitement one feels to take it out and see how well it does. But after using the unit for X amount of hours and playing with air tests, if the unit shows that it can get coins, jewelry, etc. quite well at 6", and you read a post that someone pulled up an Indian Head at 10", you get the feeling your unit is sub standard and you want to be able to do that also. So it's off to the races to get something a little better.
It's human nature to want the best. Whats best for one may not be best for another. I have come to the conclusion that there is no unit I can get that will do it all. A high end MineLab might be the deepest, but it is expensive and heavy. A Tesoro with a HOT coil might be lighter and less expensive, but I want a target and depth visual ID. The light, inexpensive, deep, 4 tone, TID with fast recovery rate, auto ground balanced, DISC or true all metal mode, lighted display detector just doesn't exist. At least for me.
So I figure I am at the point where I have what I want and need. I have really gotten into my Deleon. It is my main detector in that I fist bought a Bandido uMax off of ebay for $235. I traded that for a CXIII with 2 coils, then tarded that for the Deleon with 2 coils. With the shipping on both, I have a $275 Deleon with 2 coils.
My back up is my original Ace 250 with 2 coils. $210 plus $60 for the sniper. Total for all is $550. Since I am not in a highly mineralized area, the ground balance is not as important. One machine has true all metal, both have TID, the Ace is quite light and the Deleon is light for what it does, both have great depth, though not the deepest, both use AA batteries, each has it's own discrimination type, I don't hunt at night, so a lighted display is not necessary, I don't competition hunt so I don't need the different frequency switch. For me, this is perfect. For someone else, probably not.
The perfect detector is only true in the wants and needs of the operator, not in what everyone else thinks is perfect or best. Find your own needs first, then you can determine what is your perfect detector.
Now, excuse me while I get really good at using my set up.
Just my thoughts,
Dan
