Nokta Accupoint?

[Cherry Picker]

If that "junk" as you call it, justifies a high price, then why is the AP priced about the same as the competitor's pin pointers, that don't have that junk?

Incidentally, although you might not like that junk, the overwhelming consensus, is that people are quite enjoying the features.

Not sure why my opinion seems to offend people, but to me they are junk. Just a way to justify a high price. Again, Nokta has raised the bar for the other competitors are far as price vs performance. For that, I say kudos to Nokta Makro, you go. For some people paying $80 to $130 for something that, in my opinion, should be a simple inexpensive price, is very tough for people like me. I'd love to have a silicone cover for my Deus remote. A $12 piece, but I can't justify it because $12 can often go a long way in my household.
I tend to pick the videos I watch that shy away from bias. They have nothing to gain from promoting an item. This is a typical video I see. Even tho he does claim it is his first time using the AP, it is a pinpointer. It should be as simple as turning it on, finding the target, and turning it off. Job done. I don't need a digger with an adjustable handle, adjustable tip, adjustable length, and a display to be able to see all the adjustments.

We pay these outrageous prices for our detecting hobby for stuff that should be much cheaper. China can put out a $30 pinpointer. Sure, it isn't a Carrot or Banana, but it can be done. Like $2,000 for a metal detector. You've got to be kidding me. I hear that is the price increase coming up. Pure ludicrous in my opinion. Nokta can sell a detector with pretty much the same performance for $500. They only charge that much because there are people that are willing to pay that much.

Now, that said, If I was still working and making the money I did, I'd have no problem paying $2,000 for a top of the line detector LOL.

 

[jmaclen]

China already puts out several $30 “knock off” pinpointers. I tried to own one but it was a total hunk of junk and detected about 1” on coin sized objects in air tests and even less if the coin was buried.

I can totally understand the dilemma that you and me and many other retired people are in with a limited fixed income.

I also really appreciate Nokta’s willingness to make very affordable, good quality metal detectors.

Nokta make a $99 no frills pinpointer that is waterproof.

Garrett’s cheapest pinpointer is the black non waterproof “Carrot” priced at $110.

Garrett’s actual waterproof Carrot is $130.

Garrett’s Carrot with EZ Lynk wireless pairing is $145

Nokta’s Accupoint with similar features to Garret‘s EZ Lynk Carrot but with a nice display is $140.

Opinions are fine.

Repeatedly quoting inaccurate prices that make one manufacturers product seem to be half the price of a competitors similar product is not fine, at least with me, no matter how innocent you make your use of those figures to be.

 

[The Lama]

Regarding the price thing once again when a product is manufactured in a country with a weak currency it can be sold in America much cheaper than a product made in a country with a strong currency it's not that certain companies are being [nice] by pricing their product cheaper.China for example artificially keeps their currency weak to help their exporters.

 

[jmaclen]

Regarding the price thing once again when a product is manufactured in a country with a weak currency it can be sold in America much cheaper than a product made in a country with a strong currency it's not that certain companies are being [nice] by pricing their product cheaper.China for example artificially keeps their currency weak to help their exporters.

Wrong.
Nokta have their metal detectors priced competitively based on company policy not just on exchange rate variations.
In Germany, England, France and the Netherlands, the price of the Nokta Legend is just above the Garrett Apex and the Accupoint is just below the Garrett Carrot with EZ Lynk.

 

[oldkoot]

Not sure why my opinion seems to offend people, but to me they are junk. Just a way to justify a high price. Again, Nokta has raised the bar for the other competitors are far as price vs performance. For that, I say kudos to Nokta Makro, you go. For some people paying $80 to $130 for something that, in my opinion, should be a simple inexpensive price, is very tough for people like me. I'd love to have a silicone cover for my Deus remote. A $12 piece, but I can't justify it because $12 can often go a long way in my household.
I tend to pick the videos I watch that shy away from bias. They have nothing to gain from promoting an item. This is a typical video I see. Even tho he does claim it is his first time using the AP, it is a pinpointer. It should be as simple as turning it on, finding the target, and turning it off. Job done. I don't need a digger with an adjustable handle, adjustable tip, adjustable length, and a display to be able to see all the adjustments.

We pay these outrageous prices for our detecting hobby for stuff that should be much cheaper. China can put out a $30 pinpointer. Sure, it isn't a Carrot or Banana, but it can be done. Like $2,000 for a metal detector. You've got to be kidding me. I hear that is the price increase coming up. Pure ludicrous in my opinion. Nokta can sell a detector with pretty much the same performance for $500. They only charge that much because there are people that are willing to pay that much.

