Hi All,
Finally took the plunge - my wife got me an MD (ACE 250) for my birthday, got it 2 weeks ago. First night it rained so at least I got to read the manual. Have been sharpening my detecting and digging skills in my backyard, all clad and a bunch of junk (pulltabs, foil, etc...) so far. I get out usually after our 2 year old has gone to bed. I know I'm addicted though, because on the second night I went out and got a cheap LED headlamp so I could dig in the dark

You can all probably imagine the look on my face when I dug up the first coin, a 72 Lincoln Mem penny - man was I excited.
Thanks for all the great info and advice on this great site, it made choosing the right detector a snap, and is quite a resource for all of our newbie questions.