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Minelab, Eq, Availability Suggestion


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Hey all,

I know there is a thread on availability issues :

However that is not what I'm addressing.  We, subjective We, know that the EQ800 is under tight supply.  The EQ600 is more generally available.  There are differences in what is supplied by both units. The 800 has more user features and equipment than the 600 and thats disregarding frequencies that each can supply.  Its those features, and whats in the total package, that I'm addressing.

Audio adjustments that the 800 supplies but not the 600, equipment included with the 800 again not supplied, additional profiles provided with the 800 but not supplied with the 600.

Package deals.  Kind of sucks for many people not looking for the additional Freq's but looking for the performance and added adjustments, profiles and equipment that only the 800 package supplies.  So What the Heck???  One has to pick up an 800 to get the wireless package?  Or spend the extra money to make it so. Hrm. Audio tones, tone breaks, additional user profiles... all pretty much on the same board *electronics board* as the 800 for a 600. Hrm.  Nope not real happy with that.  And I doubt the dealers of these products are either.

Why would I say that.  Ordered one last month.  Gave a callout to see where I was on the list... no definitive answer.  Point of fact told, its June now, that March was the earliest.  Next year.

I put money down on an 800 for features and a package that did what I want... dont care about the Gold modes as I wont be using them here in the States... thats why I have a 7000!

Minelab, my suggestion is get your stuff together.  Its a popular unit.  I'd rather own a 600 with the package: wireless equipment, profiles and audio adjustments: and skip the bling of Gold Modes in less time that it takes your factory in Malaysia to pump out 800's.  Point is most of us general go getters would like to see our dealers have a good turn around and get the "Monkey Off Their Backs" ~ that's a direct quote from a dealer~ than have to sit in back order limbo.

Personally I wait.  I want to see the kinks worked out before I ordered.  But I ordered.  And will wait till whenever *not the dealers fault* for the package I decided on.... not that there was much choice in the matter!!  Mate of mine got his in about 3 weeks.... shopping around from dealer to dealer and calling favors.  That is BS.  Waits are not hard for me... having a dealer or two give me the "Monkey" is BS.  Where ever ya go.

A 600 with the whistles sans Gold mode.  To much to ask?  Not updatable to such a requirement?  Or just and ostrich with his head in the sand.

Love ya ML, made a lot of money with your products.  Maybe someone in marketing and one in research should get there heads together.

DD

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Wow!  Sorry you feel that way.   

I suspect you would also complain about different models of the same automobile because you wanted the Bose speakers that were available on the XL edition, but not on the cheaper base model. 

These two detectors are already worth MUCH more than their selling price. The 600 DOES have wireless APTX LL capability but doesn’t include the WM-08 external wi-fi unit. Works perfectly with APTX LL wireless. So what are you after? You think they should include the $278 WM-08 for the extremely reasonable $649 price of the 600???

if so you don’t understand marketing. 

Oh, and the 600 DOES have the “gold” modes...just like the 800, just not individually. 

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No, the 600 does not have the Gold Mode, which uses a different processing method entirely. It’s more than just having 20 khz and 40 kHz available.

Every manufacturer makes machines that have the same circuit board, but in which the lower price versions are “feature limited”. A perfect example is the White’s V3i and VX3. They are the same detector, same board. They simply disabled certain features on the VX3. This is just standard operating procedure in metal detector land and always has been. The second detector I ever owned was a White’s blue box Goldmaster about 1974. I was “upgrading” from the Coinmaster IV. I opened them up - exact same circuit board, and in fact basically the same detector. Ken White figured a bigger box with bigger meter was “better”.

How many people know that in many cases a 10HP outboard motor and a 15HP outboard motor are the same motor mechanically? A 10HP model will be tuned for what is in effect a lower gear, with more torque on the low end. Great kicker motors. The same motor will be tuned up to develop more rpm and a higher top end running speed, but now the low end is lacking. Better for small skiffs, etc. where getting the speed is more important. Yet when you go to get parts - same parts book.

