Hi KCK,
First of all, just don't believe all the hype about the Explorerer or any other detector. All detectors have their pluses and minuses and the Explorer is no exception.
In my opinion the pluses outweigh the minuses.
Yes, it is a little heavier than some, slower to regain the threshold than others, and difficult to learn for some.
Despite that, it has been about the most aclaimed metal detector on the market for the last 5 or 6 years and is still at the top of the game.
Second, don't worry about not knowing what everything does at first. That is where you try a setting and see for yourself how it can help you and if you prefer it or not. I had an XS and went from there to the SE so I never had a II, so I don't know if it explains it in the manual. But, I would do what the name implies and "Explore" what each setting does. Compared to many things, the menu system of the Explorer is quite simple. It is not the mammouth task some make it out to be. I'm not saying you shouldn't take plenty of time to learn it or read the manual a time or two, but take one step at a time and see what each one does.
I remember my first Explorer I did what I just suggested. Having heard all the hype about it being hard to learn I thought I would be in for a long day. However, when I had finished going through all the menu items I remember thinking, "Is that all there is?"
Don't get me wrong, it is a very flexable and powerful machine and the settings are very important to understand. Not only that, the Explorer works best when it is optimized for each hunting location. That might take a few minutes hunting to determine based on how trashy, mineralized, and how much iron is in the ground.
Based on these things though, you may decide it is to your advantage to go to a smaller coil to pick things out of trashy ground (more separation). On ground with few targets or very deep targets then you might go with a larger coil to cover the ground better and get a little more depth. Or you might do what I sometimes do and start with a smaller or stock coil and then go over it again with a large coil to see if I can get anything a little deeper after the other targets have been removed.
You might be well served to go to a good location and mark off a 6' x 6' area and then dig every target you hear. Take careful note of what you thought it would be and what it was. Keep the targets and take them home and listen to the tones using bench test or burying them. Take note of how different they sound or how they lose their sound and depth (distance from the coil) is increased or decreased. See how they sound next to each other and how close they can be and your coil still be able to separate them. Change your settings on the machine to see how they may affect depth and tone. EXPLORE!
Small coils may not be necessary, but they can sure add to your finds and let you hunt ground that you may otherwise have to pass up. Maybe not at every site, but at many of them. You can live without them, but they are definately a bonus to have. The same with a large coil.
A swingy thingy may help you deal with the weight. It has never really been an issue with me until I got a large coil. I can still swing for a few hours with a large coil and no harness. Otherwise I can pretty much swing it all day with no major issues.
There are many guys on here that are more experienced than I am that you can learn from. My advice is to check here often and on the Explorer Classroom Forum, but mainly find a good location (very important - if there is nothing there then you can't find it) and sweep your coil. Experience finding things will take care of the learning curve.
Hope this helps!
HH Alton