Now, that said, If I was still working and making the money I did, I'd have no problem paying $2,000 for a top of the line detector LOL.

for me personally as far as equipment goes for this hobby we are all addicted to LOL, I got tired of purchasing cheap china made crap and expecting it to perform like same equipment as a top tiered company puts out and expecting that china made crap to hold up, so I tend to purchase the best equipment I can purchase (pay once Cry once) is how I look at it,its the same way with digging tools yes a cheap $8 hand digger will still work but how long will they last or a $10 or $15 shovel sure you can dig a hole with all of them but just how long will those cheap shovels and hand diggers last, I can tell you from experience put in my hands they last maybe 1 - 3 months and it is closer to the one month range, then I am looking for a new one so my shovels and hand diggers i started purchasing top of the line digging tools, but here is the thing those digging tools I purchased for $50-$100 each have been worth every pennie I spent on them, because I have used them for all kinds of digging other than metal detecting, as far as the Accupoint pointer had I not had a pointer that does everything the accupoint does except for connecting with my headphones, I would have most likely purchased one of the Accupoint pointer and possibly even two so I had a back up, I can tell you from personal experience the cheap China made pin pointers are no where close to the Garrett's, Nokta's, XP's or Fisher's, yes they beep on metal with some that's a may beep on metal, but I personally want a pointer that will start alerting me while I am at least 3 inches from my target and none of the pointers I have tried that are cheap made china crap will come any where close to signaling on a target much over an inch.

 

[Cherry Picker]

I understand and have no problem paying for quality, but at some point, it becomes gouging in my opinion. I've gone through a fair number of garden diggers before I realized they just don't stack up to the good old Lesche. But it isn't as if these things are handmade. They are stamped out by a machine. So $14 for a Lesche copy vs $50 for the real thing. That is a lot of markup. Or a pinpointer for $15 vs the Carrot for $130. I'm pretty sure most of the components in a Carrot are made in China, just assembled in the USA. No doubt they are better, but $115 better? For a pointer?

 

[randy]

I'll admit I'm missing this $40/$80 thing, and guess I feel like a chump for paying $139 for the AP, and $129 for the Carrot. A quick google shows these as the current list prices for major retailers, so if you are getting a genuine unit for $40, congratz, otherwise I'll stay out of that subthread as I just don't get the point being made, and why it is being made.

As for size, my AP is a about a half inch longer than the Carrot. Take off the protective tip, which the carrot does even come with (at least mine did not), and that comes down to a quarter inch. I don't see that as a big deal, as the carrot doesn't include the protective tip, and many people are complaining about wear thru, or are fashoning homemade "condoms" which no doubt cost more that $10 to make in time and materials. My AP fits fine in my tool loop where the carrot used to fit, so I don't see the big deal here. YMMV of course.

As I posted elsewhere, I think the carrot is an absolute piece of junk, or at least my unit is. Sometimes it won't pick up my digger unless it is literally touching it, and the unit has to be power cycled to work, then tested again. I sent it back to Garrett under warranty, and they neither fixed it, or sent me a new unit. I guess I paid $129 for the $40 unit and feel ripped off.

I still have yet to use the AP in the field, but if it works randomly, it will be better than my carrot. I'm really disappointed with Garrett on this, and hope Nokta offers a long-term viable alternative going forward. We'll see.

 

[The Lama]

Wrong.
Nokta have their metal detectors priced competitively based on company policy not just on exchange rate variations.
In Germany, England, France and the Netherlands, the price of the Nokta Legend is just above the Garrett Apex and the Accupoint is just below the Garrett Carrot with EZ Lynk.

Not sure i understand what your saying,i'll give you another example i am the importer and distributor of a product made in the UK lets say one of my products costs 10 British pounds pre Brexit the pound would often be around 1.65$ so my cost would be 10 times1.65 =1.65 after brexit the pound has often been around 1.20 so 10 times 1.2 = 12 then when you add duty rates which are based on costs the difference is even bigger when you add dealer margins the difference grows even larger so if you are manufacturing in a country with very weak currency like China,Turkiye or Malaysia it's very easy to price your product low.

 

[jmaclen]

Not sure i understand what your saying,i'll give you another example i am the importer and distributor of a product made in the UK lets say one of my products costs 10 British pounds pre Brexit the pound would often be around 1.65$ so my cost would be 10 times1.65 =1.65 after brexit the pound has often been around 1.20 so 10 times 1.2 = 12 then when you add duty rates which are based on costs the difference is even bigger when you add dealer margins the difference grows even larger so if you are manufacturing in a country with very weak currency like China,Turkiye or Malaysia it's very easy to price your product low.

I totally got what you were saying the first time. You didn’t get what I am said however. Believe it or not, Nokta’s owner is willing to forgo huge profits from overpricing Nokta’s detectors and actually backs up their “don’t pay more for less” marketing hype by keeping prices as low as possible for detectors and products that are very competitive with detectors costing 2 or 3 times as much. The Accupoint pinpointer has some outstanding features that could easily put it way above the competition price wise. Like I said, it’s not just a matter of taking advantage of strong or weak currency situations.

