There is more in what you havent told us than in what you have. But as always, Sandman hit some good points. Those ARE older machines. But, your question was:
"Would these be good choices for beach hunting?"
I'd have to say no. Especially not if something else can be had. Sure, theyll work and if you can get an exceptional deal then your decision could be made then and there. It sort of depends on how much money were talking about here. Beach hunting takes some specialized gear and were not just talking detectors. Things like sifters and recovery scoops, for example, are different than land retrieval tools - and cost more.
But, not the least of the problems you face with those detectors is weight and suitability. Neither of them are lightweights or "ergo-friendly," and beach hunting can be fatiguing. The combination of hot sun, wind and dragging sand all exert their influence on your body if you are unaccustomed to them. Add to this the extra exertion of a heavy, ill balanced detector and you should moderate your exposure in the beginning.
Another issue is the reason everyone goes to the beach - the water. Most of us say we wont take our non-waterproof detectors near the water; until we see a nice recovery on one of the water hunting forums... or someone comes by on the beach with a good item they found down at the water line! Soon we have meandered down there, complacent, and convincing ourselves we'll be careful. However, swirling cuts, small rips, rocks and submerged dangers, etc. can be treacherous footing. One slip and "DUNK-O!" your detector is under. Too, I dont think the detectors you mentioned have non-bouyant coils. This means they will try to float when in the water and make it hard to detect at all!
If you are spending more than $200 on those units, then I suggest you leave them where they are and buy a new ACE 250. Lighter and easy on batteries, you can hunt a long time with it still minimize fatigue. At least as effective as the ones you mentioned, an ACE will do nicely in all but the wettest of salt sands. Many people are "hoovering" the beach sands with those little ACES, leaving bigger, heavier units at home. Get the larger coil and do even better. At the fresh water beach all these attributes remain, plus the coil is NOT bouyant. Some folks even go so far as to mount the ACE in a waterproof housing!
If it were me, I'd plan on getting a dedicated water unit as soon as I could. The Tesoro Tiger Shark, or Fisher Aquanaut are both good freshies as are the Minelabs Sandman mentioned At the marine shore, a PI is the choice for depth, but it has no DISC. The Minelabs again seem to be the better compromise there, too.
