The Ace 250 is definitely a good machine. Just look at some of the posts, and finds, that some folks using the 250 have. Now, with that said, and for just about the same money, I would also suggest you seriously consider the Fisher F2. You have a 5 year warranty, cam-lock, user-selectable tones, and you can buy it as a 2 coil package, or with the 8" concentric or just the 11" DD. So depending on where you intend to primarily hunt, you can buy the machine with the coil of your choice. It is a very capable machine, and there is much written about it on all the forums.