What should I have bought?

[crapshooter]

My grandsons got a cheap toy metal detector for Christmas so I decided to buy an inexpensive one off of ebay to go detecting with them.
I bought a Pioneer 202 because I read some good reviews about it. But now that I have it I'm curious what you recommend to begin with and what should I upgrade to? So far we haven't been out at all because of the winter storms we're having.

 

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[DCMatt]

See how much you use it when the weather breaks. If you and the boys are having fun detecting, give them the Pioneer and get yourself a new machine.

I bought my dad a Garrett Ace 250 for Christmas. Easy to use, not a lot of $$$, and gets good results for coin shooting. He loves it.

Have fun,

DCMatt

 

[crapshooter]

I've saw the Ace 250 mentioned in a lot of post here so I assume it must be a good one. I'm totally new at this, I'd bought a metal detector maybe 25 years ago but never learned to use it and ended up selling it to someone.

 

[ran-man]

I second the ace 250

 

[hollowpointred]

ace 250

 

[Mona Lisa]

Garrett Ace 250 8)

 

[Night Stalker]

Sounds like you're having doubts about your new Pioneer detector...it's a decent detector and will find many items - I would not worry about upgrading at this point, use the winter months to get some good research done and take that Pioneer out for it's virgin spin in style!

Research is the key to great finds - even your grandsons cheap detector will make some decent finds if in the right spot.

Happy Hunting and Good Luck!!

Night Stalker

 

[red]

I have a BH 202 :P and would trade it for an Ace 250 in a heart beat shoot I'll even pay for the shiping both ways.
hh
red

 

[Sandman]

Many have good results with the Ace 250 as a starter machine. There are others like the Whites Prizm III and Minelabs X-Terra 30 & 50. Tesoro also has a good one with it's Compadre/Silver UMax.

Good Luck this spring,
Sandman

 

[jeff from east pa]

I don't know how old your grandson is but if he's as computer minded as alot of kids are today he could handle about any machine out there. and if money is no problem go DFX if money is an issue go ace 250 the only issue if he's computer smart would be weight. and these machines are very light. I use a whites 5900di pro sl to heavy for him I believe.

 

[tpmrcp]

Ace 250 has treated me right

 

[Mirage]

Sounds like you're having doubts about your new Pioneer detector...it's a decent detector and will find many items - I would not worry about upgrading at this point, use the winter months to get some good research done and take that Pioneer out for it's virgin spin in style!

Research is the key to great finds - even your grandsons cheap detector will make some decent finds if in the right spot.

Happy Hunting and Good Luck!!

Night Stalker

Ditto. Location, Location, Location.

Of coarse you will enjoy yourself more with a better machine. My brother in law has been talking about getting his son a detector. I recommended the Ace 250. He bought the cheapest Bounty Hunter for 50 dollars. He was using it on Christmas. He found some stuff with it and had some fun & frustration(I was there and trying to help). I tried it. You get what you pay for. It would be a crying shame if he gives up on the hobby because of the frustration with a cheap detector. Hopefully he just "matures" and upgrades.