Have you ever noticed......

[Ralph Bryant]

Whenever a new machine is offered up on the market, there seems to be a direct correlation between the volly of attacks against the new machine and the "threat" felt by manufacturers or users of other models or brands ? The more a new machine is blasted by other brand loyalists, the more I am inclined to take a closer look at it, because such negative actions automatically make me suspect there is a reason cloaked somewhere in the fog.

I mean, gimme a break! We can all do without the pimping and shilling of every new machine that comes out with the "my daddy can beat up your daddy" type nonsense. If a manufacturer wants to "hype it up" for the sake of marketing, that's their prerogative. What else would you expect to hear from the manufacturer or company yes-men than positive cudos ? After all, that is what "advertising" is all about. But as an "experienced" prospective buyer, all I really want to hear are the real-world experiences and comments of other actual users so I can make my own buying decisions. In that sense, Minelab has the right idea in their latest marketing approach in my opinion.

Whatever the recent problems of others who seem to find it necessary to diss the Xterras, whether out of jealousy, threat, or lack of anything better to do with their time, or their taking exception to the way Minelab handled their promotion, I would much rather hear some straight forward opinions of actual users rather than the usual company line expected of dealers and print advertising campaigns. This is not to say all detector dealers fall into such a category, but you do have to consider the financial stake involved. I would much rather hear the opinions (good AND bad) of knowledgable dealers who "tell it like it is" and actually USE their products than to be fed a sales pitch. Give me the facts, and let me make my own decision to try a new machine or not.

FWIW

Ralph

 

[garybrun]

Good post.

 

[John(Tx)]

n/t

 

[Cody]

I frankly don't have a lot of respect for "experts" that feel it is professional to attack other manufactures and brands. There are responsibilities that go with being the unofficial expert for a particular manufacture or brand and I think most of us expect more mature behavior.

 

[minelab marcus]

Actual user experience and results mean more than all the glitzed up ads in magazines.
HH
MM

 

[Joe of South Jersey]

I see this every time a new detector is released to the market. I prefer not to get into "this detector is better than that one". I prefer to give the facts as I see them good or not.

I could bash different things about every detector on the market, but at the end of the day there is no one prefect detector. I could see were different manufactures could seem threatened by any new released detector. If this business generated millions of dollars in sales you would see Sony, Panasonic, and other major electronics manufacturers making metal detectors.

We have come to expect certain features when looking at price. The Ace 250 really changed the face of detector's in the past year. If you look back just a few years this detector would have started at a price of about $500.00. This is a big change in just a a couple years.

 

[Digger]

I appreciate your comments. HH Randy

 

[Ralph Bryant]

I appreciate all the work you and others have done here on the forum. It's been a welcome change of pace, mixed with some excellent, no nonsense information on the new machines. I wish all new releases had this level of interest and information available for consideration. You guys have done a great job.

Ralph

 

[JBM]

Iam afraid its just in human nature.
All very sad.
Jerry,

 

[wpaxt]

Thank your for speaking for those of us who did our best to give honest, real-world views of the X-Terra's to our fellow detectorists. As I am sure you already know, Minelab did not tell us what to say. They only asked that we tell people about the machines and what we thought of them, good or bad. Period.

It's guys like you (& many other folks who have responded to my posts as well as those of the other testers) who have made the field testing of these new machines not only fun but a privilage.

Bill (S. CA)

 

[bugg]

I find it real interesting that the field testers from other brands come on here and are trying to bring down the x terra s . What does that tell you? In the sports world, every team tries their hardest to beat the number one team. It tends to carry over in the business world as well.
I just ordered an xt 50 tonite.
Gonna go for the gold...and the silver.... and the clad. !

 

[jimp]

n/t

 

[Ralph Bryant]

Seems like the company store yes-men have done nothing but rag on you guys and your reports lately. Now all of a sudden, what do we see ? One company with a 16 page infomercial "field test" something akin to what you read in the national publications, only with alot more fluff and alot less pertinent information on the actual capabilities of the actual machine. Another company with a new product announcement claiming "superior depth" and "unquestioned performance" in a "proven" new machine that hadn't even hit the market yet. "Proven" by whom ? Oh yeah, "red carpet dealers". Who else ?

I've said it here and on many other forums..... I'd rather read the reports of SEVERAL experienced real-world users and get more complete and accurate information on a new machine from several perspectives than to wade through the same-old-same-old shameless "HYPE" or a 16 page field test that never once mentions anything about target depth beyond a couple of pieces of junk being "dug at depth" (whatever that means). Your Xterra-30 "First Impressions" post, along with the short reviews by others here on the forum, provided me with more useful considerations and incentive to actually go out and buy one of these machines than 100 pages of fluff ever would have.

You guys just keep doing what you're doing. There are many of us out here who appreciate it !

Ralph