Hello Ticleveland;
Man your looking at fine detector's I have to agree with Jason on the Ace 250 though. I really believe it's a great detector, Has good depth, and is built good. You have the more options for accessories to add later if you wish. Personally I've used several detectors top of line right on down to RS bottom line. And I really believe that you can't go wrong if you learn to use a Garrett.
Here's what Charles says and I have to agree with him.
Do I own a Garrett? You bet I do! And several others to compare them too.
The Ace 250 is an interesting, ergonomic arrangement with a three-piece S-handle design having an elbow rest/stand at one end, a 6.5 x 9? elliptical coil on the other, and a control box at the to of the handle. The controls are within finger and thumb reach for quick adjustments and pinpointing in the field. The housing contains an external speaker or one can use the /4? headphone jack. The top slides off easily to reveal four AA batteries. The searchcoil is waterproof and interchangeable to allow the use of various size loops.
The control box and elbow rest are a pleasing yellow color, which contrasts strikingly with the black of the coil and rod. I hate to harp on cost, but the low price didn?t stop Garrett from providing a comfortably padded handle-grip and elbow rest. At first glance the housing face looks simple enough to operate, with a good-sized LCD screen, three push pads, and three adjustable +/- pads. However, while it is indeed simple to operate, a closer look makes it apparent that it took some engineering ingenuity to incorporate so many electronic abilities into this easy to use format.
The features of the Ace 250 are remarkable and include 12-segment adjustable notch discrimination (trash elimination), eight levels of sensitivity (depth and interference regulation), all-metal non-motion Pinpoint (exact target location), coin depth readout to 8?, Visual Target ID (LCD screen), plus three-tone Audio Target ID, and five preset yet adjustable search modes (All-Metal, Jewelry, Custom, Relics, and Coins)? all packed into a total weight of only 2.7 lbs. (1.2 kgs.). Its length is adjustable from 42? to 51?, and its operating frequency is 7.2 kHz.
Don?t let all these features throw you, newcomers. Thanks to Garrett?s microprocessor controlled electronics and a well thought-out design, the Ace 250 can hunt at the push of one button. Just turn it on by pressing the PWR (Power) button, and this intuitive detector does the work of setting the controls for you. You can choose to start out in the factory preset Coins mode to automatically eliminate signals from common trash. It doesn?t get much easier, and as you gain experience the controls can be adjusted to your own wishes.
The ability of the user to choose his own settings, if desired, makes the Ace 250 a valuable tool for seasoned metal detectorists as well. As a side note, I did very little discrimination changing because it was easy to jump from one mode to another with a push of the Mode button to cover just about any detecting situation.
Back to me now....
You got to make the decision, I just hope that many others will also speak and give you good advice. Metal detectors are opinions, most detector's are good to some degree, others are just better, with the choice of a Garrett Ace 250, you'll learn , and grow as you do!
Just my Opinion.
I've used one, and was really impressed with it operation. Very lightweight, and all in all, a pleasure to use. 
