I like what John has said, and I like the input from californiagold as well: both sets of input are invaluable. However, that doesn't help you make up your mind. Personally, I love the GB Pro for its flat out ease of use, and for its lightness in operation that lets me swing it all day, no problem. It's a proven gold finder with proven features that work. I feel competent to comment on it as a machine that will truly find the gold as I've recovered multiple ounces with mine.
I can't comment on the Nokta or Fors machines, so I will not. Nevertheless, what I like about their companies (corporate twins?) from listening to users in the field is that they do listen to the prospectors that are actually on the ground working, and they integrate suggestions from working nugget shooters into their designs which is fantastic! (And, long, long overdue in the detector industry.) Other detector companies had better learn from this or risk going the way of the dinosaur, much as American car manufacturers quit listening to consumers/ignored their consumers and lost a huge market share to the Japanese (and nearly went the way of the dinosaur), and now are losing sales to the Koreans as well, but they've changed their game because they started to listen. So, lesson learned by the car companies, people want quality, and they want it in a package they like.
(I keep waiting for someone to take on Minelab's PI market share by listening to nugget hunters to reduce the weight of the machines a lot, to put in a decent Iron I.D. or discrimination, to make their PI machines available at fairer prices [I notice they've dropped the price of the GPZ, but not sure exactly why], etc.)
In reference to which detector is better, which cell phone is better right now? Which laptop or tablet? Which car or truck? All of the manufacturers are cranking out quality devices or products, so that makes the choice a tough one, rather than easy, and when it comes to detectors, the good detectors are very close in quality right now.
Californiagold's input on the isat feature sounds fascinating, so I may just have to try one out to see how much difference it makes in my area. I mean, why not? If something is genuinely better, it makes sense. I'm always trying for an edge, but I detect a lot when the season is on: I'm out there actively chasing the gold whereas a lot of weekend warriors only play at it. That's why I tried out the Gold Bug Pro after all. Having said that, with the launch of any new machine, there will be teething problems, and I've been reading about those teething problems affecting the new machines on other forums as well, but that's to be expected. What really counts is how the company addresses those problems, and caligold seems very impressed with the resolution of his issues so far by the company.
So, what to do. There's not a huge price difference in a variety of machines that are very close in features and capabilities right now, and as John stated, there are a lot of very good machines out there, but the critical aspect that he just can't overemphasize is that it boils down to what the person with the machine does: "The man behind the machine" is critical as John says so well. There are lots of detectors resigned to a life of darkness and non-production that waste their days in storage, detectors that would indeed find gold if the operator developed the necessary skills and tenacity to refine the art of nugget hunting.
All the best,
Lanny