You pay more for the 15HP not because the production cost is more. It’s not. You are simply paying more for a “feature”, in this case the horsepower the unit develops when run full out.

I could do this for hours but should not have to. Examples abound wherever you want to look. Welcome to sales and marketing. Minelab is guilty, but so is everyone else.

I have been arguing that a 600 will serve most people as well as an 800 for quite some time. Yet most people want an 800 anyway. Given that it is probable that this is exactly what marketing wanted people to do, it’s hard to say they did not get it right. If you think not, it’s a bit moot now, as that ship has sailed. The differences between the two are what they are, the only thing left now is to choose.

Personally, except for nugget detecting I can do just as well with the 600 as 800. I as a rule don’t use the extra adjustments. The ability to move and adjust tones in some audio modes is attractive, but reality for me is I use 50 tones usually anyway. I don’t mess with the defaults very much at all, often just a bump in the gain, and I am off detecting. So while I am the sort that would want an 800, when I examine the reality of what I am doing with the 800 the fact is I am not using the extra features. I don’t even use the WM 08. If I was being totally pragmatic a 600 with an aftermarket low latency Bluetooth headphone is all I really need except for nugget detecting, and I can actually do very well with the 600 there also. Just not as well as I could with an 800 and Gold Mode.

Despite the shortages it should be obvious Minelab is cranking out more 800s than 600s by far. It’s what people want and is a true bargain -  continuing wait times are a reflection of that. Lots of people were waiting for various reasons, and no matter how many 800s show up demand still exceeds supply as these people come in from the sidelines. It’s catching up, as dealers will have an 800 on the shelf for a few days, but by and large as soon as excess arrives, it gets snapped up. That could continue for another month or two.

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Hrm. Yep. No.

The goodies in the bag for one or the other are a determining feature. And Yes, Steve, the ship has sailed **I'm an old seaman so I know the term well** and what I pitch is not a bitch but a determination.  Yes to whatever is being "cranked" out now, however limited, it is what is in demand ; however some sticks should and can be rolled in the bundle and off set current demand. No?? 

I am well aware of differences.  Boards, electronics, and Outboards~ water motivators ? In point of fact there was  a discussion on the boards used in the EQ series some months ago. *no not going to reference it memory serves*. phrunt I work on electronics as well and its no surprise for me.  Simple differences whether its V3i or VX# and I claim no expertise Steve.

Nope what I'm pointing at is good old sales, like one says *points the bony finger*, and that given an options of the 6 with the options of the 8 and to the limited packages presented that would make one happy.  Not most but maybe heck think about it.

 

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Separate post, Sitting Elf I dont even consider what ya said. Not pertinent.

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Think I've made my statement to MineLab.  Some of those features in the 800, can be added thru Updates I'm sure, and be added to The 600~ no real cost~ and the equipment, sans the wireless module but keep the headphones~ for a modest cost for the bundle.... heck would have flown of the shelf for me... and a few hundred others.

Its the tweeks, the wireless outta the box, Audio adjustments,  that many persons have been wanting for YEARS!  Heck ya did it with the 7000!!! even if it was with your own ML MODIFICATION, and a damn WM12. Gotta say though I was then and am now a megaFanboy for the 7000!! OH MY Gosh!

Get your attention?  I had to ditch the WM12 last year and go direct wire~ flaky connections. But I reckon if I'd had BT tech and good headphones I'd never have to dink with it.  Go figure.  I can adjust the 7000 to how I like and get the gold.  So why not the 600 outta the box for outstanding audio, hrm.  For coin and karats?

In as far as availability its still a standoff with the dealers and the customers.  consider how much of this could have been eliminated with a few bits of tech and a Little for thought.

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happy days....

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1 hour ago, DDancer said:

Think I've made my statement to MineLab. 

I agree. It really does not need any more repetition. I restricted “availability threads” for a reason. The suggestion may have made a difference months ago, but with 800s now becoming available it’s all rather moot.

From Forum RulesThis is a fan club. It is a place for people who see the Equinox in a positive fashion. If you hold a generally negative view of the detector or Minelab, this is not the place for you.

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