Garrett ACE 200 Metal Detector for Adults and Kids, Made in USA, Waterproof Search Coil

This is a great detector. Works great and exactly as described. Within 2 hours of use I found a coin. Within minutes of first use I dug up part of an old lantern. It does discriminate so I can pass the old beer can tabs. Very satisfied customer. It should be noted that, so far, it hasn't given me winning lottery numbers or winning KY Derby names. It is light weight. It is easy to use. It has a nice display and sound. It has a head phone jack. It's coil is water proof and I've used and found items under water. The head is not water proof and I don't want to test that last part. Excellent detector for beginners. I specifically avoided detectors from Chinese Companies. Garrett has been around a while and is based on Texas with a solid quality record. And the price was comparable to other similar detectors. I'm a very satisfied and happy Garrett customer.

9 year old loves it. Took it camping and 3 grown men, and 2 other kids, followed him around for hours help look for stuff. Found a lot of batteries and shot gun shells and .52! 😂 kiddo is fairly small so the adjustable stuff is great, it’s not too heavy, easy for him to use, beeps are accurate and functions were easy for him to figure out. Perfect gift for the treasure hunter that loves to explore.

Small plastic

I lost my wedding ring in my friend's backyard at a hibachi party (don't ask), with this wonderful device me and my 2 year old son were able to find it and had fun doing it. Can't wait to see what other stuff we can find.Product is well made and the instructions are wonderful, takes a little bit of tinkering to dial in the settings depending on what and where you're looking, but like I said we found the wedding ring so huge win so far!

Sometimes you can "feel" the extra care a company puts into its products, and the Ace 250 brings a lot of that feeling on. The fit and finish are great, it is extremely lightweight, assembly is super quick and requires no tools, and even the batteries are pre-installed. These are all signs of a well-thought-out tool, not just a toy or a careless next generation iteration of an existing technology.Pull a few pieces from the box, press two rubber washers in place (friction washers for the coil pivot), screw together one plastic bolt (plastic, since by coil and don't want metal!), and screw on the coil cable connector. Then press PWR and you are ready to go!But better yet, watch the very professional video on how to use the Ace first. It isn't full of amazing surprise finds with cheesy actors, rather, it is very much like a military training video, with a professional voice talent carefully enumerating the features and functions of the Ace while the viewer sees a man demonstrate each step or method at what seems to be a public park. I can't tell you how wonderfully straightforward and "clean" this video is, but I suspect the quality comes from Garret's experience with training videos for commercial/industrial products. And the video is specifically for the Ace 250. Also, watch the pin-pointer video; once you get into the field I think you'll quickly see the usefulness of the handheld pin-pointer, I know I'm planning on getting one.As for features, this machine seems to do everything I imagined doing with it and should run over 20 hours on four AA batteries, which makes more sense to me than two 9V batteries like many detectors use. It also has its own speaker, so you don't have to have headphones...you'll likely want headphones with their own volume control, though, but if the speaker is too loud at a public place (or just annoying the rest of the family) you can cover the speaker holes with some tape to muffle the sound. The machine shows type of metal and depth. It lets you set custom detection profiles and sensitivity. It even keeps its memory and settings when turned off, which is important because you'll want to turn it off each time you stop to dig. A "custom profile" is essentially a filter that instructs the machine about what kinds of metals should trigger a sound alert--the display will always indicate any find.Perhaps the best feature of all is the pinpointing. While it doesn't serve the same way as a handheld pin-pointer would during the actual dig, it is invaluable for locating where to dig. Watch the video for instructions, but note that along with the X technique you can also press the pin-point button and do a fine scanning of the small area with the find to get a mental image of the detection circle around the object--your mind will "see" a disc that is "bright" (loud) at the center and fades off at the edges. You can also use a spiral motion you let "decay" into a simple circle and when you can make a circle with the detector's coil that has a perfectly even pin-pointing tone you know that the object is dead center of this circle. Scanning, especially, can be useful for larger, irregularly shaped objects, because your mind is forming a fuzzy image of the object's shape...just don't dig for a buried cable!As for the function of the machine, I could not have imagined it to be this good. It tells you pretty much exactly what is down there and how for down it is. The video says it can take 100 hours to become proficient at picking up on the sounds and indicators, but the truth is after only about 2 hours you'll already be growing a "third eye" for what lies beneath.For example, you quickly come to recognize that short, nearly "phantom" blips are foil wrappers, that having two finds very near one another is not that uncommon, and that large iron objects (say, an old drain cover) may sound like coin-iron-coin rather than just a lot of iron.One thing that is under-emphasized is that detecting is really about digging, or at least scraping. Doing this in a way that doesn't mess up grass, etc., is mentioning in the video, but if you have to travel to get to where you are detecting, be sure to have along a small planting trowel, some sort of dully pointed metal rod for a probe, a heavy nylon brush, a lighter-weight nylon brush, and a jug of water. You'll quickly see why.

Being new to the hobby of metal detecting, I was expecting a steep learning curve with the detector. By the time the ACE 250 arrived, I had watched over 2 hours of on-line video and read one book on the subject. Here is what I found out:1. Setup is super easy. Only small issue is fitting the rubber seals that act as a friction clutch into the races on either side of the coil. It is a very tight fit and the seals may rip a small bit. Order several to keep as spares...only cost pennies.2. Detector is very light. Almost comically light. Both me and my wife are able to use it for hours without arm strain or fatigue.3. Using this detector is extremely intuitive. Garrett has definitely invested time in engineering and provided an easy to use button layout and an easy to understand display.4. Comfortable arm rest.5. Very sensitive detector. Stock coil is sweet. Detects easily to 6~8 inches, deeper in optimal soil conditions.Within minutes of use in my backyard, I uncovered 5 rusty nails. Each target that I located was easily uncovered and target depth was close to where the detector indicated.With these things being said, it will be important to understand what your machine is telling you. In clay soil, I found that I need to turn sensitivity down to 50% or I get false signals. This is not a bad thing, just means that the device is sensitive to minerals in the soil.I have found that in loose soil and sand, this machine will find large targets as deep as 12" with the stock coil. I have found several pennies, can tabs, and foil easily in dense clay soil at 8". Color me impressed.There are a few things that I wish could be better, but, these are very small things (maybe nit picking), and some are most likely universal to all metal detectors to some degree.1. Better iron discrimination. In clay soil, this machine will ping at very small mineral deposits. Even with iron notched out, you will need to lower sensitivity to get past iron signals.2. If you are taller than 6'2" you will need a longer shaft or you will be hunched over.That's it for the cons. Overall an excellent first detector or back up. Light and fun to use. Excellent battery life (7 hours of use so far and still have 75% of battery life remaining). As with any detector, you need to understand its limits and understand the meaning of the data that it provides.In closing, just a few things. This detector will open a window on a hobby that is fun for the whole family. Once I have mastered this device, my next detector will definitely be purchased from Garrett.Lastly, don't expect to find valuable coins and relics the first time you use the detector. Keep your expectations low for what you will find and you will never be disappointed...enjoy the hunt. With time invested in researching, you will be rewarded.