Chase Goldman

Though that value is diminished somewhat if you factor in the cost of the wireless hardware (Aptx phones and WM08 module) included with the 800 vs. the 600 wired phones.

Although the software builds are somewhat different, the 600 and 800 are physically and electronically identical with the exception of the physical user profile save button which exists only on the 800. That makes it not possible to 100% replicate the functionality of the 800 on the 600 simply by flashing 800 firmware on the 600. I am certain that ML has put interlocks in place to keep people from inadvertently or intentionally doing that at the hobbiest level of expertise (though the cell phone industry shows us that it is practically impossible to stop determined hackers). This means that ML does not appear to have a planned upgrade path for 600 users to get to 800 functionality simply through a future software upgrade (paid or otherwise). Now as far as people with nefarious motives, well we have unfortunately seen plenty of counterfeit detectors out there ripping off all the manufacturers and users alike.

Cabelas is not going to get an Equinox to you any faster than any other dealer. The 4 to 7 days shipped direct from manufacturer is a boilerplate estimate that gets refined by email a couple of days after you place your order and then you get the more realistic date several weeks into the future and then get to enjoy the fun of getting a chargeback to your card in a week or so if you choose to cancel. Trust me. Minelab does not have a bunch of Equinoxes sitting around in a distribution center earmarked for Cabelas online orders while Kellyco has over 200 folks waiting on a preorder list. If that is indeed the case, then oops!

Thought I would bump this on up since more and more EQ users are starting to unbox so it seems the time has arrived. Critical is not the same as bash. It means identify the downsides from your perspective. Where does it not meet YOUR needs. It should hopefully be constructive. We can put likes and dislikes and quirks out there so that they can, hopefully be addressed, mitigated, or solutions and remedies shared from user to user as the machine is learned and experience gained. If there happen to be any serious flaws it is good to get those out there and identified for ML to fix. It's great to finally be on the doorstep of this moment where we can start sharing actual experiences and bounce them off of Steve H's pretest experiences and the other testers who helped shape this beast. And perhaps make Equinox even better. Congrats to those who have their Equinoxes or are soon to get them. It is going to be a fun February/March 2018 and beyond. I encourage you to read Steve's opening post of the thread to get the gist of what this is supposed to be about before proceeding. Make this honest, but helpful and constructive with the goal of improving not tearing down this groundbreaker.

Gerry, Oops, I guess I shouldn't have complimented your customer outreach skills at the expense of ML USA. Hope I don't get BB'd, or worse (e.g., have my EQ shipping rerouted through Antarctica by sled dog team). BTW I forgot to mention that seeing the title of your thread triggered my consumer electronics PTSD. I was a "victim" of not one but two recalls of the Samsung phone model whose battery design flaw was causing phones to spontaneously combust. Though my phone never caught fire, having to send it back in for replacement twice in one month and then finally being told I needed to buy a different model phone was not fun. Suffice it to say, the whole "Equinox Caught Fire" expression had a completely different initial connotation to me and I was relieved to see you were only referring to Equinox sales and preorder numbers and not a fatal Equinox battery design flaw.

Chevy Equinox, does that clear it up?

Gerry, if I didn't already have a dealer who also is a good friend and sometime relic detecting buddy, it would be you. What an intelligent and informative post. The blackballing thing is a little disconcerting. Is that a dealer level thing or a user level thing (abuse of warranty, return, or just dropping off of preorder lists?). Anyway, thanks for doing the job ML USA should be doing regarding customer relations, you should be getting someone's paycheck who supposedly has that job there.

I propose we form the 2nd Batch Equinox Fan Club. I guarantee it will be bigger than the First Batch club.

Probably a blessing in disguise because the Equinox is good but it is not going to pay your property taxes (unless you stuck it out and then flipped it on ebay, that is ), so better to have liquid capital back to pay the bills. Good luck and you are right that you have decent detector stable to see you through until The time is right for Equinox.

The above post makes me laugh and be sad at the same time so I just went with laugh so as not to cry.

Fortunately, I think Steve H. has shook the Equinox tree enough in preproduction testing to put those fears pretty much to rest. But we’ll all soon find out.

I will answer this - would like to road trip it to your neck of the woods some time and hit some TN sites with you so we could do some real detector test nerd damage together and find some cool relics in the process. And then I could show you some nasty hot trash ridden VA spots that just have to be hiding some buttons and plates that I think the EQ might just sniff out. Excited to get this sucker and compare notes.

“Without Equal” is not necessarily a good thing if you are on the wrong side of the “less than” sign. Gotta love the marketing department, precision is not their strong suit.

Minelab is walking back from using the “O” word with its new adverts.

You got it. I didn't want Steve having to answer the parking lot questions (especially the dreaded why questions) which were envisioned to be more thought exercises than actual questions or uncertainties to be verified once the detector was in your hands. I wanted them to be reminders for us to use as a framework to go out and use the Equinox in an attempt to answer those questions ourselves so we could better understand what makes the Equinox tick, especially with the more obscure or unfamiliar settings and any instruction manual ambiguities. But unfortunately it unintentionally came across as criticism, trivial, or annoying. As I think Steve may have said, Minelab may not even know how good they actually made the Equinox and I plan on testing it to the limit with some hot soil and nasty CW ration can infested trash fields that I know are just hiding some dandy brass military buttons and perhaps more! Problem was, some of the questions could be answered, and it would soon become a cross-posting drudgery for Steve. I'll just keep the parking lot private and strike out on my own with the Equinox and post findings unless someone else has any bright ideas on how to better accomplish the above. Thanks.

