Garrett Ace 150 Metal Detector - Lightweight & Waterproof Metal Detector for Adults & Kids with 5" Coil - Perfect for Beach, Park & Treasure Hunting Adventures

Kids love this thing, compared to the at series I'm fairly impressed myself decent unit for the moneyEasy to use. Great detector for beginners.My 10 year old stepson wanted a metal detector for his birthday. He is a pretty well-behaved and responsible young man and I've always leaned towards avoiding "toy" tools. In my opinion rather than encouraging learning they tend to just cause more frustration. (Anyone ever use a kiddie fishing pole for more than a month??) So I decided that I was going to get him a "real" metal detector. This is also well outside my own knowledge, I've never owned or used one before. My impressions were good right out of the box. I watched the included dvd and found pretty quickly that it's not really that complicated a device* (I'll come back to that, please don't burn me yet!!) Fairly quickly I had a fair grasp of how it works and it wasn't really difficult to explain it to my stepson. My first idea was to take him up into the woods behind my house (roughly a half mile mostly up hill) where I knew there to be an old house foundation from a very long time ago. (There aren't even roads there anymore and haven't been in my lifetime.) I ended up carrying it and the weight really isn't that bad. I remembered not long after arriving at the top of the hill that I had forgotten to bring extra batteries. Didn't end up being an issue, we were there probably an hour and a half and the batteries held up just fine. Our haul ended up being several rusted nails, a massively rusted axe head and an old door hinge. We had fun though so it's all good. It read iron mostly on the nails though it did occasionally misread on the larger items. The axe head and the hinge both read coins I believe. I really didn't expect it to be 100% dead on accurate though so I wasn't disappointed. Going back to me not seeing it as that complicated a device... I am sure that metal detectors in general have a learning curve much like any device of that type and that right now I am very low on that curve. An experienced hunter could probably point out tons of mistakes I made just from this review, but what I meant was that it really didn't take us long at all to be up and running and having fun while learning. That to me is worth the price. If you buy this detector I hope you are as happy with it as my stepson and I and thanks for taking the time to read my review.Garrett has been around for quite a while they make good products,, This is a good beginners detector,, It is a little front heavy with the coil after a while when you swing it,, The target ID is okay up to maybe 4" deep on coins then it starts to get unreliable on deeper targets like most beginners machines, but it will find coins up to 7 in deep,,We received the Garrett Ace 150 detector in perfect shape. We are very pleased with it. I purchased it for my grandkids but upon testing it out myself I find that this detector is a better detector than the $800.00 Radio Shack Detector that I have been using.The Ace 150 is great for the grandkids because it is so easy to operate and use. It comes with an instruction book and also a instruction CD. My grandkids were successfully using it in about five minutes after watching the CD. This detector is so well designed I think that anyone will be able to use it with no problem. Not only is it perfect for someone who is just starting out in metal detecting, because it is so easy to learn to operate it, but It is also good for someone like me who has been metal detecting for years. This detector is highly computerized and very very user friendly. It uses AA batteries and that is also a big plus. It is very light to carry yet very well made. I love it and so do my grandkids.We are very happy with this detector and recommend it to others. Garrett company is a very good company and has a very good reputation among people who metal detect. My first detector was a Garrett and I loved it but it got stolen and then I bought the Radio Shack one thinking a $800.00 Radio Shack detector would have to be a great detector- Wrong! I am going back to Garrett. These new Garrett Ace detectors are really great and at a reasonable price.I plan to sell my overly complicated, user unfriendly, Radio Shack detector and buy another Garrett Ace detector for myself. It is so much better than the expensive Radio Shack detector I have been using.It wasn't for me.Garrett products are great. This is a great entry level detector. My son loves it.i have been using this to identify property markers on my new lot. Although i have not found them yet I have been able to find several cut cables. misplaced tools and trash in the area.I started out using the headphone port to help me isolate the sound. However i did find that the volume of the headphone port to be on the quiet side and there is no way to increase the volume. So I ditched the headphones and use the internal speaker which is a little too loud, but again no volume control.Overall I am happy with the performance of this detector.This is a lightweight, easy to operate simple detector. Comes with an ancient DVD, best thrown in the bin and watch YouTube instead if you need help, though the book is adequate and its easy to pick up. The display is just for setting up the sensitivity and discrimination mode, the detection is indicated with different audio tones. Generally speaking, it will make a sound as you pass over a material - iron is just a beep but rare materials make a gong sound. In reality, you can make it produce any sound you want by the nature of the sweep, so its really down to experimenting and getting acquainted. The sound is far too loud and not adjustable, but I found taping over the speaker holes on the rear of the head muted it reasonably, but if you want to be discreet then headphones would be a must.Now to the warning about purchasing from Amazon - the detector is in a display box with an easy open lid. Mine was sent with just a label stuck on the outside, not packed in a proper box, not even taped shut. Its clear the contents had spilled out perhaps more than once, and it looked pretty second hand on arrival. I would have returned it had I not wanted it for a task (finding a buried heating pipe) immediately. Its impossible to complain, emails are unanswered, callback requests ignored.At the moment I have about 40 hours of metal detection. I have found coins, (the oldest is a George V penny from 1911), an old lighter, etc. The worse aspect of metal detection is related to rubbish - especially cans.with so much rubbish around Is it worth detecting? Yes, because it's fun.You need to have loads of patience; remember: it is the journey, not the destination. Detect without any major expectations, be grateful for the small things. With such a humble attitude eventually you will see that metal detection is really rewarding.Simple to use, accurate and highly recommended. I have returned to detecting after a bit of a brake for 35 years.This unit may be Garrett's entry level detector, but it's a solid reliable bit of kit. There are several copies available, but it's well worth the extra £30ish for the real deal.Well received the item - fast delivery and well packed. Quite easily to assemble with detailed understandable instructions. Good materials and you can pretty much feel it's a quality product. So far so good! When decided to go out with the kids and try to find a treasure I found it very heavy and not that flexible in terms of handle adjustment. You can adjust the length but not that much to make it feel comfortable. My kids were struggling using it as well as me....after spending couple of hours my arm was so tired as it was heavy and uncomfortable for my short arms.Don't get it wrong I still insist its a good product but definitely not for children age 10 less or with people having small arms. If they concentrate improving the length adjustment they it will be a 5 star product, but for now it's no more than 3 for me.Will return as not use to me!Hope this helps to someone!We moved into a 400 year old house with large garden. I had thought to find some old coins, but so far only modern decimal ones and plenty of metal debris in some imported soil. This is easy to use, and lightweight enough for me to manage. Having just broken a leg I was hobbling around using a stick in my right hand and keeping this on for sweeping movements in my left. I can manage about an hour of searching before my bad leg stops me. It will be a great asset in future when my leg is healed. I would recommend for a beginner as it is so easy to get started.