Worth the Money or Not

Since the 7000 came out I've read nearly everything I can about it. All the posts, reports and watched all the available yourtube clips.
So far all I've seen is a machine that does have problems or what I would call a "Hit and Miss" affair.
Some say it's a user/learning problem but it does appear that no 2 machines are the same which is to be expected.
So where do you draw the line ? Do you carry on regardless or say "maybe I should have waited a bit longer for the bugs to be ironed out".
I don't want to hear any BS stories and maybe a poll can be set up to see who is actually "Happy" with the machine and outlaying $10.7K
I don't think I'm asking too much. Even after all this time, I'm still not sure whether to buy or not.
will it be a 5000 with the new CT coil or the 7000 ? I'm buggered if I know.
Maybe I'll wait until the updated version of the 7000 comes out.

Cheers and this is just how I feel about it all.

For me is worth it every single cent, has been released a little more than two months, there is a lot of people very happy out there that keep quite, but the only few dissatisfied make the news.

You need to be carful who you listern to as all operator's are not created equal!

Doofus wrote:Some say it's a user/learning problem but it does appear that no 2 machines are the same which is to be expected.

Hmmm, you say "no 2 machines are the same", it may be that no 2 operators' are the same, why haven't you hired or borrowed one and given it a go for yourself by now and then you won't need to rely on other peoples say so.

You want a "Poll" setup, for what, if there isn't enough info out there for you then borrow or hire one, much better than a poll I reckon.

Or just wait for the 7000 "V2" to come out, but then it will still be the same all over again, is it or isn't it better.

cheers dave

The 7000 like all its predecessors will not and can not manufacture gold, those who have purchased one and have the wherewithal to properly pursue the gold along with access to the right ground will no doubt do well, to what degree will be an individual thing, lets not forget Location! Location! Location! is everything, if its not there and your not there looking for it then no number or type of machines regardless of pedigree will be of any benefit, on the other hand those who purchase the 7000 or any machine for that matter with stars and nuggets in their eyes and little else will undoubtedly be disappointed, I will wait with interest as the truth, whatever that may be ... becomes evident with more time in the field.

Wayne.

I sat on the fence undecided for weeks as I was very happy with my 5000 , I went out a few times with a mate and tried his 7000 and I was very happy with its performanece, the main thing that was holding me back was the price, well I sold my 5000 and made my way to Maryborough on sunday and bit the bullit and brought one.
on my way home I stopped in Bendigo at a small patch that I flogged out with my 5000 and couldn't get anymore targets, and within 10 minutes i had a 0.4 g nugget in my hand, it was picked up at around 6 inches deep. Then on Monday I took it out for a proper run in a new area and within 2 hours I had 2 nuggets , 1.5 g and a 0.5 g, I am very impressed with it at this stage. For this detector to run well it has to be ground balanced properly, and try not to push it to hard with the sensitivity at first.
Regards
Chris

Ahhhh Doofus and here I thought you fell off the fence.
Guess I was wrong and your still sitting on it.

No one can answer your question, it's a heap of sh!t! Hang on a tick, it's not! It goes bloody deep!
Oh it finds plenty of fly sh!t! now this is a beauty of a specie!!
Now back to it being a expensive piece of Sh!t!!!

I don't know, I have heard a lot of mixed respones.
Good.. Bad.. Sad.. Happy..frustrating.. Anger... Some are even regretful for selling their 7000 withinn the first week of owning one. And have gone and brought another one..
The only way you will know for yourself is borrow one, or hire one.
Surely you must know of someone that has one
Maybe just buy the new coiltek elite coil. I hear it's supposed to be good.
A much cheaper option.

I know what my thoughts are when I want something but can not make up my mind.
I am not really meant to have it.

I really wanted the SDC2300, heard good and bad reports on it when it first came out.
Now it's a very much sort after detector.
I now own one.. took over 12 months of it's release, And love it.. I didn't buy brand new, but second hand, very happy with it.

So if your not 100% sure.... Keep sitting on that fence, because it's an awful lot of money to part with.
Only time will tell if this detector is what you may want.. The W.A season is starting and maybe in the next six months some more reports may come out, that's if anyone is willing to share with us all.

Hi Jen,
Stuffed if I know. I've still got one leg either side of the fence and it's uncomfortable
Just as well it's not a barbed wire fence
I'll make a decision soon. I just hope it's the right one.

Cheers

Don`t know whether this will help, I made a decision many years back, very simple and works for me. If my current detector has paid for itself with finds and I want a new toy then I`ll purchase the update. Never has this let me down. What other toy can be paid for by its use?

Good philosophy norvic, but one thing needs to be kept in perspective when calculating the break even point. Only gold recovered that is fully attributable to the new machine should be included. I didn't get the 5000, staying with the 4500 instead, I didn't believe that the extra amount the 5000 would find over the 4500 warranted the extra cost of the upgrade, and I still believe I made the correct decision for my circumstances.

