The first was 3 Bounty Hunters BFO units I bought back in the 70s to become a dealer for the National Treasure Hunters League. Sold 1, gave my best friend, Lon Cerame, who got me interested in detecting one and kept one for me. Lon where are you???? (New Jersey was his home of record - we were both military personnel back then).
Next one was the Garrett Master Hunter BFO with all the accessories and used it alot detecting in England (1973-76).
The last new in box detector I got was a Garrett ACE 250 Sherry bought for me June of last year...only used a couple times since...mostly because of either my health or Sherry's health.
In between those new machines, if I can remember them all, was a Garrett American S-2, an American S-3, Master Hunter BFO I bought off eBay and didn't work, GTA-1000 Ultra, GTAx-1250, Whites Coinhunter II, Fisher 1280x, a GTA-550 (bought at a local hock shop and sold on eBay for a $25 profit), Tesoro Stingray, Tesoro Eldorado (a demo from a shop and still remains unused), a Bounty Hunter Professional (BFO unit given to me as a gift), and now I have the Minelab Explorer II. Think that is all of them..maybe I missed one or two.
Funny how things turn out. When I had the GTAx 1250 I loved that machine because of its bells and whistles but it was heavy. Sherry got me the ACE 250 and I loved it being lightweight..and depth was just as good as the GTAx 1250..even with the smaller coil than the GTAx1250 had. But the 1250 again had more bells and whistles and I miss that in the 250. Now I miss the 1250 which I traded off to Ken, my local detecting buddy. With the Minelab, I have more bells and whistles - er flutes hahaha - than the 1250...and heavier too. Would I give up the Explorer II for the 1250...nope - not even if it was new in the box...but if I could not learn the Explorer and decided to sell it then I would be looking at the 1250 with the other detectors. I know Garretts quality and only having one Whites machine I would naturally gravitate back to Garrett...even if there were other brands better at the time.
Anyway that is why I suggested a used machine over buying brand new top of the line detector. Reviews of the Explorer SE compared to the Explorer XS and Explorer II indicate not much difference except the warranty. Do you want to pay more for a warranty that is a personal choice? But side by side the SE really has not that much more to offer for a less expensive XS or II. (And that is why I have the II...it may not be top of the line any more but it has proven itself to be a reliable - though hard to learn - machine.
All those used machines I've had over the years - none had a warranty - other than maybe one offered by Al at ProStock Detectors because he likes making us happy detectorists - and none needed to be sent in for repairs....except that Master Hunter BFO I bought off eBay. I used it as a trade in for the GTA-1000 Ultra.
Nope...not gonna sell the Minelab. I think I am already beginning to get a handle on it...even sometimes it does get me overwhelmed with all the sounds. As long as I am pulling up more than trash I'll keep at it.
DFX-$1276 
GTI-2500-$934.95 
EXPLORER-SE--$1199.95
Steve in so az