I am not referring to errors made in design glitches or poor performance behavior or terrible packaging. Yes, those happen with all detector makers at some point in time, but I am referring to the errors of poor marketing as well as discontinuing decent models.
It sure happened with the Classic series. White's had some great moderate to fast-motion detector models but fell short of the competition in the slow-motion/quick-response and recovery category for a while. That part of the market was really commandeered by some very good Tesoro detectors and all manufacturers needed to try and challenge it. White's did by adopting the design made by Wm. 'Bill' Lahr with the Coinmaster Classic units, and then they made them even better by moving the circuitry design to the 'slim-line' housing like the XLT used, and going from three rotation-required 9V battery power to the 8-AA battery tray.
By '98 we had the slow-motion TID versions in the Classic ID and that was followed by adding the Classic IDX/IDX Pro to their offerings. Very good 'turn-on-and-go' models as they were, and even more versatile with Bill Crabtree's modifications to add an external Threshold and 1-turn Ground Balance control. That was something a couple of engineers at White's thought would make a good factory design advancement of the Classic series, but higher authorities didn't. They also put a lot of effort into promoting their upper-end models and almost completely ignored marketing and promoting the simple-to-use Classic series ... both to consumers as well as their dealers.
Then someone upstairs, or who just shows up now and then, decided to let them go in favor of the poor-performing Prizm series. Anyone with a decent Classic ID or IDX Pro, especially with a 6½" or 8" Concentric coil, knows just how good they can be for a wide range of hunting applications. Fancy? Nope, not at all. 'Functional?' Yes, a very competitive unit in that value range of detectors especially in tough iron littered environments. Some of the best detectors for irony conditions White's has ever offered.
Then we get a model that I really liked, even though it has some design errors that annoy me, and that is the MX5. A 'Simple' to use design with ample features and adjustments to make it very 'Functional' for a wide-range of uses. And for both Traditional Coin & Jewelry Hunting or for serious Relic Hunting in dense trash, where I spend most of my time, the MX5 provides very decent 'Performance' with the right size/type search coil mounted. For me, the MX5 can get the job done with just two search coils: The standard open-frame 9" Concentric for more open, sparse-target sites, and my favorite, the 6½" Concentric [size=small](labeled the 5.3 Eclipse)[/size], for all other hunting needs. A dandy set-up for urban Coin Hunting in modern trash or Relic Hunting around building rubble and a lot of nails and other ferrous junk.
In the field, in side-by-side comparisons using the same search coil and done by myself or when comparing performance with others, the MX5 provided slightly better depth-of-detection than the M6 or MXT Pro/All-Pro models. My current detector battery, as October came to an end, included only one White's detector and that is the MX5 which I feel is the best value that they have been offering for the past four years or so. I have owned several M6's and MXT Pro series models, the VX3 and V3i,ut of them all the MX5 provided me the best all-purpose performance.
Yes, the MX Sport was introduced but those units I tried initially didn't work well and we all know they had several glitches to work out. It seems they got everything taken care of and other than Tom Boykin at White's who uses one with good report, I have a good friend out of the Portland, Oregon area who started with an M6 I sold him, added the V3i [size=small](and seems to have an excellent grasp of how to get the best out of it than anyone I know who I have hunted with)[/size], and then he got a good working MX Sport. He's done very well with it, and when I checked it out briefly on an outing we had this past spring I could see the strengths that I happened to like about ilt. And the negatives, but the basic circuitry design was appealing to me.
But for what I needed at the time, mainly for occasional use and mainly as a 'loaner unit,' the MX5 was just the ticket to add back into my arsenal. It made sense to have an 'MX' series and the MX5 would make a great lower-cost model in the line that did not have inferior performance and what did White's do? They discontinued the MX5 and kept the M6 and MXT Pro in their line-up. Personally I would have dropped the price significantly on the M6 and MXT Pro to clean them out of the inventory and discontinue them since they are over-priced compared with what is available from the competitor's today. Then I would have planned for a more modern, better-performing mid-priced land unit that would be competitive and dropped the MX5 to $499.95 and keep it in the product line.
I know I let mine go when I sold off almost all my other detectors makes and models almost four years ago, but the MX5 was one device White's made that I felt I needed to add back into my Specialty-Use Detector Team, so I did. If anyone has an MX5 but hasn't put in the time and effort to get to know it better, I think they ought to because it is definitely one of the better models they have offered in the past couple of decades. I had to overlook the two main things that annoyed me, the headphone jack location and the lack of a Track-Lock function, but for most folks the MX5 ought to serve them well.
Too bad the MX5 was discontinued but there still are some nice specimens out there to be found that are just slightly used at very reasonable prices. Nab them while you can!
Monte
Naturally a lot will depend upon how often we get out to enjoy this great sport, and it is always a must to consider Location, Location, Location. I still find more clad halves and silver halves in the traditional urban Coin Hunting sites I work, but from time-to-time a nice silver surprise surfaces when Relic Hunting old-use and almost non-discernible places as well.
