Newfiehunter said:
Hi Smudge!
You made some excellent points with your response. The reason I asked this question was because the Cortes with visual identification doesn't seem to get much respect. Most users complain about the depth, lack of identification on coins with the display, and a display screen which according to some, is too small to see. They also say it has been on the market for over 10 years and is obsolete. I have the Cortes and haven't used it yet in the field. Also, have a Vaquero which was the latest in the Tesoro line that was introduced a few years ago. Both detectors give good responses to targets I've tested. However, my main unit is the CZ5 which is my primary detector.
So, since the Cortes seems to be considered obsolete by some, that was why I was wondering if Tesoro would update or develop something new.
You ask some excellent questions. I would only point out that there is a tendency to rely on screens too much. That is to say, when the detector highlights "pulltab" or "dime" we tend to believe that is exactly what is down there. But we often forget (myself included) that the detector is really telling you "I
think there is a pulltab down there." Big difference. And the stories of one guy passing a signal because his TID said "junk" and the guy him with a beep-and-dig pulling up a 24k gold ring, well, that's more common than you might think.
Also, target identification becomes less reliable the deeper the target becomes. It makes the detector guess more, and that is true for most detectors. I certainly hope those units costing $1000 or more can give you more accurate ID's at greater depths, but most detectors have a hard time identifying any target over 6" deep.
Also, some consider a detector obsolete because a replacement hasn't come out in "x" years. So again, ask yourself, where is the new technology that warrants a new machine. Too many times, once the hype and excitement of a new detector subsides, they often find that it doesn't function much better than the earlier version, if at all.
And having said all that, I am starting to hear so distant rumblings and smoke signals from Arizona that indicate you might be getting your wish sometime this year. I can;t wait to see if that's true and if so, what it is!