Garrett ACE 200 Metal Detector for Adults and Kids, Made in USA, Waterproof Search Coil

Sometimes you can "feel" the extra care a company puts into its products, and the Ace 250 brings a lot of that feeling on. The fit and finish are great, it is extremely lightweight, assembly is super quick and requires no tools, and even the batteries are pre-installed. These are all signs of a well-thought-out tool, not just a toy or a careless next generation iteration of an existing technology.Pull a few pieces from the box, press two rubber washers in place (friction washers for the coil pivot), screw together one plastic bolt (plastic, since by coil and don't want metal!), and screw on the coil cable connector. Then press PWR and you are ready to go!But better yet, watch the very professional video on how to use the Ace first. It isn't full of amazing surprise finds with cheesy actors, rather, it is very much like a military training video, with a professional voice talent carefully enumerating the features and functions of the Ace while the viewer sees a man demonstrate each step or method at what seems to be a public park. I can't tell you how wonderfully straightforward and "clean" this video is, but I suspect the quality comes from Garret's experience with training videos for commercial/industrial products. And the video is specifically for the Ace 250. Also, watch the pin-pointer video; once you get into the field I think you'll quickly see the usefulness of the handheld pin-pointer, I know I'm planning on getting one.As for features, this machine seems to do everything I imagined doing with it and should run over 20 hours on four AA batteries, which makes more sense to me than two 9V batteries like many detectors use. It also has its own speaker, so you don't have to have headphones...you'll likely want headphones with their own volume control, though, but if the speaker is too loud at a public place (or just annoying the rest of the family) you can cover the speaker holes with some tape to muffle the sound. The machine shows type of metal and depth. It lets you set custom detection profiles and sensitivity. It even keeps its memory and settings when turned off, which is important because you'll want to turn it off each time you stop to dig. A "custom profile" is essentially a filter that instructs the machine about what kinds of metals should trigger a sound alert--the display will always indicate any find.Perhaps the best feature of all is the pinpointing. While it doesn't serve the same way as a handheld pin-pointer would during the actual dig, it is invaluable for locating where to dig. Watch the video for instructions, but note that along with the X technique you can also press the pin-point button and do a fine scanning of the small area with the find to get a mental image of the detection circle around the object--your mind will "see" a disc that is "bright" (loud) at the center and fades off at the edges. You can also use a spiral motion you let "decay" into a simple circle and when you can make a circle with the detector's coil that has a perfectly even pin-pointing tone you know that the object is dead center of this circle. Scanning, especially, can be useful for larger, irregularly shaped objects, because your mind is forming a fuzzy image of the object's shape...just don't dig for a buried cable!As for the function of the machine, I could not have imagined it to be this good. It tells you pretty much exactly what is down there and how for down it is. The video says it can take 100 hours to become proficient at picking up on the sounds and indicators, but the truth is after only about 2 hours you'll already be growing a "third eye" for what lies beneath.For example, you quickly come to recognize that short, nearly "phantom" blips are foil wrappers, that having two finds very near one another is not that uncommon, and that large iron objects (say, an old drain cover) may sound like coin-iron-coin rather than just a lot of iron.One thing that is under-emphasized is that detecting is really about digging, or at least scraping. Doing this in a way that doesn't mess up grass, etc., is mentioning in the video, but if you have to travel to get to where you are detecting, be sure to have along a small planting trowel, some sort of dully pointed metal rod for a probe, a heavy nylon brush, a lighter-weight nylon brush, and a jug of water. You'll quickly see why.

This is a great detector. Works great and exactly as described. Within 2 hours of use I found a coin. Within minutes of first use I dug up part of an old lantern. It does discriminate so I can pass the old beer can tabs. Very satisfied customer. It should be noted that, so far, it hasn't given me winning lottery numbers or winning KY Derby names. It is light weight. It is easy to use. It has a nice display and sound. It has a head phone jack. It's coil is water proof and I've used and found items under water. The head is not water proof and I don't want to test that last part. Excellent detector for beginners. I specifically avoided detectors from Chinese Companies. Garrett has been around a while and is based on Texas with a solid quality record. And the price was comparable to other similar detectors. I'm a very satisfied and happy Garrett customer.

I've used various metal detectors off and on for many years. While I would certainly not classify myself as a hardcore-detecting hobbyist, I do try to do it properly when I participate.One thing I have noticed is that there are a lot of metal-detecting "snobs" out there that love nothing more than telling you that while your detector is cute, it might as well be a giant turd with earphones compared to theirs! It's weird--I like this hobby because it's different / not mainstream, but when that stuff happens, it may as well be golf...Anyway - I'm not into this hobby enough to spend $700 - $1500 on a detector, but I do want to get my moneys worth. There are A LOT of reviews on the web for this particular detector, and I would say that 1 in 10 were negative, with the rest being very positive. For $200, I gave it a shot. My findings:The good:When I received the device, I walked out into my backyard to play around a little, and immediately, with a resounding "DING", found a penny about 4 inches deep. It seems to really like coin shootingThe discrimination and sensitivity settings work well, and the various settings (coins, all metal, jewelry, etc...) work fairly well-- as far a coin shooting, the find usually is exactly what the detector says it is.I've read many reviews slamming the "pinpoint" feature. Honestly, after I READ THE BOOK and played with it for a couple minutes, I found that it worked quite well.It seems to work very well down to about 8". It may work well beyond that... I really haven't had the chance yet to hunt anywhere for really deep items.It's very light, and the display crams a lot of usefull stuff into a small area without being confusing.If you turn it off while you're digging, the batteries last a long, long time.The bad:The shaft is a bit on the flimsy side, although it is pretty easy to stabilize if you desire.It only has a couple tones - a dull beep for trash or unknown items, and a 'DING!' for coins. Honestly though, after I got used to them, they were plenty.It seems to like a slightly slower sweep than most detectors.There is no volume knob. This used to make me mad, but now not so much. Sometimes headphones are just a drag, I wish I could turn it down.In short:The bottom line is this - you really need to read the book that comes with it and spend an hour getting aquainted with the device for it to really work for you. I like it, and for the money wouldn't think twice about buying another.

I lost my wedding ring in my friend's backyard at a hibachi party (don't ask), with this wonderful device me and my 2 year old son were able to find it and had fun doing it. Can't wait to see what other stuff we can find.Product is well made and the instructions are wonderful, takes a little bit of tinkering to dial in the settings depending on what and where you're looking, but like I said we found the wedding ring so huge win so far!