The Viability of User Upgraded Firmware

Periodically, folks on the forum lobby for detector manufacturers to design their detectors so that upgrades can be downloaded from their websites. They argue that this will not only be cheaper for the owner community but will ensure that upgrades will be done properly the first time. But are these legitimate assumptions? We'd still be dependent on the manufacturers to ensure that their firmware upgrades are designed and released without bugs and can be downloaded without glitches occurring. Microsoft and Apple upgrade their products all to time, but they seem to get it wrong more often than not, which results in ongoing computer problems for many of us. How likely is it that detector manufacturers will do a better job upgrading their products. As an aside, how confident would you be in purchasing a used detector that's been upgraded numerous times by the former owner? I think I'd be concerned that an owner-upgraded detector may very well come with lots of bugs. Thoughts?

Microsoft and Apple's issues more often than not are a result of other software installed on the computers and devices that have not been properly tested or accounted for. If the only software on a PC was Windows, updates would complete successfully with a much higher rate of success. Ditto Apple or any flavor of linux, etc. Since the information stored on detectors is completely controlled by the manufacturer, updates should happen fairly easily.

It is more likely that "hardware of the month" issues are equally at root cause for lack of updates. If the programming has to change on a detector to accommodate different versions of parts installed over several years of production, creating a single software platform update would probably be impossible, leading to complexity and great expense to keep all models available to test various updates on. This is why most modern phones hardly ever get updates other than security patches as well. Too hard to deal with all the small differences.

The easiest and least expensive way to sell detectors is make a pretty good one, and make a new model later with the changes engineered since the last model.

XP is championed at the moment because updates have come consistently. When folks find out what they are potentially missing if they don't replace coils....a lot of 3.2 models upgraded to 4.0 will suddently show up on the market because the software updates can only go so far. you still have the hardware limitations.

I hope XP 4 is awesome...I am saving my shillings in case. (trying to, anyway)

Deus seems to have done a good job and they test their updates way before they are released...any upload on the internet could have problems or it could be the company you are using sending you to a friends house to do an upload...but for the most part I like the idea of detectors that can be updated via the internet and I think a lot of us would like to see more of that with the new machines coming out..

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

Well I indeed like my Deus units.

And Xp has definitely put themselves on the map here in the USA..

Are any other detector manufacturers feeling the heat?? I think so.

What are the limits of the Deus platform??

This is a loaded question of sorts, the actual answer is there is no limit really-- I mean the platform is iin the coil and programming, so it's not what one would think.

And with the invention of more powerful and even smaller like pro batteries-- this too may offer some more leeway for further development and engineering

Make no mistake the Deus is 21 st century tech at its finest

I wonder sometimes if Xp was in fact took by surprise by how popular their unit has become in the USA

It seems they held off more,to the latter for bringing the unit to the USA

Just remember a Deus unit owner can indeed part out their unit if need be
Buy a new component and still keep the overall unit working and intact.

And remember--- some folks complain about coil prices
But how many great detectors can be had for $500???

As far as the updates go
So far so good in the way Xp has executed

Could they have a problem??? Of course
But I look at it like this's
I can always revert back to say version 3.2 until a supposed bug gets worked out, and this sure beats having to physically ship a unit in for such.

Xp deserves big Kudos

And some of the other manufacturers should take note of their accomplishments.

You guys clearly know a lot more about this subject I do. If detector platforms can be upgraded in a cost-effective and trouble free manner, I'm in.

All up grades for the deus are free but I was thinking if they made a new controller and it added even more to the unit and they charged a resalable price I would buy it so I didn't have to buy a new detector. Then they could take it to a new level and give us updates that are tested before being released...Now that would make fisher's head spin but why not they just seem to do nothing really new or exciting and they are letting a lot of business slip away...

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

Lawrenzo, tell us what Fisher has done to you in the past. I was wondering because at every chance you get, you burn them.....just curious.

They told me what was coming out and that was three years ago and then it was never released so I was very disappointed that they just told me a lie. I see them as a company that can and should have come up with a new flagship but never did. It was not the lie but the way it was spun...that made me get the racer and deus and allowed me to find some great relics over those three years

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

the deus is around 7 years old now and the way elecronics moves ahead esp the processor must need a hardware upgrade by now .... maybe the AKA intronic will overhaul them soon .we await independant reviews

Lawrenzo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They told me what was coming out and that was
> three years ago and then it was never released so
> I was very disappointed that they just told me a
> lie. I see them as a company that can and should
> have come up with a new flagship but never did. It
> was not the lie but the way it was spun...that
> made me get the racer and deus and allowed me to
> find some great relics over those three years

What you were told was in confidence and you choose to take it as a press release. In fact you were asked not to spread it around. Part of what you were told did come to pass in the form of the F75 updates. As to the rest, who are you to judge what is involved in bringing a new "flagship" to the market place? If First Texas brings out a product too soon you'll jump all over the flaws. They've given you free detectors to test in the past, so I'm betting the sour grapes stem from your perception of being cut out of the loop. You should explain how the "lie" was spun if you find it so offensive. I doubt you can justify all of vitriol you've been spewing.

Edit
New years resolution. I do appreciate the previous post.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2016 10:38PM by Bflo.

I am only aware of two detectors that could be updated with the help of downloads. They are the Deus and the CTX. The CTX had one upgrade and that is it. And that was to make the untit stable in salt water. Hardly what I would call an update. More like fixing a screw up. So the manufacturer has clearly missed the the opportunity to make use of their own feature. Hardly what I would called successful. How many people will believe Minelab with their next unit when they want to charge you over two grand? Not me! They included a GPS feature that probably 95%of users ignore and an update feature used once. I wonder what the cost of those two features added to the end cost?

The Deus I believe has been upgraded twice and is about to receive a third next year. The upgrades did help with performance, but were hardly revolutionary. This latest promised update requires a new coil at probably 500.00 to take full advantage of what the manufacturer is offering. The updates came at an average of every two years, and had to go through rounds of testing and feedback before they were released. This lead to release date rumors expiring and quite frankly a snobbish attitude from XP themselves when asked about updates.

I owned both of these detectors. In fact I have owned two CTX's and Three Deus units. They are indeed fine detectors. Two of the best out there. All I can do is offer my personal opinion and here it is.

The update feature is a deception. The manufacturers use it to keep the owners of units with the feature on the hook with promises of better things to come. They failed to deliver at all with one machine and the other requires new hardware to deliver. I want to buy a quality top of the line detector. I want two to three years from it then I want to move on. I don't need more tones or an added iron volume. I expect the best features available today already included on my top of the line detector; Take my added cost for a USB port and give me a quality smaller coil. And for goodness sake at least make the detector easy to swing. Take notes Minelab.