Using one of your examples, Minelab’s current models are manufactured in Malaysia. Instead of keeping prices low, Minelab is gouging buyers on all of their mid to upper level treasure and gold prospecting detectors and is doing it totally for the sake of shareholders and their board. They are dramatically raising the price of every detector even more after January 1st

 

[The Lama]

I completely agree with you about Minelab but i completely disagree with you about Nokta it should be no problem for them to price their products super low and still have a normal profit margin with the Turkish lira where it's at.

 

[oldkoot]

I understand and have no problem paying for quality, but at some point, it becomes gouging in my opinion. I've gone through a fair number of garden diggers before I realized they just don't stack up to the good old Lesche. But it isn't as if these things are handmade. They are stamped out by a machine. So $14 for a Lesche copy vs $50 for the real thing. That is a lot of markup. Or a pinpointer for $15 vs the Carrot for $130. I'm pretty sure most of the components in a Carrot are made in China, just assembled in the USA. No doubt they are better, but $115 better? For a pointer?

you could say the same thing about most products these days, fuel is one thing they gouge you on the most, food, wood products, building supplies you name it they gouge you on it, I will use gas does anyone see a reason for gasoline to be at the prices we have seen for the past 3-4 years, in my opinion absolutely not its called greed why charge someone $1 per gallon when we can get $3,$4 or $5, I do not see Nokta as being greedy, and yes even though I have had issues with two of my Legends not working properly, but the Legend is still a lot of bang for your buck, the Accupoint I am not so sure about, I have read good reviews on the Accupoint and have talked to people that say it is no better than a cheap china knock off really have no clue as to what to believe, the way I look at it is the Accupoint is on par with most other top tier pointers with the features it has, none of them are cheap unless you do purchase a cheap knock off, one pointer I purchased that everyone raved about was the Fisher F Pulse, for me personally I look at the F Pulse as a bad purchase, its just not what everyone stated it to be and I personally hate it, it is one of the worst pin pointers I ever purchased no where close to being worth what I paid for it, best value for the money I spent on a pointer probably my original Garrett Pro pointer that I purchased in 2009, it was just getting old and glitchy, so I decided to purchase a new pointer, picked up the F Pulse hated it so I then purchased the Nokta 2 in 1 pulse Dive it is a good pointer but way to heavy and way to large meaning in length, so I continued searching for a pin pointer to replace my Garrett, the Last pointer I purchased is the Quest X Pointer Max with the magic Holster, for me personally the X Pointer Max is a almost perfect pin pointer with the same features as the Accupoint minus the wireless capabilities, i would have never used that feature to begin with because I refuse to wear the over the ear headphones that came with the two Legend pro packs i purchased, in Arizona over the ear headphones are just to hot and they restrict your ability to be able to stay aware of whats going on around you, I will not use earbuds for the same reason awareness of your surroundings, as bad as it is prices of everything has become ridiculous but what are we going to do just stop purchasing anything, sorry but that's not human nature, you either pay the prices people are charging or just continue using and purchasing crap, mine lab is another one does anyone think that the price increase mine Lab is about to slap on their detectors is worth it, that decision on Mine Labs part is nothing but pure greed, and I truly believe it may come back to haunt Mine Lab in the End, what Mine Lab is doing makes Nokta look like Geniuses.

 

[Diga]

I completely agree with you about Minelab but i completely disagree with you about Nokta it should be no problem for them to price their products super low and still have a normal profit margin with the Turkish lira where it's at.

Regarding the price thing once again when a product is manufactured in a country with a weak currency it can be sold in America much cheaper than a product made in a country with a strong currency it's not that certain companies are being [nice] by pricing their product cheaper.

Since you agree that both the currency of Turkey (Nokta) and Malaysia (Minelab) is weak, then is Minelab gouging, or is Nokta fulfilling their policy of "low cost / high performance"? I believe it's both.

 

[Cherry Picker]

I'm not sure that gouging is the correct description now that I think about it. Gas and food, yes, because we don't have the option to buy cheap gas. The detector manufacturers are at least offering us poor folk a good-performing alternative to the full-featured rich peoples detectors. The only complaint I have is with price varencies. Features manufacturers, well their shills, use the lack of knowledge of those new to detecting to charge high prices for, in my opinion, unneeded features. That is fine for those with money who understand what they're paying for, but to go about attempting to convince someone new to detecting that features that don't even understand is what makes for successful detectorists.

This has always been one of my tender spots. Years ago I fell for the forked tongue of a detector salesman and it left a scar. Now when I see those new to detecting purposely being misled about the need for more money on a detector, I step in and make enemies by posting the truth LOL.

