With the price increase it probably doesn't make much sense for a lot of dealers to carry the GT, when people can get a Safari or SE Pro for close to the same price. People go for the flash, and frankly the plain jane look of a GT doesn't draw them in like a flashy computer screen.
I think they should at least continue to make the GT if they don't come out with a new Sovereign, because if they don't make a Sovereign anymore Minelab will only have models with computer screens...And there are simply a lot of people out there who prefer knobs and switches over scrolling thru computer menus. Look at Tesoro. Heck, look at even the MXT/M6 line that still feature dials for certain controls, despite having a computer screen. They know people prefer dials for certain things, and those machines are wildly popular in detecting circles. Probably two of the best selling detectors on the market these days.
The Sovereign's BBS technology is still light years ahead of the competition when it comes to depth, ability to handle the roughest of ground, discrimination, reliable target ID at depth, and the extensive array of tone alerts it has. It just doesn't get any deeper than this machine and it will match or beat the depth of any machine on the market (Minelab or not) so long as you are using a similar sized coil to the machine you are comparing it to.
I remember a blurb from somebody about a year or so ago saying that they had inside information that Fisher had aquired the rights to BBS technology and was making a machine that uses it. I don't know if that's true or not but can you imagine what Fisher could do with taking this technology even further? Not to mention the probably light weight hardware and features that they might give such a BBS based machine.
But, back to the subject...People are attracted "flash" these days. Which means fancy computer controls and mesmerizing computer screens and menus. Just because a machine has those features doesn't necessarily make it a better performing detector. More versatile in it's ability to tweak for one odd situation or another? Sure, but not necessarily deeper or with better ability to unmask targets (how sharp the coil's detection field is is where the real action is in unmasking ability).
Look at all these smart phones people are using. All I want my phone to do is ring when somebody calls. I'll use a computer when I want to do things online. People end up letting those smart phones rule their lives. They get lost in those things and don't even experience what is going around around them. The same thing can happen with metal detecting. Just look at the Whites forum on the DFX or V3 threads. People talk more about the settings they are tweaking on those machines than actual detecting.
But, sad but true, the majority of people out there go for the next shiny object in front of them. I just hope Minelab sees that there are still plenty of people who want raw power built around simple controls.
That said, I wouldn't mind seeing a new Sovereign with a computer screen and some very limited controls. Nothing fancy, just the ability to edit out specific VDI number ranges for specific situations (a more versatile notch, in other words). Being able to custom label each VDI # with potential target names it could be. Perhaps the ability to assign whatever high tone you want to what ever number ranges you want would be a good feature. Maybe a volume boost feature with a built in limiter so you didn't need to use headphones with a limiter built in.
Of course the ability to either run Iron Mask as it is now or zero it out to where no iron is discriminated...For those rare situations such as hunting fine gold jewlery or chains that might read down in the iron range. I'd like to see very limited computer controls much like my QXT Pro had. Whites had the right balance of computer controls on that machine with limited software that didn't slow the machine down with software lag.
The hard thing would be to decide what features to include in the computer controls, because as you can see I've already got a good list going above of features I'd like. Keeping it limited in functions so you don't lose yourself in tweaking would be the hardest part of designing a new detector.
Keep the dials and switches it has now, except for maybe the notch, where you could do that via the computer functions. Sensitivity, discrimination, volume, threshold, and so on should stay dials and switches as it is now.
. ,what you think ? $1399.00 Jim 
