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Garrett Announces New Sport Metal Detector Coming Soon


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That was a REALLY stupid roll-out add and I am a seriously stupid redneck (proud of it) originally from Georgia.................... 

The beat up pickup, central Texas, do a farmer nose blow and spit a wad of tobacco while your at it kind of add. Great way to grow the hobby? or just keep selling to the same people.........

Jeff

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Marketing strategy to get everyone hyping, speculating about appearance, performance and features. Stall potential sales of competitor machines...........All we know in the video they compare it to the Ace as a huge upgrade. Reading between the lines, it doesn't compare to the AT Pro or Max.  So price would be around the same selling price as its perceived competition-----Simplex, Vanquish, Nox etc.??

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1 hour ago, Sven1 said:

Marketing strategy to get everyone hyping, speculating about appearance, performance and features. Stall potential sales of competitor machine

Yeah, we know why they do it. It’s just that people like me are very sick of it and so it is now backfiring. They are not making me interested in their new detector, they are just irritating me. Especially when they specifically say they are not going to pull this crap, then go ahead and do it anyway. I was hoping to a new flagship to replace the over 20 year old GTI 2500 or a lightweight ATX, not another entry in the race to the bottom sweepstakes. Pass.

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3 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

So in the last video they say full product information coming, no stupid tease. Then proceed with the tease. :dry:

Exactly!  And academy award winning performances to boot!  Cool name, though.  Hope its more than an Ace with a rechargeable battery.

13 hours ago, mh9162013 said:

Here's a teaser video: 

Not impressed with fact that it probably has a built-in battery, though.

 

Interested in knowing why not.  I'm impressed they are taking a step forward into 2020 instead of revisiting 2010 once again like they did with the Max.

I've heard a lot of complaints about rechargeable, built-in batteries, but few arguements against them hold much water and usually betray a lack of experience on the part of the nay sayer.  Yeah, there have been poor implementations of built-in rechargeable battery tech on detectors and other electronic equipment, but if properly designed and implemented, I have yet to actually experience an issue with using them in a detector.  In fact, I now find it a feature, like wireless audio, that is useful and something I look for when buying a detector.   I think it is a good move by Garrett to release one with this tech, unless it is non-user replaceable (which I hope is not the case with Apex).  Even then, my built-ins on the Deus have lasted over 5 years and are still going strong. So I figure if the Apex battery lasts at least as long and I do have to pay to have it replaced outside the warranty (still we are likely talking $35 - $50 max), I may have already moved on to the Apex Summit IV.  I've heard a lot of complaints and myths, like, "won't last all day" - have used mine on 10-12 hour marathon hunts without needing a recharge, "what if I forget to recharge over night" - charge it on the way to the site, or on a break, or on the fly while detecting all using a backup cell phone power bank (cost about the same as a backup pack of 8 AA's and available at most stires where you could buy AA's, nowadays).  I get that it feels good to have the preceived security of having the ability to pop some AA cells into the detector, if needed, but that really isn't much different than where the state of modern built-ins and power banks are today.

Anyway, my 2 cents and a little bit more on the subject and perhaps there are some holes in my logic, so I welcome hearing the counterpoint arguments.

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11 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

Interested in knowing why not.  I'm impressed they are taking a step forward into 2020 instead of backwards to 2010.

The use of built-in batteries has its advantages. For a given volume, it will produce more capacity/power than a machine using an easier to replace AAA, 9V or AA cells. It also help improve water/weather-proofness as there is one less frequently used opening to protect against dust or water intrusion. 

However, a built-in battery almost always requires the use of a non-conventional battery, such as a custom Li-Po cell or if we're lucky, a commonly used lithium cell, like the 18650. I think devices shifting over to less common or proprietary batteries are part of the trend that makes DIY/self-help/self-repair all the more difficult. The harder manufacturers make it for the end-user to replace batteries themselves, the greater control they're trying to take over the consumer.

Of course, when it comes to built-in batteries, there's a continuum of "control" over the consumer. For one, the battery used could be easy to access and replace, although harder than a machine that uses AA cells, like the Ace series, for instance. Second, the battery itself could proprietary or hard to find. It's one thing if a device uses an 18650 cell versus some exotic lithium chemistry in a shape that the world has never seen before.

In other words, companies using built-in batteries, in my view, are an attempt to be like John Deere ("you don't own the product. You're just buying the right to use it, and any repairs, modifications, etc. are ILLEGAL without our permission." And yes, John Deere actually made this argument, but lost, luckily...)

And not all built-in battery products are equal. Compare the Equinox to the MI-4 and MI-6 XP pinpointers. My understanding of both is that the Equinox battery can be swapped by the end-user with reasonable or minimal effort (dunno if this voids the warranty, though), but the MI-4 and MI-6 require sending them in to the manufacturer. I don't know if this is true, but it's my understanding. Assuming my understanding is correct, the XP pinpointers are just an example of manufactures trying to limit the end-users ability to use the pinpointer how they choose.

TL;DR - built-in batteries make it easier to implement forced obsolescence practices by companies. 

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I think Garrett felt embarrassed when Duracell used the Ace to make fun of rickety old farts beach hunting -- thus the built-in rechargeable.  And to add to their image of high class, they come out with a really sophisticated commercial.  Must have hired an out-of-work movie producer and crew from Hollywood.  The dialogue in particular is first rate!  Well, at least it impressed Jeff M.    😏 

 

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16 minutes ago, mh9162013 said:

And not all built-in battery products are equal. Compare the Equinox to the MI-4 and MI-6 XP pinpointers. My understanding of both is that the Equinox battery can be swapped by the end-user with reasonable or minimal effort (dunno if this voids the warranty, though), but the MI-4 and MI-6 require sending them in to the manufacturer. I don't know if this is true, but it's my understanding. Assuming my understanding is correct, the XP pinpointers are just an example of manufactures trying to limit the end-users ability to use the pinpointer how they choose.

Equinox battery is user replaceable and if done per the instructions provided by ML will not void the warranty.  If you want to have ML do it outside the battery one-year warranty period (detector is 3 years), probably about $50 including shipping.  Replacement price of about $50 is about the same with the XP detector products which use 3 bult-ins (4 if you count the pinpointer).  Like I said, 5 years and counting on these for me. These are all fractions of the total cost of the detector and not much more than the cost of a new battery by itself.  The majority of battery replacements I have read about are warranty replacements due to defects, and XP has been pretty liberal as far as built-in replacements beyond the 5 year warranty. The XP pinpointers having been recently released in the last few years are not even there yet.  The "rent a detector" argument makes sense on the surface but in reality, I find it to not be a realistic drawback, especially if you consider the disposable technology model (unfortunate but true) of modern technology evolutiom.  By the time the battery dies, a better mousetrap usually appears.

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