John-Edmonton
Silver Member
- #1
Thread Owner
Looks like total catch-up if you ask me. How closely they catch up to the current leaders like Minelab and XP and Nokta Makro remains to be seen, but I see nothing in the specs that looks like it will be any sort of upgrade to any of those machines. They're not bringing anything new to the party, aside from that silly 3-tier pay to upgrade features thing.As long as it's been taking, I really hope Garrett will be showcasing/releasing an exceptional detector tomorrow. They desperately need something to stand out & surpass the other fantastic detectors out there which many folks have been flocking to. Myself included.
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Well, I must agree with you especially in regards to that 3 tier pay to play thing. That bothers me the most. Feels like SaaS (Software as a service) in a metal detector. A worrying thing in itself. I'd hate to think we only own the hardware and they come up later with the "Annual License Fee and Support" crap to continue using the detector. They would follow in the footsteps of other greed-mongers like Micro$oft, Ci$co, and other great companies that milk the customer to death beyond purchase. Unless Garrett has absolutely no intention of beginning this process it's a hard NO for me on the Vortex. And also if I pay for a VX9 I don't want them having anymore insight into my machine or some silly requirement to connect it every 30 days or 45 days to the internet to validate a license or some other nonsense.Looks like total catch-up if you ask me. How closely they catch up to the current leaders like Minelab and XP and Nokta Makro remains to be seen, but I see nothing in the specs that looks like it will be any sort of upgrade to any of those machines. They're not bringing anything new to the party, aside from that silly 3-tier pay to upgrade features thing.
One of the sheep huh? I never said Garrett would be the one to abuse the customer. I think their intentions are pure. However, you already mentioned another company who would love to have even more dollars. They would be the first ones to push license fees, support contracts to get bug fixes, updates and such. Anything extra they could grab.I like it.
Surprised there isn't more buzz on here about it. Just think, another mfg besides Minelab has given you a ferrous and non-ferrous target response display and it includes signal strength. Plus you get two levels of ferrous response. Spend some time focused on the display and you see it the closest thing to a minelab xy display they can get without a court date. VX9 for $600 bucks. Even if you start out with a VX5 and buy the software update later to a VX9, its still only $600 bucks total cost.
Subscription talk is just fear mongering in my opinion.
HH
Mike
XP Deus has had a ferrous and non-ferrous target response display since the Deus II like it.
Surprised there isn't more buzz on here about it. Just think, another mfg besides Minelab has given you a ferrous and non-ferrous target response display and it includes signal strength. Plus you get two levels of ferrous response. Spend some time focused on the display and you see it the closest thing to a minelab xy display they can get without a court date. VX9 for $600 bucks. Even if you start out with a VX5 and buy the software update later to a VX9, its still only $600 bucks total cost.
Subscription talk is just fear mongering in my opinion.
HH
Mike
Is that what it is? IDK--I'm asking.What I find strange is that such talk is directed at Garrett because they have decided not to force you to buy a completely new detector if you wanted to upgrade within a model series.
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Garrett is allowing the consumer to buy their new technology at the price point they can afford for that model series and buy an upgrade to a higher feature set at a later date when they are ready for it.
You make some good points there, Mike. I was skeptical of the upgrade scheme, but then I remembered all the newbies coming to the FB detecting group that I frequent... they often want to buy the cheapest "decent" detector they can to see if they like the hobby. The problem with that approach is 1) they may get frustrated with the cheaper detector and 2) they will have problems selling it so their new machine will effectively cost them as much as both the new one and the old one that they will stick in a closet. With Garrett's scheme, that won't happen.Thanks for the "sheep" insult, Rob.
I think the better the competition gets the less that "other" company will try to snooker us with such things. Companies only get away with consumer abuse when they have a corner on a market that allows it. I agree with you that any type of "subscription" fee on a metal detector would be unacceptable. What I find strange is that such talk is directed at Garrett because they have decided not to force you to buy a completely new detector if you wanted to upgrade within a model series. Its an industry first. Garret is good at industry firsts.....Ace......AT......and this.
I remember the Xterra release fiasco. The 30 and 50 models were released and everyone jumped on the 50 models thinking it was the high end model, and then several weeks later, the 70 model was released. A lot of anger from the 50 model buyers that now had to sell their new 50 model detector to buy the new 70 model. Whats going on with the Score model series right now?
Garrett has side stepped that. Garrett is allowing the consumer to buy their new technology at the price point they can afford for that model series and buy an upgrade to a higher feature set at a later date when they are ready for it. Not only that but think of this.....the Garret Vortex resale value will always remain high. A VX5 will always only be an upgrade away from the VX9. So buy and try won't cost you much more than wear and tear.
What I'm waiting for is the operating manual so I can see the feature set better and read/see real world reports. I'm hoping for the best. I don't have a Garrett model in my stable right now and would like to add one.
Iron Buzz, I had forgotten about the Dues' xy graph. Thanks for reminding me.
HH
Mike
Why does it matter if the equipment is installed but not enabled vs not installed in the first place? Cars have forever come with "packages" that you have to buy if you want to upgrade from the basic model. The difference between that and the Tesla plan is that with Tesla, you're not stuck with the basic model if you later want to upgrade.Is that what it is? IDK--I'm asking.
It sounds very much to me like the Teslas that come with all the hardware, but then you have to pay upgrade fees to be able to use the hardware (including some of the battery) that you've already paid for and is parked in your garage.
The only difference between these metal detector models is software? I... don't... know... 🤔
How long is it going to take for some hacker to crack the security and bootleg the upgrades? 😣
Maybe if there were hardware modules or something, but I could see some customer resentment knowing you've already got the hardware in your hands and the mfr. wants you to fork over to be able to use it.