I still think the Nokta Makro Simplex+ is the king of entry-level detectors.

 

[BobOso]

I'm just stating the facts. Honestly CP, you sure have posted some odd stuff in this thread. Examples:

1) "The $40 Carrot / $80 Accupoint" thing.

2) "The AP is bigger than it needs to be". Yet, it's about the same size as its competitors.

3) "I like the price, somewhat, but I still say give me a $40 Carrot/Banana. I can see the use some may have for the new features, but I just want to press a button to turn it on and find my target". Yet, that can be done with the AP.

Turn on and go is about all I do with min, sometimes I turn down the sensitivity, but do not use any other function. The AP is easier to adjust than the Carrot, and I got my AC for $80, because I was a beta tester, now I think the price is double.
I still have my carrot, but for me its only use is for finding nails in pallets. I owned the XP mi6, and it was great for use with the deus, but I sold my deus, then the mi6. I also have a Quest, and should have returned it to Amazon within 30 days, it is a very useless pinpointer, sometimes it will be on top of a target and not find it, it also takes 2 men and a boy to turn it on or off.

My wife uses the TRX, but will not part with it, for me I will stick with the AP.

 

[Diga]

I'm not sure that gouging is the correct description now that I think about it. Gas and food, yes, because we don't have the option to buy cheap gas. The detector manufacturers are at least offering us poor folk a good-performing alternative to the full-featured rich peoples detectors. The only complaint I have is with price varencies. Features manufacturers, well their shills, use the lack of knowledge of those new to detecting to charge high prices for, in my opinion, unneeded features. That is fine for those with money who understand what they're paying for, but to go about attempting to convince someone new to detecting that features that don't even understand is what makes for successful detectorists.

Yes, "gouging" typically refers to products and services that are needed. Perhaps "exploitive pricing" is a better term?

Regarding "poor folk" and "rich people's detectors".

Well, I own a Legend, and I'm financially well off. I own a Legend, because I don't see any performance benefit in spending a lot more on a detector. Plus, in all honesty, I think Nokta is a caring, open, and fair company, and IMO, Minelab is the opposite of that. That's why I'll never buy another Minelab product again. Yet, I still often consider buying a D2. I wouldn't buy a D2 because I think I will find more with it (I don't), but rather, just for curiosity reasons.

 

[mascard1]

Whew… my head hurts after reading all this..

 

[Cherry Picker]

Yes, "gouging" typically refers to products and services that are needed. Perhaps "exploitive pricing" is a better term?

Regarding "poor folk" and "rich people's detectors".

Well, I own a Legend, and I'm financially well off. I own a Legend, because I don't see any performance benefit in spending a lot more on a detector. Plus, in all honesty, I think Nokta is a caring, open, and fair company, and IMO, Minelab is the opposite of that. That's why I'll never buy another Minelab product again. Yet, I still often consider buying a D2. I wouldn't buy a D2 because I think I will find more with it (I don't), but rather, just for curiosity reasons.

Agreed. I refer to a poor man & rich man's detector as just meaning we poor detectorists are not able to try all the newest and greatest machines on the market until we find the one we like. I know better than to just go off the opinion of others. I do also agree the Legend is as good as anything else out there right now as far as performance.

I totally agree with your assessment of Nokta Makro. They have turned the detector world upside down in the pricing game. Thank you, Nokta Makro.

I have 2 critical reasons I use the XP Deus. 1. In my experience, there isn't better for tot lotting out there with the exception of the D2, which I can no longer afford to own. 2. Physical issues demand I swing a detector like the Deus. In my opinion, the XP Deus is still unmatched in ergonomics. By that, I mean comfort in swinging.

 

[The Lama]

Since you agree that both the currency of Turkey (Nokta) and Malaysia (Minelab) is weak, then is Minelab gouging, or is Nokta fulfilling their policy of "low cost / high performance"? I believe it's both.

I'm guessing minelab has a huge profit margin per unit and Nokta has a normal profit margin per unit and they are only priced lower because of lower manufacturing cost mainly due to currency not altruism.

 

[jmaclen]

I'm guessing minelab has a huge profit margin per unit and Nokta has a normal profit margin per unit and they are only priced lower because of lower manufacturing cost mainly due to currency not altruism.

VP of Sales for Nokta has publicly and repeatedly stated that Nokta's owner (private company) wants to keep prices as low as possible. Maybe it is or isn't altruism. Then again, I have come to really trust Nokta to be very honest and forthcoming with all of their public statements. They make mistakes just like anybody, but if they repeatedly say something, add it to their marketing pitch and then actually back it up with very affordable prices for their products.........that is more than just a currency advantage.

 

[Valley Hunter]

Like Dilek has said " Nokta has 1 owner" So things go smoother

Minelab has investors / owners so it is like a vote to get things done