i had a classic id it worked very well, found a buffalo nickel at nine inches, next to the chain link fence in the back yard. they work great in trashy areas, the classic 5 is the same unit but operates on the new prizm frequency, they respond faster than the prizms do, but then the prizms give a little more info and have variable tone id. one thing the classics can be modified for more depth and added externall ground ballance and threshold adj. by Mr. Bill of surfscanners for $85 dont know if hes doing the new 4s & 5s though. for $550 there are a lot of good detectors out there, then if you bought used, you could get a minelab! you cant go wrong with your choices, just read and ask questions and good luck on your decision