High performing budget detector for under £200 !!

You might hear a lot of Jibba jabba about this machine soon for many reasons.... All I can say when I tested it today for the first time it is one hell of a detector for the price.
Here is my video of the Goldfinder GF2.... [youtu.be]

Where are you going to get it serviced if you need to buddy? That looks like a T2 knock off for sure.

Over here in the UK there are independent specialist that can repair machines...... Other than that I'm not sure, time will tell I guess but it's a chance purchase and if all is well you are getting one heck of a machine.

Good video Zig

Comgrats Z., it looks like you got the benefit of Dave Johnson and his team at First Texas Products hard work from some Chinese lowlifes and saved yourself sum money.

Now there is nothing illegal as far as I know about using someone else's trade secrets (if you come by them legally - and I'm not at all sure that they did), as long as you don't label it as the original, the T2.

There are a lot of things which are leagal which I like to refrain from doing and everybody needs to decide where to draw the line for themselves.

I confess to having a nice "Rollex" I bought in Thailand when I was a GI in the 70's, but again I did some other stuff there and then that I wouldn't do again!

Don't mean to come over all heavy, but my own feeling is that this sort of thing should be discouraged.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

I hate being PC for the sake of being PC but why do they have to be lowlifes? You probably shop at Walmart and buy a lot of stuff from "low life's" as YOU call them. This is a detecting forum and I'll try to keep it that way. Your Comment just seemed like it could have been worded better



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2015 11:24PM by Bflo.

"You might hear a lot..about this machine soon"
It's been around for a couple of years, now, and most of the talk is about what a shameless 'copy' of a well-known machine it is.
If they had actually done something different and original, like re-packaged it, or added some useful features, then you might be slightly more generous. But what they have done isn't well received on U.S forums, and there's been several very negative threads on this forum already, about it.
[www.dankowskidetectors.com]

I'm curious about the 200 Pounds price tag, they usually seem to have been considerably more.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2015 11:27PM by Pimento.

Bflo, you're right. I could have been clearer.

Here's what I should have said.

Folks anywhere who make an exact copy of somebody else's products, and put the original name and model on it are contraband pirates and can be jailed.

This apparently is a case of some folks in China doing everything except the last step, the trademark and therefore it may not be illegal.

This is an evil practice in my opinion and I referred to these folks as lowlifes. I did not do so because they are apparently Chinese, I buy chinese products every day, but I draw the line at exact copies of someone elses' intellectual property when I see it.

I didn't mean to say (and hope I didn't imply) that Ziggy is a lowlife. i have every reason to believe that he is not.

He is however making a choice to support the people I am complaining about and it is not a choice that I would make.

It's way beyond PC, it's fair trade, something I have worked for decades to support and promote.

I'm sure others will have different opinions and we come here to hear opinions and data.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2015 11:26PM by lytle78.

I go to wallmart buddy what of it?

Some UK forums this machine has made a big impact.... It opens a huge can of worms on many fronts.
Many for and as many against.... You can push these machines under the carpet and hiss at them or you can look at what performance and quality your getting for the price... I rather take the side of rebranded personally well to a certain degree.

Then you have to think why where and how can a machine perform identical for near a £400-500 less than another machine that shares it's same DNA.... I don't know the facts but I landed a machine that is top notch for a silly price:

You hear people talk about minimum wages under aged workers being paid peanuts..... You name it people have said it.

I think maybe people should find out truths and see how far they get and where it leads to find answers and see how many avenues you end up walking.

All I say hear for now....... What machine you know for less than £200 gives you this kind of performance... ?

Ziggy wrote:

All I say hear for now....... What machine you know for less than £200 gives you this kind of performance... ?


Easy answer Ziggy, steal somebody's T2 out of their garage. Same performance - cost $0. Can't beat that!

And for the record, having read Z's last post I withdraw the bit I wrote about having reason to believe that he is or is not a certian sort of person.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2015 11:33PM by lytle78.

"how can a machine perform identical for near a £400-500 less"
maybe because they haven't spent many hundreds of thousands of Dollars on Research and Development, production tooling, etc.???

