When I got my Tesoro Delon and took it out of the box I was embarrassed to show it to my friend with and XLT. The machine has really won me over.
The same can be said for the BH line of machines and here is just ONE reason I think this is. The BH line is mostly carried in Wal-Marts, Radio Shack and similar places. For the MOST part people who shop in these places and buy a detector are not SERIOUS about detecting. So they don't take time to learn how to use the machine, how to dig the targets etc. So they give up on them and say things like, "That machine is junk" I bought my daughter a Discovery 1100 and she finds coins every time she turns it on. Coins in areas where my Deleon won't work due to electrical interference and where the XLT and Deleon miss them sometimes. The machine is important but the operator is equally or more important. I think people bad mouth the BH line for the same reason some people on this forum bad mouth Minelabs and Whites, people are brand loyal.
As far as I am concerne, having used three Bounty Hunter machines they work and do what they are made to do. They are not DFX level or SE but they do work and they are often overlooked by people who aren't sure they want to do this hobby or not. Personally I think Garrett should pay a lot of people on this forum for advertising for them because whenever someone asks what the "best" starting machine is 95% of the time you see the same thing, Garett Ace 250.