Sidewinder uMax vs. Coinmaster Classic III vs.... ?

I'm trying to decide between a Tesoro Sidewinder uMax and a Whites Coinmaster Classic III for my first MD.  I've been digging around trying to find as much info as I can on the two but am having limited success so far so it's not clear to me which way I should go.  I finally found big enough pictures of the control panels of each to get a look at the controls and it looks like they basically have the same controls except that the Sidewinder has a pinpoint button and the Classic III has some sort of discrimination toggle (as well as a black sand toggle).  I've seen that the Tesoro will likely be lighter and use less battery power but I've seen some pretty rave comments about the Classic III.  Does the Tesoro lifetime warranty extend to 2nd owners? 

Does either machine have a particularly clear advantage over the other? 

A couple of other MDs that I might be able to buy are a Classic SL II--which just became available but I haven't researched yet--for just a little more and a Prizm III for $100 (which I really shouldn't do).  Would either of those make much more sense to get?

Thanks,
  _Rich_



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Hello Rich,

thanks for joining THunting.com.

Well, just recently I thought that my Tesoro Toltec II had stopped working. I had purchased it about 8 years ago, 2nd hand from eBay thus I did not have any warranty cards, bills or other documentation.

I wrote an e-mail to Tesoro explaining my situation and received a most postive reply within less than 24 hours!

Tesoro offered to repair my machine for free and they would even pay for teh shipping within the USA.

So I can't say for sure if the life time warranty is transferable but yes I think they would probably still repair your machine for free even if you bought it 2nd hand.

So as you can guess I'm a Tesoro fan.

Also their machines are very light weight and the heavier ones can simply be hip mounted (they don't need an extra hip mount kid).

A general piece of advice that I can give is not to take the 2nd best metal detector but to go for your candiate of choice even if it will cost a little more. If you don't want to spend too much on your machine you may consider byuing one pre-owned on eBay. This can safe you quite some money and usually a metal detector is not likely to break down if handled right.

The White's might probabky be a bit more deepseeking than the Sidewinder. Tesoro machines are in general a bit less deepseeking than other brands are (but for their Lobo).

Also you might be able to pick up a pre-owned Tesoro Toltec II on eBay for less than $200.00 which is an excellent machine and highly recommended. Easy to use. Okay depth and great discriminator.

Best wishes and hope I could help a bit,

Christian

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Christian...that's great that Tesoro took care of your Problem.  I will have to keep that in mind that it was a 2nd hand unit.

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Stringfrenzy

The sidewinder is a very good unit goes thru trash very well pinpoints very well also and very light,i would say the classic probably goes a little deeper than the tesoro and has a faster sweep speed both are good units though.....

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These are all great machines and good companies but why by used? I loved my whites coinmaster and used it until it virtually fell apart but when I got ready to get another I went to Kellyco and found they had state of the art MP Series for less then I could buy a used big brand name and they even had some of the big name for less then most used machines.

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