As for "taking the U.K by storm", there's not been much talk on MDF-UK about them:
[www.metaldetectingforum.co.uk]
[www.metaldetectingforum.co.uk]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/2015 10:55AM by Pimento.

lytle78 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ziggy wrote:
>
> All I say hear for now....... What machine you
> know for less than £200 gives you this kind of
> performance... ?
>
>
> Easy answer Ziggy, steal somebody's T2 out of
> their garage. Same performance - cost $0. Can't
> beat that!
>
> And for the record, having read Z's last post I
> withdraw the bit I wrote about having reason to
> believe that he is or is not a certian sort of
> person.

So am I pond life..... I am confused...... Either way unless someone knows the true facts behind the manufacturing of these machines and willing to spill the beans then I'm sitting on the fence.

There must be patents in place for companies to pursue if things ain't straight right ?

Thinks maybe someone should open up two machines and start looking at the components and see what's what.... But depending on who does that people will be left with doubts and questions to the legitimacy of both machine in question



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2015 11:56PM by Ziggy.

ziggy, I didn't call you any bad names. I just read your last post and decided that I shouldn't assume that you were a great guy.

Your suggestion about opening them up and comparing a genuine T2 to the thing you bought would be interesting – except you have to buy a T2 and you're obviously not willing to do that.

The technology in the T-2 is as far as I know not patent protected. It consists of a circuit design and software loaded into microprocessors which make it do what it does. Nearly copying the circuit and every component in it would not result in a working detector. Programming of the microprocessor is necessary. If the machine you have works exactly like a T2, either the people who built it were able to reverse engineer all the software programmed into the original or somehow they were able to get access to that programming and steal it.

Perhaps you should call the Technetics agent in the UK or wherever you are and offer to bring the machine over and have them compare it to a T2. Of course that could be tricky because under local law it might be confiscated for trademark infringement.

In any event good luck with your "cheapass" knockoff detector.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/2015 12:03AM by lytle78.

Not to worry--OBOLA'S new trade agreement will make Everything free---well almost--so they say.

Here's a comment from Dave Johnson (FTP), taken from a Geotech1 thread:
"A Chinese counterfeiter cloned the T2 and for a while was selling it as a T2. Probably still is. Of course not knowing anything about metal detectors (only about copying) there was a lot they didn't know how to get right.

As best I can figure, the GF2 is just a relabelled counterfeit. With the counterfeits most or all are inferior at best and often don't work worth a darn if at all. And there's no support, you got burned and that's the end of it.

The T2 is made in the USA by a real metal detector company and the product has factory support. And, what we're making these days has improvements which of course are not in the counterfeits which as far as we can tell are all the product of a single copying attempt.

If you want to buy a real T2, the method is simple: buy from a known legit dealer. If you want a counterfeit, Alibaba will be happy to take your money"

And regarding this:"maybe someone should open up two machines"
It would be interesting to see inside YOUR Goldfinder machine. There are a few T2 internal pics around on the web, we could probably make some comparisons.
The electronics is the easiest part of the design to reproduce, I think. Making search-coils that work well is more of a challenge.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/2015 08:53AM by Pimento.

I draw the line where Rick does. If I want a particular detector, I'm not going to go buy a knockoff, doesn't sit right with me. I'll do without until I save up the amount to buy the legit one. What Ziggy does is his business. I would prefer he didn't support the Chinese tech thieves, that's on him though.
If the GF2 is legit, different story......But come on, look at it, listen to it.
Yea I know, they aren't the only ones that do it...I've heard/read years ago some stories about Bill Gates success also.
I do try to buy U.S. made products and from local ma and pa shops, for selfish reasons and to support my countrymen,.... nearly impossible these days.

I have no motives neither making any money nor been asked to do my videos.... I love detecting and getting out in the fresh air and when I get offered to use a machine be it budget machine or high end by a friend or forum member I will make a video to show people depths and shout out display numbers.... It helps people to make purchases and combining other people's videos they can take or leave a machine.

I've contacted three big American manufactures in the past asking to review some of there machine.... Only one said they would consider my offer to review and video for free and I would be happy to send the machine back after use but not heard anything back as of yet.... But this one has ruffled a few feathers already.

I love deeptech machines and that's why I film them a lot because they offer good value and performance and don't fart around on signals like other machines I've used in the past...... And some machines I haven't made a video because they are just plain rubbish.

There are many people out there not as fortunate to be able to spend £300-2000 on a detector like others so something like the GF2 might be a option for them.... I've highlighted the risks at the end of the video.

But for some people to judge me by a blooming video is laughable and to think there is a motive behind it boggles me.

