Can I Be Critical Of The Equinox Here?

[Chase Goldman]

1 hour ago, Ridge Runner said:

Steve stated in another post that Minelab was to have a meeting around two weeks. Let’s say Minelab tells them when the dealers will receive their orders. We looking at 14 days till them and another 7 or more before orders start coming in. Then you have another 7 days to get the detectors to customers in the field.

At the projected unknown factor it will be the following month before any of us see our Equinox.

Then you have another two weeks if one would even have a opinion by then let alone a critical one.

Don’t you think it would be a sad thing for this post to sit idle that long without a word?

Chuck

Yes it would be a sad thing.  That's why he also said he would be bumping it up periodically to make sure it stuck around.  But we're doing a great job of keeping it from sitting idle, anyway.  Lol.  Saving Steve the trouble of bumping the thread I guess.

That dealer conference has been scheduled for some time now (several weeks).  If they are holding to the original conference scheduled dates, then there is no reason to believe they are too far behind in production as the conference was scheduled ahead of the Minelab announcement regarding the late January production roll out.  Fingers crossed.

[Ridge Runner]

Hahaha

The Best to You on the Adventure with Your Equinox .

The only criticism I may have is my own short comings.

Chuck

[Glenn in CO]

I'm enjoying reading all the if's, what's, and why's the Equinox may or may not do in actual field testing (thank you Steve H.) and what many have perceive the Equinox will do without having the detector.

I will be following with great interest as people actually put the detector to the test in different types of coin, relic, jewelry, prospecting, ground conditions scenarios. I'm very interested in purchasing the Equinox when they become available, but the purchase will be base on reliable information from users that will convince me this new technology is the real thing. I will have to put my research skills to the test on people who will be providing opinions and reviews on the Equinox. Weeding out the good and the bad. I have a feeling the reviews and opinions will be somewhat negative at first, but I believe that information will come from a lot first time users and inexperienced users looking for the next best thing. I believe the Equinox will take awhile to learn all its capabilities to its fullest extent. The coming months will be interesting to say the least.

Just my two cents!

[DDancer]

So far the armies have begun beating the drums.  Just following the reading here and there a lot of ground has been laid for those taking notes and for the eventual commentaries.  Hopefully Steve's shot over the bow here consolidates the figurative fighting into a solid thread.

[BeachHunter]

Aw, you guys are just being critical about being critical.

[Steve Herschbach]

There is a method to my madness.

First, I really am ready to just settle down with Equinox for the foreseeable future. I would like to know everything there is to know about the detector, and I can't possibly figure it all out on my own. So by all of us here working together to use the machine, learn what it does best, learn where its weak, and how to work around that, then we have a win win for me and everyone here. There will be many who try the machine and don't like it for various reasons. Some machines I abandon just because they don't feel good on my arm, or I don't like something about how they act. That's expected and that's fine. I don't care how many people like Equinox or not. I am just looking to find the people who are interested in it, with whom I can share information in some kind of sane fashion.

So when somebody posts a video "proving" the Equinox fails in this way or that compared to some other detector, I expect it, and I am fine with it. Go use that detector, and be happy . I get it. The thing is I have used the Equinox, and it suits me. Many of you will use it, and it will suit a lot of you. Some of you won't like it - ok. For all of us that do like the machine however and want to continue on - that is what this forum is all about. That includes being able to honestly talk about areas where the machine has deficiencies in hope of finding solutions.

Finally, by having a calm, sane discussion, we can provide on-going good feedback for Minelab, that can be used to discover and issue bug fixes perhaps. Or information that can be used for the second generation of Multi-IQ.

And yes Chuck, this is all predicated on people actually getting and using the Equinox! 

[Guest Tnsharpshooter]

Steve,

You can count on me using and sharing my experiences with Equinox.

And naturally I will likely mention some other model detectors w/coils to help put what I see into perspective for folks.

Just an amateur but will try to share.

[Gerry in Idaho]

Steve is 1 person who many people watch, follow and trust.  He gives the good/bad as he sees it, hence the majority of detector manufactures allow him to date their new and upcoming young daughter (detector).  Would it not be most beneficial for a person with such accolades be testing, especially early in its beginning stages?

But what is so clever with Mr. Herschbach is his willingness to allow the rest of us to give input on our findings of this new machine.

Yes there will be loyalists with blinders who try to pick anything to death if it carries a different brand.  All I can say is...I won't go there.

With the internet so easy to reach from sea to sea and pole to pole, the vast users and their findings will be quite interesting to read.

After all, how can 1 man in Reno, NV find all the bugs, see all the greatness and test the soils across the lands.  He can't and that is why he too is open to comments and input of Pros/Cons.

I can't wait for March to arrive, as there will be plenty to read from users everywhere.  Why March you ask?  Anything less and I feel you don't have enough time on it.

Thanks for allowing us Steve, very thoughtful.

 

[mn90403]

Will there be critics and contrarians of this machine and it's platform?  Of course.  Has anyone made a perfect detector?  It is not likely to happen because there are different strokes (swings) for different folks.

Will this be the last detector ever made?  Will this be the last detector that needs to be made?  Will the patents on this technology close the category on metal detecting and future patent requests will be denied?

This is just the latest step.  It sounds like a good step but there will be more to come.  During each 'step' there is an opportunity to visit old beatup patches, over worked parks and renewed beaches with 'the latest and greatest' while bonding or fighting with your fellow detectorists who have been finding good targets for years.

When they watch you and your finds ... they will know what the Equinox and they are missing.

Mitchel

[steveg]

Steve,

You said it perfectly in your most recent post.  This forum is going to be a great, and very welcome, wealth of information, post-release.  It already has been, pre-release, though obviously what you have been permitted to share has been necessarily limited.

Once it's released, and the need for confidentiality and silence has been removed, and users start posting experiences, experiments, tests, successes, AND failures, the collective of everyone here will be a treasure trove of information that should be invaluable to those who really hope to get the most out of the machine, and what it's capable of.

Steve