Thanks. It is responses like yours that keep me engaged and feeling like I am making a bit of positive difference. Just trying to keep it real and learn something in the process. Hopefully, we all learn, that is the goal of the forum after all. Steveg, Kind words, thanks. I don't question things to throw stones, I question things to learn truth for myself and the other readers and to be able to better handle the detector. I don't have an agenda, don't want to create drama but apparently inadvertently do. Feel a little bit like I am on eggshells now if I put out a devil in the details type question and that is a little disconcerting because I don't have a copy editor there to back me up if I don't get the words just right and cause unintended frustration. But I will keep on plowing forward with, hopefully, relevant, but measured questions people find useful and/or thought provoking, a little humor thrown in, and soon, I hope, first hand user information about my own Equinox. Maybe you can lead with your chin a little and give me some high cover by asking some of those insane questions right about now. See you in the trenches! CG

True. In fact, it could very well be both of those things since they both showed up in the last Minelab update. It's probably at least one or the other but they could be tied together. Can't wait to play with iron bias to see what it is really all about and the magnitude of the effect as it is adjusted. I know you will get to the heart of it based on how you approach the thick iron testing of Deus.

Switching Gold Mode to multi IQ could have been it also.

If the presumption was that Minelab distributed more units to dealers who had more pre-pays vs. based purely on preorders, prepaid or not, then that in effect is forcing this on dealers. It would logically follow that the dealers might feel obligated to distribute detectors in preference to prepaid customers because that was the condition under which they got "more" detectors. Regardless of whatever Minelab or the Dealers did or did not do with respect to prepays, what is important is finding the dealer whose pre-order conditions you are most comfortable with and pragmatically realize what that may mean in terms of when you will actually get the detector. I personally favor trust, transparency, and an even playing field over expediency that comes at a price. The great thing is we all have great dealer choices and you can choose what suits you best in a dealer-customer relationship. Just hoping many get their detectors soon so we can start seeing some varied user feedback. I can live vicariously through that.

Sorry, the logic here is just baffling. LOL Especially, if you assume the rules were changed in the middle of the game as suggested by Wayfarer. For the dealers that accepted no prepayments because that is how they normally roll with all their customers - they get no detectors because they didn't anticipate the change in plans or were forced to call customers to ask for prepayments? Nice. "No soup for you!" The bigger volume dealers that insist on 100% pre-payment for all pre-orders will have an issue too because they couldn't possibly fill their hundreds of pre-paid pre-orders. That's going to happen whether or not Minelab insisted on prepayment for distribution allocation simply because their list is long. Also, that would mean in the case where a dealer seeks prepayment as a form of commitment from less trusted customers, those customers would have priority over the "don't worry about it because we trust you" customers who were not asked to prepay because Minelab sought agreement (after the preorder lists were generated) from dealers that the first batch would only go to pre-pays? Don't seem fair. But life isn't fair. The Savvy dealers had two lists, I guess. The "higher priority "Have" list" for those who prepaid and the "I'll take it when I can get it no pre-pay list." I guess I can still blame my dealer for not being savvy vice being devious. Or I can just face facts and realize that I was not actually a "most trusted" customer. Wish they just distributed the detectors in proportion to the number of preorders (prepaid or not) and let the dealers figure it out (recognizing that the distributed numbers would be small). And, despite Mitchel's insistence to the contrary, perhaps that is what they actually did happen. Who knows? All we can do is speculate that the process was fair vs. a moving target that could result in inequities. Despite my natural cynicism, I am going to assume Minelab and the Dealers acted in the best interest of their customers, and hopefully the dealers kept their most trusted customers in the loop as to the best way (e.g., first to sign up and prepayment as necessary) to ensure they would get a detector as soon as possible. "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one." JL (This post has the patented "Tongue-in-Cheek" entertainment disclaimer so as to not stir up serious hate, discontent, and drama. I'm finding humor in the most dire of circumstances, hope you can, too.)

Since at least one forum member here has received their machine, I would guess that the clock started at least six weeks ago, if not longer. Otherwise, users could be receiving units don't incorporate the fix for whatever Tom discovered and caused the delay. I find Minelab knowingly doing that unlikely.

That's the answer to the quick start guide entitled "Because Why?"

I am glad for you, honestly. Man, I don't mind waiting. Expected that. I am just naive enough to think that we should all be informed of the rules so that we all have an equal chance of drawing that winning lottery ticket instead of the 7/11 guy having inside information on which numbers you should pick and it is up to him to decide to tell you or not. I guess the house always wins. Lol. Makes me feel all warm inside and renews my faith in "the man".

That answer would make for a great detector manual...it certainly would be easy to reference and search and would never have to be revised or updated. Brilliant.

Ground rules as they pertain to distribution would have been nice to know above board if the prepaid pre-order thing was actually a determining factor in how ML decided distribution #'s for units to individual distributors or dealers. I have total trust and long history with my dealer, that is why no money exchanged hands before a transaction occurred. I also know that he has a close business relationship with Minelab. So you are saying that I should blame my dealer because neither he nor I insisted on a pre-paid pre-order? Strange. That's a good way to build trust and good will among the various stakeholders.