Seas is only telling you the truth. I have talked to a couple people who bought them and their opinion was the same as, if not lower then Seas. I can not remember reading more then one or two good posts on the Viper, most are very negative. I tested the viper when I was at kellyco looking to buy my first detector, after 10 mins I knew I did not want it.
If and when you want to upgrade, talk to some people on the detector boards before you go to Ebay, there are many great deals here and on some other boards that are reasonable. I bought a Troy Shadow X2, and a Tesoro Conquistador for about $225 each off the boards at different times and they are both good land detectors.
If you wanted to hunt water there are good used water detectors that would have only cost you a little more and would have been a major step up. I have seen Whites Beach Hunter IDs for $300-$400 and it is a good machine on both land and sea.
One of the biggest advantages to a mid level and higher end machine besides the obvious is the resale value of it. You can always upgrade, trade, or sell and get most of your investment back, you want be able to do that with a Viper. I recently sold one of my Excals I bought used for $75 less then I paid for it, and that does not take in to consideration the jewelry it found.
Now with all that said, hunt with your detector and see how you like detecting since you have bought the viper. I wish you all the luck, if you have questions ask, someone will help. If you become discouraged with the hobby, remember it may not mean there is nothing good there to find, it does make a difference with a higher end machine.
