wildherre gave an excellent response with info many don't usually think of.
Good deals are there to be had on any and all explorers right now.
I have to agree with his opinion on the stock SE slimline coil because I have had and used 4 different ones with all varying serial production #'s...and I did not keep any of the 4 very long.
There were possibly some "not so good ones out there. as was confirmed to me by minelab a few years ago. They told me some of them might possibly be wound differently than others which caused some instability.
They were very kind about it and replaced the one on my new SE after a few months of frustrating hunts with it.
The new one was much better...but still did not seem very stable...at least not as it should be.
At that time many SE users discovered that the stock EX2 1050 coil really improved the performance on the SE...so there was a rush to buy 1050 coils.
To this day I have had 4 stock SE slimline coils and sold them all. I have also purchased 2 stock EX2 1050 coils...and still have them both.
In fact when the 1050 coils were selling for $150 is when i bought one of them...and I do not regret it even though you can readily find them for $65 to $75 now.
Anyway...whichever explorer you buy...HAVE FUN...unless you are going to hunt in IL. If that's the case...please buy something else