looking to buy...

[lando659]

i found a Vision 3030 on ebay and was wondering if it would be a good buy for a newbie. i live in hawaii so it has to work on the beach. i'd like it to have at least a waterproof coil so i can search in the waves. might do a little solid ground detecting too. my budget is $200 or less. if this isn't the one for my situation, have any suggestions? i'm in the military so the budget is firm. just don't make enough. lol. buying this for my wife for our anniversary. neither of us have ever done this before. thanks for the help.

lando

[grasshopper]

if you could stretch your budget to about 215, i would definitely go with the Garrett Ace 250. It is the weapon of choice around here and i hear its great!

-you could get it for less if you found one, i see a few on ebay that have gone for about 170

[TonyinCT]

I would not buy this detector. It is basically not a good one. i would go with the Fisher F2 or Garrett Ace 250. Both are quality made and work very well inmost conditions. Please let me know if I can help you with your purchase.

[ERnurse]

ACE 250 is my choice. The F2 is a good machine as well. Talk with the sponsers and choise the one that sounds like it has what you want.

[KellycoChick]

Aloha lando! Everyone here is right on the money - the ACE series and the Fisher F2 are both awesome. Be careful when you buy from eBay,... there's lots of options and not a lot of guarantees. Check out Kellyco's website, we have metal detectors organized by price so you can search according to your budget...

Having said that, welcome to the hobby! I think you and your wife will really enjoy hanging out together on the beach and finding stuff... I read one story about a guy who vaca'd in Hawaii and found a whole bunch of loot stolen from a jewelry store, buried in the sand... of course he returned it... but that really is buried treasure, huh?

[bdahunter]

Taking a detector subaqua is even more demanding - one drop of water in the housing and Pfffff!, Bye Bye Detector. The salt environment plays havoc with the sensing ability of most detectors and is very hard on the metal components of the machine itself.
This is why underwater detectors cost so much more than regular detectors because they have to do so much more. With beach detectors you get what you pay for and a cheapo detector is nothing but a headache that disappoints and frustrates you to the point that after a few spins on the beach with nothing but pull tabs to show for it the cheap detector just winds up as closet clutter. It takes a while to learn how to hunt a beach and it's good to get your feet wet with a starter detector that is up to the challenge, finding some coins and a little jewellery is a lot of fun and you get a chance to break into the hobby slowly and find out if you really like it without making a $1,000+ + investment.
Personally, I think the ACE250 is underpriced for what it does but who am I to argue with Garrett's marketing dept., especially when they're giving everyone such a great deal. I'd go with the ACE250 but as always, to each their own.

Cheers,

BDA