Minelab vs Nokta

[Daniel Tn]

I'm not a fan of the machines with sub menu settings and having to hold this button X amount of time, to access the other hidden settings, and all that.  Pinpointers are bad in this regard: with machine off, press and hold the ON button for 5 seconds...then at the tone, press the button once for this, twice for that, or hold the button 3 more seconds to enter the other sub menu.  It may just be that technology has passed me by, but to me, that's complicated.  

I like having features like adjustable tone breaks and bins.  But...the current way the manufacturers have set up to do it via the detector menu and buttons...makes it a pain in the butt on every current machine on the market. Minelab had it going in the correct directoin IMO, with the XChange software program.  Anybody with a computer or tablet could download it and it was super simple to use.  It was easy to set up tone bins and ranges, discrimination patterns, etc, then just upload them to the machine with a USB cable.  I think by trying to make things more simple...they've made them more complicated.  They'd just as well at this point, the bring back the menu system like Whites had on the Spectrums and V3i.  

[George Kinsey]

The Makro Racer 2 checks all my boxes with an easy to use interface and is exeptional in iron infested colonial sites. Many coils, both aftermarket and OEM to choose. Modes all metal, 2 tone, 3 tone, beach and deep. Front and rear backlight. Nice.

[Lead Detector]

On 6/4/2024 at 1:43 AM, phrunt said:

We have to remember there is lucky to be $100 to $200 worth of hardware in detectors we can pay thousands for and

I believe Woody made a video once, where he tore down and priced out the components of a gpx 5000, and ended up at about $250.  That tells a story of greed after so many years of that detector being sold.

[phrunt]

2 hours ago, Lead Detector said:

I believe Woody made a video once, where he tore down and priced out the components of a gpx 5000, and ended up at about $250.  That tells a story of greed after so many years of that detector being sold.

yep, electronic components are super cheap, it's turning them into a product that's expensive.  Although over the years that R&D pays for itself and its all big profits from then on, that would have happened with the earlier GPX series a long long time ago.  $250 sounds about right.

[Past Member]

10 hours ago, Lead Detector said:

I believe Woody made a video once, where he tore down and priced out the components of a gpx 5000, and ended up at about $250.  That tells a story of greed after so many years of that detector being sold.

I wonder of that was individual component price or bulk price.

For example, a common type of micro controller for a metal detector is around a measly $12. It goes to show how little computing power a metal detector actually needs. Anyway, buy 10,000 of those components and the price drops to around $6 to $8 each.

[TedinVT]

13 hours ago, Lead Detector said:

I believe Woody made a video once, where he tore down and priced out the components of a gpx 5000, and ended up at about $250.  That tells a story of greed after so many years of that detector being sold.

Now mentally think of all the things you need to turn $250 in parts into a worthy product. Start with a building then the utilities that the building and employees need, then computers and software which need constant updating, then the employees and their benefits, then parts and spare parts inventory, production costs and add shipping, warranty repair costs, taxes, etc. This list goes on and on. Doesn't leave a lot of room for greed in a competitive market.

[phrunt]

3 hours ago, TedinVT said:

Now mentally think of all the things you need to turn $250 in parts into a worthy product. Start with a building then the utilities that the building and employees need, then computers and software which need constant updating, then the employees and their benefits, then parts and spare parts inventory, production costs and add shipping, warranty repair costs, taxes, etc. This list goes on and on. Doesn't leave a lot of room for greed in a competitive market.

We haven't had a competitive market in the PI/GPZ arena, and they do have a very healthy bottom line as per their investor reports 🙂

[TedinVT]

3 hours ago, phrunt said:

We haven't had a competitive market in the PI/GPZ arena, and they do have a very healthy bottom line as per their investor reports 🙂

No argument with that, especially the PI/GPZ market. Just pointing out looking at parts cost only makes no sense. 

[PhaseTech]

On 6/8/2024 at 12:37 PM, Lead Detector said:

I believe Woody made a video once, where he tore down and priced out the components of a gpx 5000, and ended up at about $250.  That tells a story of greed after so many years of that detector being sold.

Yes, but a bunch of components priced out doesn't find gold. What about the rest of the gear that makes up the whole package? 

Harness, Aluminium upper shaft, fiberglass lower shaft, Battery, Curly Cable, Charger, Headphones, Printed manual, Coil, Carton (printed), Die cut carton inserts, bungy cord, aluminium armrest, neoprene armrest cover, handle, quick track button and loom etc etc. 

Don't forgot, all this doesn't test itself, and it needs someone to sit there and pack it, put it on a pallet and ship it.