davinci,
Those of us who have been doing this a long time can get a little like those guys who golf everyday, or bowl every day, etc., we often forget what it was like just starting out. Having said this, and trying to stick within your price range, you do have a few choices.
The Sand Shark is about as simple as it gets, lifetime warranty as well, but it is a PI machine and while experience will allow you to skip some junk targets you're still going to have to dig loads of iron, as is true with any PI machine. On super trashy beaches PI machines can render your effort near useless. Even those hunters who prefer PI machines will tell you this same thing.
An AT-Pro falls within your price range, has disc and also the ability to swap coils, but it can be a little chattery at times in the saltwater environment. The nice thing about this machine is that you can use it about anywhere as it also performs good when land hunting.
Both of these machines are popular entry level beach and water machines, the first one has no discrimination capabilities while the later does. And there's always going to be a learning curve regardless what machine you buy, even with the touted turn-on-and-go machines. It just takes time to learn any machine. Once you have put in some time you'll have a better idea of what you really want out of a machine and at what level you wish to pursue the hobby, you can always upgrade then. The main thing is to put in the time to get a good feel for all the variables.