The 7000 seems to be different in that many of the finds I am making are definitely way out of the GPX range. For instance I noticed another aspect I don't think has been mentioned much. JP says on another post that the magnetic field of the Super D coil is significantly different to all other coils. It had been stated months ago that the Zed coil would not be as hot around the perimeter as a mono, but I have had a couple of instances where I have found nuggets under rocks that could be detected from the side of the rock but not from above. It appears that the lines of force spread out horizontally from the coil quite a lot, and appear to have much better side detection than one expects from a mono. This is a theory at this stage but I believe it has some merit, as the gold was found in places where it should've been gone years ago. I will be attempting to take advantage of this possible Zed trait.

Some very good points made by posters on this thread, there's a lot of wisdom on this forum.

Is it worth the money?
How much is money worth to you?
I love detecting native gold, the money is not the object, so I can't actually say if it's worth it or not.

Cheers

Hi doofus , well I flashed the cash and got one 3 weeks ago ... After two days it didn't Performe like I expected picking nothing not even bullets... ok scratched my head thinking thinking my setting ect ......anyway worked out it was a faulty 7000 so things do go wrong ,yes I was pi$$$ed off and some . Back to minelab the next day it goes . Got a new one last week crossed my fingers off to the goldfields WOW 10mins found a 0.7 @10" well not bad and nothing but bullets ect but happy the zed is working and then found another 4 nuggets that day the biggest 8 gram at 18" was over the moon and ended up with 20.5 grams for the weekend so if you get a good one watch out get ready to dig some deep holes and have fun finding the gold with the ZED.

[quote="norvic"]Don`t know whether this will help, I made a decision many years back, very simple and works for me. If my current detector has paid for itself with finds and I want a new toy then I`ll purchase the update. Never has this let me down. What other toy can be paid for by its use?[/quote]
If to buy the new detector I had to wait until was paid with gold finds, I will be still swinging the 2200D that I bought in 1999, I change the detector when the new model come out, because I like to have the best, gold or not gold, after all for me is a hobby, like if I was still riding my first bike because hasn't paid for her self.
A hobby is an optional, if you have to do it do it at best, it is not compulsory and nobody force us to do it.
Cheers

My GPZ has already paid for itself. After finding a 0.3g nugget at 8" on my second outing i was sold. It really is an awesome piece of machinery. It can not manufacture gold, put it in the ground then find it for you. But some of this stuff this machine finds really does amaze me. 0.3g at 8"!! Just think how small that is, and what technology a detector must have to find it. I think its remarkable.

You just gotta know how to use it. (not saying i do) You really don't need to push the machine with high settings. I picked up a 12g nugget at 15" using sensitivity 4.

If you think its tracking out nuggets, just tun Auto Tracking off and GB when required. Works for me.

goldquest wrote:

norvic wrote:Don`t know whether this will help, I made a decision many years back, very simple and works for me. If my current detector has paid for itself with finds and I want a new toy then I`ll purchase the update. Never has this let me down. What other toy can be paid for by its use?

If to buy the new detector I had to wait until was paid with gold finds, I will be still swinging the 2200D that I bought in 1999, I change the detector when the new model come out, because I like to have the best, gold or not gold, after all for me is a hobby, like if I was still riding my first bike because hasn't paid for her self.
A hobby is an optional, if you have to do it do it at best, it is not compulsory and nobody force us to do it.
Cheers

Tis my treasurer that forces me. no I`m a pretty serious hobbyist, got into gold detecting late 70`s, and am very fortunate to almost live on a goldfield, I know it fairly well. Thus I can have the luxury of such a rule. Horses for courses sort of thing.

Crikey, they needed a pass to enter their annointed exclusive area for their secret squirrel talks without interference or challenge.......so likewise why don't they need a pass to allow them to foist themselves back into the commoner areas here?.....surely they would want to slap themselves on their backs with their peer group.....why come out here and sprout ad nauseum, how much they are finding in dollar terms.....don't remember this being a priority for 5000 owners in days gone by...they were happy to just share/show gold finds without trumping all discussions with dollar figures...give us a break......but then again 5000 owners didn't have to pathetically keep re-inforcing/justify their purchase/investment decision.... firstly to themselves and also others.......please go back inside.....your peer group awaits....Hoo Roo

larry303 wrote:Crikey, they needed a pass to enter their annointed exclusive area for their secret squirrel talks without interference or challenge.......so likewise why don't they need a pass to allow them to foist themselves back into the commoner areas here?.....surely they would want to slap themselves on their backs with their peer group.....why come out here and sprout ad nauseum, how much they are finding in dollar terms.....don't remember this being a priority for 5000 owners in days gone by...they were happy to just share/show gold finds without trumping all discussions with dollar figures...give us a break......but then again 5000 owners didn't have to pathetically keep re-inforcing/justify their purchase/investment decision.... firstly to themselves and also others.......please go back inside.....your peer group awaits....Hoo Roo

Give it a break Larry, I doubt that you'd even be happy if it came with an offsider to do the digging.

cheers dave

Larry the dude asked if it was worth the dosh, he doesn't have one so can't join the club to ask, so we had to answer him here under the open 7000 section, and it does relate to money, a hell of a lot of it for a blue collar at least.

