None of those issues had anything to do with performance. OregonGregg as on his ay her since it arrived while I was on the phone with him so I only had time to do some quick side-by-side comparisons on my deck with a good assortment of other detectors and coils. The biggest piece of 'Bad News'' regarding the Apex is that they do not have a good smaller coil for it. It's needed for some really densely littered sites, especially with ferrous debris in the mix.
I've only played around with it a little until I head afield tomorrow, but I know I have more positives to state than I do negatives, and it leaves me wondering if you have some negative issues with your unit, or if you are just yanking somebody's chain. So, please, share with m what you consider to be 'bad news.'
I know I didn't / don't expect it to be a depth demon because it sports a mid-big coil. I know that it doesn't have some adjustment functions like some might enjoy on other models, such as Recovery Speed, Iron Bias, etc. But I do know that for the $$$, Garrett has brought us an excellent general-purpose detector that has shown some favorable performance against two other SMF's so far and has, quite honestly, left me more impressed than I imagined I'd be.
I had planned to check it out in an evaluation over two or three days, pampering it like I always do, and then list it For Sale or For Trade. Instead, this one has already found a place in my Detector Outfit based on the useful functions / settings, the very comfortable weight and balance for my achy, tired body, and especially by it's performance in a few of the test scenarios I use. Right now, I REALLY want them to bring out a smaller-size coil of 4½" to 6" diameter in a round shape. I believe it will move the Apex into a better performing package to handle some of the really ugly ferrous-choked sites I enjoy hunting.
Monte
PS: I DO have one bit of 'bad news' but it is directed to a marketing mistake the folks at Garrett made. They picked a very good name, Apex, for this new model, but they errant;ly associated it with the Ace series. This detector is NOT an Ace series model in function or performance. It's very different and should have simply been an initial model for an Apex series of its own.
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Metal Detector Evaluations and Product Reviews monte@ahrps.org ... or ... monte@stinkwaterwells.com 503-481-8147Detector Outfit: A selection of my favorite makes and models, with the best coils mounted, for the tasks I'll take on.Pinpointers: Pulse-Dive & ProPointer AT .. Headphones: 'Hornet' & 'Wasp' .. MS-3 Z-Lynk .. ML-80 .. N/M Green edition*** All working well today to make memories for tomorrow. ***