Minelab Missed Opportunity On Manticore And Equinox Controls

[Steve Herschbach]

Why controls on the side of the pod? The serve no purpose I can see from  a manufacturing perspective, and only serve to complicate the design. Extra holes in the case, rubber chicklets that wear out. The main issue though is that from a user standpoint they really suck. How many people put the User Definable button on the Equinox to real use? It's a fabulous control, and we all should be flipping back and forth between settings to verify targets. At a minimum it's a great way to decide which mode works best, but it's the ability to quickly compare targets in two modes that is a real boon if used properly. Very few people use it at all however, and the reason is simple. The location is so inconvenient as to make us ignore it. Those who do use it have to jump through hoops to do so.

The real crime here is there is no need for this. There is plenty of room on the front to put all controls front and center where they should be. It is too bad that Minelab did not take this opportunity to get it right with the Equinox 700, 900, and Manticore, perpetuating a poor design choice with Equinox into the future.

Which would you rather have?........

 

[Bill (S. CA)]

Steve,

Are you talking about the user profile button on the side of the Equinox box?  If so, I couldn't agree more.  I have a second mode set up on my Equinox but if I wear gloves I simply can't push the darn side button in to switch between modes.  It's a real pain and I have to take my glove off every time I switch so the end result is that I seldom switch modes. 

I will give Minelab credit for at the very least making the buttons they do have easy to see.  The Legend buttons, which are all black, are impossible to see in the daylight unless you either put white paint on them or buy the control box cover.  

[Jeff McClendon]

I use the user profile button a lot. However, to use it I have to basically stop everything, stabilize the entire detector by at least putting the coil on the ground, let go of the hand grip, take off my full finger glove and hopefully hit the button correctly (taking off control box cover might be necessary). Major pain in the butt. 

[Steve Herschbach]

35 minutes ago, Bill (S. CA) said:

Are you talking about the user profile button on the side of the Equinox box?

Yes, the User Profile button is a user definable button. The little head and shoulders button. I would argue the "quick and easy" statement in the manual was not written by somebody who has used the detector.

"EQUINOX 900 has a User Profile button on the side of the Control Pod that saves a copy of the current detector settings for future quick access. The User Profile provides you with a quick and easy way to toggle between two sets of detecting settings — those saved to the User Profile, and the last-used detector settings. The default settings for the User Profile are a copy of Park Mode 1."

[Bill (S. CA)]

5 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

I use the user profile button a lot. However, to use it I have to basically stop everything, stabilize the entire detector by at least putting the coil on the ground, let go of the hand grip, take off my full finger glove and hopefully hit the button correctly (taking off control box cover might be necessary). Major pain in the butt. 

Precisely, Jeff. 

[Digalicious]

I want all my buttons in reach of my thumb. Having buttons on the side of the housing or out of reach of my thumb, would be a PITA for me.

Especially given that on so many sites, I'm up and down so much, that I carry my trowel and pinpointer in my hand.

 

[CPT_GhostLight]

I'm pretty sure that the designs of new detectors, like most products these days, are heavily influenced by the marketing departments. For new products to have the most mass appeal, you need to dumb them down and make them appear as simple to operate as possible. They're trying to attact new customers and not necessarily more experienced customers.

Looking at your masterfully mocked up photo, I'd go for the one on the right as would probably all Nox users, but for most people new to Minelab or new to detecting in general, the one on the left looks much easier to operate and not as scary to a noob.

Of course if they did put out the 10 button on the face version, I'm sure Minelab would be inundated with complaints of the control face being too cluttered or people complaining that they hit the wrong buttons all the time because they were too close together. It's pretty much a no win situation for manufacturers these days, so I think they just go with the most cost effective versions they can get away with.

 

[Steve Herschbach]

Noobs buy Garrett Ace detectors, not Manticores. And even they put all the buttons on the front - noobs can't find buttons hidden on the side! And as far as cost effective, I'd bet my solution costs less to make and reduces potential warranty claims.

But let's say ten buttons are too many. Put the backlight in the settings instead of a direct access button. Wireless I would put with power button. Short press to turn detector on without wireless. Long press to turn detector on plus activate wireless. Now we have eight buttons.

Sometimes you have an opportunity to directly have input on and influence detector designs by stating clearly what you want instead of second guessing why things are the way they are. Something to think about.

[GB_Amateur]

My experiences with the Equinox 800 are parallel to Jeff McC's.  I use it frequently because it is valuable, but I have to jump through hoops (similar to his processes) to activate it -- effectively slowing down my detecting.  De-activating, fortunately is much easier -- just press the (front panel) mode button.

I was pretty confident the successors(s) to the Equinox 800/600 would improve upon this.  Why?  Because, as you say, it makes sense.  And because some of us complained from Equinox 800/600 day 1.  On top of that, the competition (Nokta Legend and XP Deus) did a better job, I think....

So why no improvement?  Because they didn't think it was important enough, for whatever reason (or, IMO, better stated -- irrationality = the opposite of reason).

I know you say manufacturers listen, but it's clear their ears are tuned to hear some (requests AND requestors) and not others, at least in Minelab's case.  Besides this issue, add the apparent lack of ease of allowing users to wirelessly attach their favorite audio devices (headphones, earbuds, etc.) which they've actually taken away from what the Equionox 800/600 offered!  That survey run here may have influenced them as only about 10% said they used the WM08 module.  So..., if they were looking for a way to cut corners, 90% of respondents gave them a reason.  Is 10% usage enough?  IDK.  But has been learned for aeons, taking something away that has been available isn't good practice.  (And we may still get something better in the future, either from ML or goodness forbid them allowing a 3rd party to provide the solution.  Further I'm fully aware of the current workarounds such as Garrett Z/Lynk T/R which I own.   But those add inconvenience and weight compared to what was previously available.)

But back to the initial topic.  I actually use two alternate settings to check targets when hunting parks&schools in Park 1 on the Eqx 800 -- Field 2 and Gold 1.  I can only put one in the awkwardly located user profile position so I have to rotate through all 8 settings to get to the other and then back to Park 1.  Yet there's still only one user profile slot on the new 900/700 and Manticore, despite my complaining.

Maybe if we were investors in Codan stock they'd pay more attention to us.  It sure looks like their actions are increasingly coming from that (I'll say it -- 'self-centered') source.  Was Minelab more customer oriented before they got bought out and made publicly traded?

 

[Jeff McClendon]

Minelab must have an unlimited supply of those side buttons or some other overwhelming economic reason to keep using them on the new X Terra, Equinox, Manticore and GPX 6000.