By the way I've not joined the club, they probably wouldn't let me enter anyway, still most of the moaners who were causing the strife have crawled elsewhere.

norvic I realise I left out an important factor; resale value. Before we calculate the real break even point, we need to subtract the resale value from the initial cost and then add all finds solely attributable to that one machine. It's quite hard to do that at times, as I'm sure you're aware, "why is this seeming "cherry"of a nugget still here? Was it missed by all previous, or is there something unusual about it or its surroundings that leave it cloaked to everything but the 7k?"

At the moment selling your 7k for say $9,000 you'd only need some 40 grams or so to break even.
But if Minelab were to soon release a firmware update with a new timing that increases the pulses from five and a half micro seconds to seven and a half micro seconds, and masses of chunky nuggets suddenly start appearing all over the place, then your resale value will suddenly spike, but who would sell their detector in that situation? They'd have to be as crazy as me.
cheers

Heh, Alchemist, Your crazy? We are all crazy running around in the wilds listening to the sound of a "wounded detector" rather than good music. Touched by the sun and total servant to the Goddess of Gold. But we enjoy it yes/no.

My decision is getting closer. I've been tossing a coin all weekend to get best of 3 but it's a two headed coin and I keep calling tails

Hi doofus, you can't  toss a coin on fun, there is nothing better than been in the bush with a perfect machine that can find gold, if you are in the right place of course, so it is up to you, you want to enjoy your self now or you want to wait and listen other people opinions?
Cheers

Bets are on Doofuss, will get a GPZ before moths end. And why not????????

From comments made by 7000 users there are better ones & lesser ones .
About time a heap of users got to gather & tested their machines to see if this is correct , how can you tell if you have bought a ripper 7000 or Not    

Jack  ??

Jack outwest wrote:From comments made by 7000 users there are better ones & lesser ones .
About time a heap of users got to gather & tested their machines to see if this is correct , how can you tell if you have bought a ripper 7000 or Not    

Jack  ??

There are allegedly    secret societies where they discuss in great detail nothing but the workings and successes of the zedsled 7000, "where are they" I hear you say....its secret   .

Wayne.

Doofus wrote:My decision is getting closer.  I've been tossing a coin all weekend to get best of 3 but it's a two headed coin and I keep calling tails  

Hi Doofus
Sounds like the heads are winning

Can I ask what detector you are using now??

Cheaper option is to buy the new coiltek elite coil.
I have heard some really good reports about it. Seen it too

Aaaah Doofus might i suggest you buy a new Rake
Dont want that "Muck" building up do we

Pete

Still have not heard of any earth shattering finds with the Zed. I am sure that Minelab would like to know about them?
Maybe it is testimony to the effectivness of previous ML PIs

Hi Adrian,
            I can't find anything bigger than 3 gram pieces on my patches covered by my GPX with 14x9, 17x11 and 18" coils. It has done an excellent job.
But when you consider that the Z14 coils combined receive area is roughly the area of an 11" mono it has amazing penetration, and sensitivity but mainly for the smaller stuff left on my patches.
I'm finding nuggets up to 3 grams the GPX has missed. They were too deep and relatively small for the sensitivity band of these coils and machine.

When the Zed is finally coupled to a much larger coil then I expect to see bigger stuff coming to light from deeper sections of these well worked patches, but only if the gold is there mind. So there will likely be a flood of chunkier stuff after the release of the new coil, and I hope Nugget Finder go even bigger than 18".  

This is definitely new technology, no doubt about it, extremely short (compared to conventional PI) very high current pulses, it's almost like they are using the equivalent of the flyback response on conventional PI, giving the target a real good shakeup and whipping. There's a lot of room for future development, the future surely looks golden.

Doofus find out how the 7 copes in your environs, seems if you do a lot of saline areas, then it may not be worth the money, until they bring out a unit with a dedicated salt mode.

Cheers

Yes there appears to be no doubt that the Zed is pinging small nuggs at better depth that previous PIs in hot ground.
I think that to find the large nuggs that the GPXs might have missed you would have to run in Extra deep and a ground mode that alows for good GB but not necessarily real smooth.
You will most likely miss the small nuggs but any deep large items stand a better chance of detection but are likely to be very quiet signals.

I am realy only semi educated guessing here but from what I have gleened about the Zed , it is capable of good large nugg depth with the current coil.
A lot of people are asking for a larger coil because they have not bagged a biggun with the stock coil. I think that this is more likely to be because they have not had the coil over a biggie or were/ have not been in the right mode/ground selection.
Those large deep nuggets are not going to produce a booming signal and a person will have to be listening for some very subtle threshold changes.

It is no easy thing to select a mode that you know will miss 3 or sub one oz nuggs in the hope of finding an extral large deep nugg. I would work an area to death on shallow targets before I began hunting deep. But then there are others who will not waste time on the small stuff who only want the kilogram bits.

Trouble is that it is the small stuff that will to lead you to the bigguns.