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Kickindirt
Now I can feel your pain Monte if your the kinda detectorist that just wants something functional that works day in and day out. The Basics I like to call them.

Joel, for many decades I have promoted the concept of having a detector that is Simple, Functional and provides Performance. Yes, a detector you can pick up day-in-and-day-out, turn it On and it works. If it has an adjustment feature then it should be 'functional' to the point that it might help, but not to the point that in has a negative impact on performance.

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Kickindirt
Or some like to call them turn on and go lots of different things/ opinions when comes to this area. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. I get it.

The only "Turn-On-and-Go" detector I own is my Tesoro Silver Sabre µMAX. And it is because it relies on a preset Ground Balance as there is no external GB adjustment. I do need to make sure the Threshold is set where I want it, and the Disc. control is set to 'minimum', but it is otherwise a turn-on-and-go unit by design.

All my other models are NOT a specifically-designed 'turn-on-and-go' model, but they are basically that because they all will 'turn-on' in my preferred search mode and with all the basic settings already where I use them, and they either have a workable GB or a preset GB, or one that has retained the GB setting from where I was hunting and turned the unit 'Off'. If I want I can use Ground Grab or manually adjust them.

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Kickindirt
I think Nokta/Makro is doing us a favor by trying to make the best product(Legend) they can. I think its absolutely great! They are trying to make a machine that works and parks and in the iron. From the sounds of it and from experience I think they have. Could some things have been better? Yes i suppose. But i will say for the price/package/build quality that you get, you wont find anything that will beat it. Hands down the best deal money can buy today.

I have always said Nokta / Makro's build quality is some of the best out there. Very solid. And EVERY manufacturer should try to make us the best detector they can. Most of the time they do. I look at my current Detector Outfit and see that everything I have was engineered, designed and built to work and they work well. They did when released and have ever since. The ONLY model I use that had a simple update is the newest, the Apex. But it worked OK and now better, but the 'update' was simple and created an easy 'fix' for one or two things. The good part is that it didn't mess anything up or have a negative effect on any other mode or feature.

Looking back, especially from the late '70s and on to the present, I can't tell you how many detectors had a problem, because actually the manufacturer had a problem. The manufacturers felt they were falling behind the competition so they tried to come up with a new model to compete. To either counter a competitor's unit or simply offer something new and different to the market. I could mention some model names but often you and many others never heard of them. Why? Because they didn't work well and didn't sell well. The word spread, not in popular print like social media brings us today, but by regular mail letters or phone discussions, and even from the many, many stocking detector dealers we used to have who let the consumer know what wasn't right or didn't work, and better still, they told the manufacturers and production was halted to fix the product or it was simply pulled or discontinued.

With some manufacturers the products were so bad that they couldn't market it well and eventually the company died. With others they had other models to try and get by on while they tried to make something new, but when they couldn't, they also went under. Recently we saw this happen with White's. They were also having difficulties for quite a while and not doing well, and then they made a reasonably good new model, but rushed it to market before it was fully tested and fixed and ready-to-go. That was the MX Sport.

Really terrible commercial videos to try and promote it. And it had problems right from the start! But its early entry had a bigger problem and that is social media. When a manufacturer rushes a product to market today, they need to be aware of the damage that can come their way thanks to the world-wide social media that is very quick to find and broadcast any and all quirks a product has .... including those that occur due to some update.

The MX Sport had a leakage issue, some audio Tone smearing, the control/display housing cracked and there was a battery issue. All were fixed but just those few things in social media made a bad name for it and for White's. On a positive note they did do something right and that was take the 'fixed' waterproof model and design it in a land-based package, the MX-7, and move the headphone jack to the rear and offer it at a mid-price retail point.

They used this land-based package and went on to design the 24K for the gold nugget hunters, and it and the MX-7 were good moves, but too late for the already struggling White's that went under. No update or fix issues with the MX-7 or 24K, but they had released other models with too many problems that were not taken care of prior to release.

