New Detectors And Early Adopters

[Steve Herschbach]

It seems these days almost every new detector released has some kind of bug that gets discovered. And of course people get upset over it. How do you avoid this? Well you could blame the manufacturers for missing stuff. That may make you feel good, but it won't fix the problem.

People also talk about hype a lot these days, and it just sort of flies over my head.  Everyone seems desperate for as much information as they can possibly get about detectors early on, but then all that information gets labeled as hype. Unless you live under a rock I would expect you are a member of our consumer society and see advertising every day, so please get over the whole hype thing. It is just information good or bad for you to sort out, and more is better as far as I am concerned, not less.

Nobody has to be first kid on their block to buy a brand new model of metal detector, and sorry, but I do not sympathize with people like me that choose to be a guinea pig by doing so. People with any concerns at all should wait a minimum of 6 months after release for the inevitable bugs to be found and fixed. Take your time, read the field reports from actual users, wait for a consensus to develop. 

Or be the first kid on your block. But be realistic and accept the inherent extra risk in doing so. Whether you like it or not the consumer is the last 100 feet of the production line and the first users find out what got missed, overlooked, or was just wrong. A handful of testers will never replace 5000 end users in their ability to use machines under varied and unanticipated conditions. I think it is really nice people think it should be otherwise but that is just the facts as they exist. Anyone with a bit of concern about any brand new detector model should simply not buy one immediately after release. Six months is generally good enough, a year may be better.

As detectors get more like programs running in a processor, one of the biggest problems with new models has not been hardware bugs as much as missed software bugs. This has become so common now as to seem almost inevitable. Luckily some new machines now are shipping with the ability to download fixes for these bugs over the internet. Machines with this capability do provide at least a basic level of assurance that early production bugs can be fixed easily and for free. That in turn makes it a less risky proposition being an early adopter in those cases at least.

You should never put all your trust in one person when it comes to reviews. It is like movie reviews, one movie can get two opposite reviews from two different people. A wise person looks at the big numbers from thousands of reviewers to make decisions. Or finds a reviewer who over time appears to have the same tastes in movies and trusts them a bit more. 

Just to sum up though so we are clear on this - if you buy a metal detector from any manufacturer as soon as it is released you are in my opinion accepting an inherent risk in doing so. It is a proven historical fact that nearly every new model released by anyone these days has some sort of issues to sort out. It is rather pointless to dwell on how unfair or wrong that is, just accept it is so. And if that is a big concern for you - wait it out. That is my absolute best advice for you.

Me, I will continue being first kid on my block with new toys. I enjoy it! 

 

[klunker]

 But- But dang it all Steve! If I can't blame you , who can I blame?

 

[Steve Herschbach]

You can blame me if you want klunker. I volunteer to be the guy to blame things on!

Seriously, I think this is a big issue. Some of it is perception though. Go back and look at a detector from the 1980's if you think anything made now has ergonomic issues. Those things were made to ruin wrists and arms! Our expectations are higher now in that regard.

But it does seem that when they wired up a simple analog circuit it either worked or not. Detectors came out and that was that. No fuss really, but maybe it was the lack of internet communications also. I was an isolated guy in Alaska buying detectors and had no way to compare notes with people.

The new detectors work largely as software programs and are pretty complicated. Changing one thing has unforeseen side effects elsewhere. Software bugs often take an odd combination of control settings to be revealed. Worse, prototypes can pass all the tests, but then when a chip gets outsourced for manufacturing maybe a new bug gets introduced, and does not get caught. There are just a lot more ways to make a mistake these days.

Anyway, due to the focus here on the latest and greatest I just wanted to get it out there that people should not feel left out getting the newest machines immediately and in fact there is wisdom in waiting these days. Rarely will any new VLF detector in particular really be any better than what we already have. Unless it has a new patent number attached no reason to get all that excited over new detectors as I do not think basic capability changes much, just bells and whistles. It may all be fun and certainly keeps the forum buzzing, but not worth all the angst I see at times. These are just metal detectors, not pacemakers.

[fredmason]

You are right, of course, new detectors have inherent risks. 

I learned the "being first is risky lesson" with GS5...while i will always have a couple of names on my nasty list...I certainly admit that my greedy lust to have an edge and be a trail blazer caused me to ignore your sound advice and the sensible advice of others...

Still, I jumped on the GPZ right away...I do not regret that one bit. So, sometimes it works out and other times you take your lumps and move on...

fred

[argyle]

About component problems, yep it happens quite consistently amongst all manufacturers.

But waiting 6 months I cannot do. The engineers and testers really have to get outside more!

Nearly all of the problems we are finding with units could have been addressed well before release.

I mean, these are educated people making simple electronics on nice budgets. Or are they really savant's that are so overendowed with genius that they cannot tie their own shoelaces or take one of their own designed detectors out for a real world hunt.

[Norvic]

I belonged to the cautious lot, now in hindsight I should have got the 2000 when it first came out, did not make that mistake with the Z, ordered months before it was available. With the Z it is magic and have no dramas with it other then the antiquated GPS, but even that is understandable as it seems very few operators have utilized the power of a GPS & mapping software as a prospecting tool, thus ML had no "yardstick" . Hopefully all gold detectors of the future will follow there with both the GPS, mapping screen and Wireless. Wireless is not a luxury it is a must for me.

[DDancer]

CAVEAT EMPTOR! 

If you don't read that and understand then you don't deserve to own anything less than a day old or a hundred years old.  Generally speaking its called personal responsibility for yourself and for what you buy into.  There is no such thing as snake oil, just the fools who believe in it.

 

[Steve Herschbach]

1 hour ago, argyle said:

About component problems, yep it happens quite consistently amongst all manufacturers.

But waiting 6 months I cannot do. The engineers and testers really have to get outside more!

Nearly all of the problems we are finding with units could have been addressed well before release.

I mean, these are educated people making simple electronics on nice budgets. Or are they really savant's that are so overendowed with genius that they cannot tie their own shoelaces or take one of their own designed detectors out for a real world hunt.

I absolutely 100% totally agree! Does not change reality however. I don't worry about experienced people like you argyle - you know the score. It is the complete newbies, casual users, or people for whom that purchase is a real stretch of a budget that need to be more careful.

[Randy Lunn]

To be an early adopter you have to enjoy the new product process. All new products have their bugs and edge-cases that make version V1.0 an adventure. The critical test is whether the company will stand behind its products and support its early customers. Minelab has been good to me and I have seen good support from most of the majors. I do however get annoyed with companies over-hyping their new products. That's why I really like this forum where the balanced truth comes out.

[deathray]

I do wait for yall to be guinee pigs,lol. And thank you guys for doing so. Funny thing is, at this moment I have found my perfect detector...the Deus. Just waiting for that eliptical coil, and I will be first in line for that. 

I enjoy reading about all the new detectors coming out, and its fun watching Steve and others reviews, but for the first time, I really am satisfied with what I have.