Why I couldn't recommend a machine.

Someone asked me the other day to recommend a metal detector to them. For a start I don't have the experience or knowledge for such a task. Gawd knows how many different machines are out there and I've only tried four myself. All I could do is offer what little experience I have on machines and point him in the direction to some good websites where a lot of different machines are talked about. Now thinking about it even if I had plenty of experience with different machines I don't think I would ever recommend one to anyone.. The reason being I remember looking at a particular machine last year and before deciding to buy it I asked around to find out what other people thought of it. The feedback I got was that it was "a brill machine", "the best for the price range", "you can't go wrong buying this machine", "I've had one for years and recommend it". etc, etc. Well, I purchased this machine at a cost of around £600. To cut a long story short and to not delve into the reasons why, but I had this machine for only two months and sold it again. Basicly, I just couldn't get on with it,  it just wasn't the machine for me and I knew that I had made a mistake. Some fellow detectorists said you have to give it a chance and get to know the machine and that two months is not long enough. Really, two months can be long enough. Some detectorists only go out hunting maybe once every Sunday, say for 8 hours, so in two months that's 64 hours, ok, maybe that is not long enough to get to know a machine. I was out of work at the time and weather permitting, and a few personal errands I had to do I was out most days. I clocked up hundreds of hours with this machine before I decided to put it down to a bad experience, sell it, and move on. The recommendations I had for this machine were from well meaning people, most had one and got on great with it. In the end its all your own decision, and  you pays your money and take your chances.

The point I'm trying to make is that because a machine suits you, it do not mean that it will suit others. What's good for the Goose, may not be suitable for the gander. You only have to look around the forums and see people chopping and changing their machines. I suppose we are all looking for that perfect machine. and if someone has found their perfect machine I envy your peace of mind.