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Kickindirt
Also the latest update bad some big improvements to stability of IDs, and separation from what I'm seeing. I haven't been able to try the new update yet myself but will soon. Also this machine runs great right out of the box. Turn it on and start hunting. Yes you absolutely can!! Just cause it has many options does mean you need to use them or make changes. Even if you want to be a water hunter and switch to land.

Yes, The Legend can run "right-out-of-the-box" which would almost be a "turn-on-and-go" concept, but ....

Ask OregonGregg how well it ran "right-out-of-the-box".

Ask many of the early buyers of the V1.05 Legend how well they liked it "right-out-of-the-box" and you will find that it is because of their comments, as well as the poor or lack of reports from 'testers' that all of the 'updates' started to come up.

Curious what your report will be on the current 'update' and on those that will be coming.

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Kickindirt
Also Monte pretty harsh words for a guy that dont own one??? Or did you get one?? If so how much time have you spent with it?? Oh that's what I thought. Nevermind then.

Harsh words? No, honest opinion on what I have seen, and I point my finger more at the 'testers' who obviously didn't do a very good job. When the FORS Relic prototype was checked out, before the name change or at the new name change to Relic, almost everything worked, but a couplie of things needed attention. Both Keith Southern and I discussed and agreed on changes we felt necessary and conveyed that to Dilek. Then the engineer, Alper, quickly made two new control housings that they sent to us with the corrections (call them update but different) and we checked it out and agreed everything was fine! The Relic was then introduced and went into production.

There were some issues with the Anfibio 19 prototype that I brought to their attention and sent in the whole control housing for them to check out. I was looking forward to their entry into the SMF market and while waiting I acquired some of their competitor's products to check out. Mainly the Equinox 800 since they hinted but never stated that was what they were trying to counter.

I was ready. I had lined up with a dealer friend who was going to loan me a new EQ-800 and 6" DD coil so I would be able to work it along with the Legend and properly evaluate the new product. As of last October in a letter from Dilek I was going to be getting a 'Test' unit. I was looking forward to it because I have the time. I'm retired and can devote ample time to use a detector, plus other units, to find what I consider to be strong and weak points, aw well as things I might feel are needed.

A Legend Test unit never arrived, so No, I didn't get one and therefore didn't spend time with one to learn it. Obviously a lot of the so-called 'Testers' didn't seem to spend enough time to learn the goods and bads of the detector they were sent because it should have been properly 'tested' and any changes made in features and adjustment functions ahead of time and before it was introduced. Obviously, that didn't happen and what we got appeared to be more of a 'rush-to-market', in my opinion, because it was not properly 'tested' and designed prior to release.

Should a good detector that is designed to compete with a well known and top-selling model like the Equinox 800, with known adjustment functions and performance, be introduced so quickly that it came without some of those adjustment features? Should it have had the glitches it has had? Should it have needed all of the 'updates' already and when done have new issues due to a fresh update? And now be offered with an update, V. 1.09, so folks can use it and report to the manufacturer what issues they have or things they wish to see .... in another update with updates to follow?

Nope!

They build strong units. They have made some very good units and those are the ones I rely on. Do I think The Legend is a good detector? No, not at this time but I hope they get everything worked out. I also hope they get on the testers or use people who want to test and encourage a good product and not just use a unit a bit and say 'OK' when it really isn't.

Monte

"Your EYES ... the only 100% accurate form of Discrimination!"
Stinkwater Wells Trading Post
Metal Detector Evaluations and Product ReviewsI'm now 'back home' in Farr West Utah monte@ahrps.org ... or ... monte@stinkwaterwells.com 503-481-8147Detector Outfit: A selection of my chosen makes and models, with the best coils mounted for the tasks I'll take on.F-19 * F-5 * Racer * Racer 2 * V-540 * Relic * Silver Sabre µMAX * Bandido II µMAX * XLTPinpointers: Garrett AT Pro-Pointers .. Headphones: 'Hornet' .. MS-3 Z-Lynk .. ML-80 *** All working well today to make memories for tomorrow. ***