This was my second attempt at a metal detector. The first was one from a brick n mortar store which ended up as a return, and thus landed me on Amazon looking at reviews and trying to make an informed decision. Searching through the multitude of metal detectors, the conflicting reviews (on all of them) made it difficult. Please know that there is a science behind metal detecting, based on your settings, and what type of metal the device is actually detecting, so it's important to understand how to adjust the settings and practice with coins and other metal that you find around your house before going out to the field... this is important.
Once you practice with the different metals and settings, you will learn the "personality" of your detector which you apply directly to your success in the field.
The directions for this device were straight forward and easy to follow. Putting the device together was a breeze, but note: it requires 2 9 volt batteries to function, so make sure you have them on hand.
There was a slight discrepancy in the directions which lead to my earlier comment about the personality of the the machine.... I noticed on my machine that the disc setting to ignore iron the disc knob had to be @ 1:00 not 11:00, nickel was 2:00 not 12:00, zinc 4:00. Once I figured this out the device became a much easier to operate.
The device was a little heavy for a 6 year old long and cumbersome - my eight year old however could use it. But quite honestly they had more fun digging in the dirt hunting the treasure detected by the machine.
We took it camping with us last weekend, the picture shows some of the junk and not so junk we found in the soil around the campsite.
It's certainly added an element of adventure to our trip as it seemed like we are on a treasure hunt.
Maybe it was buried in the description, (pun intended) but the item also comes with a little steel army like shovel that you put together, it certainly aided in the digging process of looking for what was beneath the soil.
Honestly I was on the fence on either getting this one or the popular "science magazine" version which was about 2xs the $$. I'm glad I chose this one. We couldn't be happier with the purchase.