Most posts I read about the Garrett Ace 250 are from newbies (which makes sense because it is an entry level machine). However, I've been around a while recently went with a 250 and wanted to share my thoughts. My BACKGROUND - I've been detecting for about 10 years now. Cut my teeth with an old Garrett GTA 1000 and found a ton of old coins when I lived in New Orleans (best wishes Big Easy). I switched to a Minelab for about a week and hated it (way too much info/noise and heavy as hell (like swinging a sewer lid on the end of a broom handle). After that I went to a Troy Shadow X3 then an X5. Troys are WONDERFUL machines - but I couldn't justify tying up that kind of money for as little as I detect these days. So basically, I know what I'm talking about. I went with the Garrett Ace 250 recently after selling my Troy because: 1) It is light (very important); 2) it has all the features I need for casual hunting; and; 3) the price is right. CONCLUSIONS: The machine is constructed of faily cheap materials (hence the low cost). I had to install a couple of bolts in the shaft to make it more sturdy (then it was fine). It's light, it's nice looking, and it performs as well as my GTA 1000. A solid machine - FOR THE MONEY. I dug a test hole about 4" deep and it correctly IDd every coin I threw in after I plugged it back up. I know this isn't terribly deep, but I can count on one hand the amount of coins I've dug past 10 inches in my life and I find it's not worth the effort to go that deep. The payback isn't worth the effort. I'm not saying the 250 won't go deep, I'm just saying that for casual detecting this thing is WAY MORE than adequate. Anyhow, Garrett already had the technology and I think they just threw a standard motherboard (nearly the same thing as on their high-end machine) into a cheaply constructed detector to offer a decent machine at a low price. Works for me. Downsides? I hate the belltone that you are stuck with. And WHY, OH WHY won't manufacturers make a volume control on their machines so you can use any headphone you want?! Also - they should all go to single 9V batteries. Se la vie. In PARTING: This is a slick looking, good performing machine that will serve the casual (and I don't necessarily mean amateur) hunter well. You really can't beat it for the price.
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