How I see it if a unknown company can produce or rebrand a machine like the GF2 for less than £200 and still make a profit then there show how much big manufactures are being ripped off on components or greed is playing a big part.

I like your videos Ziggy...

...They are the most straightforward and honest live digs I've had the pleasure of viewing, keep up the good work !

Here's another forum thread on it. There were some very revealing posts by "Geotech" (Carl Moreland), but they've been censored. I recall they suggested case mouldings were produced from the genuine FT injection mould tools. And PCB's were identical, not reverse-engineered.
[www.dankowskidetectors.com]

Pimento Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here's another forum thread on it. There were some
> very revealing posts by "Geotech" (Carl Moreland),
> but they've been censored. I recall they suggested
> case mouldings were produced from the genuine FT
> injection mould tools. And PCB's were identical,
> not reverse-engineered.
> [www.dankowskidetectors.com]
> .php?2,31102,page=1

Hence.......... The Goldfinder GF2 is a rebranded machine then going by that.

If true so much for cheap knock offs then.... Maybe the coils are produced by these firms as they ain't up to par in many cases... Even my case.

Wow - it is a carbon copy of my T2 SE even down to the green color. Sounds where off though and it seemed more noise sensitive - I can use my Pro Pointer with no issues. I worked for a Chinese company - and the word in China at all the factories is "Cost Down" They live and breath to drive the cost of production down by any means possible. If they can reduce the amount of plastic used in the mould and still get a product that looks right they will - if there is a lower cost component to use if it works they will use it. It is this focus that gets us Blueray players for under $50 shipped. Most Asian brands have there stuff made in China. Even Taiwan has production in China because it is a "Cost Down" choice.

No judgement on the purchase - It is not really a T2 it is something different in a T2 package. My guess is it is something less so you pay less.

China can innovate - but their focus has always been on reducing production costs and they are very very good at it. So most of the time you see things that look like something we know but have lower cost.

Times are a changing though - China internal economy is getting stronger - wages are going up and cost of production is going up as well. They have traditionaly used the low low cost of labor to help them stay competitive, but Automation is taking that advantage away. Korea and US have been strong in Automation so watch out China you may not be King of the cheap hill forever.

Bryanna - Nebraska

Current - New to me but not new MXT Pro and T2 SE2 - Previous Minelab Sovereign GT, Minelab Safari, Whites DFX, Whites Eagle Spectrum
Smile its a good for you!

Ziggy, I'm not sure what you mean by this line:"Hence the Goldfinder GF2 is a rebranded machine then".
What do you infer when you say 're-branded'?

Anyone who wants the views of the T2's designer, Dave Johnson on this subject should look at post #41on page 3 of the thread on TreasureNet below.

[www.treasurenet.com]

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

Hey Ziggy,

Sorry if I came across as a hardass in the other thread. Dave Johnson is a guy I admire greatly and I really like the First Texas sucess story, so I get a bit excited on the topic of knockoffs or outright theft of their hard work.

You bought that machine in good faith and Imhope you find it useful, but I hope others make a different choice.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

Nice video....Thanks...really opens up your eyes..I remember someone telling me years ago that most detector companies have peanuts into building a detector..I can believe it...I think if you believe your T2 is made in the U.S.A....better wake up...I remember getting my first F75 and unboxing it thinking man this box looks like china cardboard..You know what i mean?? I know what I believe...I love FT products...one of my favorites performance wise...Oh well..nothing I can do

Funny what people think that have never owned or ran a business. Lets see...parts,labor, workmans comp, insurance,r&d, taxes, freight, benefits for workers, accountants, lawyers, warranty repairs, government regs etc,etc. China???"get to work, you get paid in rice!".

Enjoyed vidio thanks. Man wish could hunt everyday in your country, Canada is ok hunting but more history on the east then west.

I agree I really like the video. Enjoyable to watch really like the coin spill.

Bryanna - Nebraska

Current - New to me but not new MXT Pro and T2 SE2 - Previous Minelab Sovereign GT, Minelab Safari, Whites DFX, Whites Eagle Spectrum
Smile its a good for you!

Coinranger's post made me think he was sayimg that First Texas's detectors, like the T2 might not be made in the USA. Here's what their Marketing Manager, Mike Scott posted about this on Findmall a while back.

All Fishers are proudly made in the USA
All Teknetics are proudly made in the USA
All Bounty Hunters except for one model 'Jr.' $69 retail are proudly made in the USA

Mike

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold