I am very well aware of that idea, and that's one reason why I am still considering so many options, like the Tesoro Outlaw, Vanquish series, Equinox 600, F70, F75, almost any FBS Minelab machine and the AT Pro/Max.
Right now, I'm cutting my teeth on my Fisher F2 and am having some success with it. But despite my limited experience, I can still feel the limitations I'm facing and I know any of the above models will serve as a MASSIVE improvement in detecting capabilities over the F2; I'm just trying to confirm the mineralization levels of my soil. That being said, I'm trying to balance the "fun" and "performance" variables. But since the F2 is my first machine and one I'm learning, the F70 and F75 do have the some pull due to brand loyalty and familiarity with the "Fisher interface." Another factor is that I think my son's first machine will be the Vanquish 340. If that's the case, it'll be nice if I also used a Vanquish or Equinox.
I think what I may end up doing is narrowing it down to 2 or 3 machines and just keep an eye on eBay, trading apps and metal detecting message boards until I find a great deal. For example, A few years ago I found an Equinox 600 for $300. Just recently, there was an Equinox 600 sold for $350 or so shipped on eBay. And a few years ago, an AT Pro sold on eBay for around $250.
Your story is very familiar to me.
I had others but when I originally bought an F2 only as a take on vacation tool as I learned it something really clicked...it soon became my prime detector for 3 years and nobody can say I didn't learn it better than just well or squeeze everything out of that thing I possibly could in that time.
This thread is one of the largest and most long running on most forums and I maintained it for years.
338,000 views, close to 1,400 replies, tons of information and advice in this thing about the great F2 from myself and many other owners posted here and a fun read as an F2 user if you would like to peruse it, sometime.
https://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=53930
Evidently Fisher sold tons of extra F2's over the years because of what future owners read in that thread and saw what was possible.
Eventually I got to wondering if I could do so unbelievably well with an entry level Fisher what could I do with an upper end model from the same company with more bells, a few more whistles and much more penetrating power.
I set my sights on an F75, not cheap at the time, but a brand new never used F70 passed my way for $400 and I jumped on it and never looked back.
I probably would have been extremely happy and successful if I had ended up with the F75 instead but that wasn't my fate and looking back over the years reliving all the great adventures we had together and looking at the pile of fantastic treasure we eventually found I am very happy it went down that way for me.
I aimed for the upper end of the Fisher line because I learned the F2 language and behavior so well and I hoped what I learned would transfer over to the new one with the same lineage.
Luckily it did, but there was so much more to learn, understand and take advantage of.
This thread I started on the day I got my F70, it also went on for years with about 44,500 views and over 150 posts and replies from myself and other owners.
Basically I put down all I observed and learned in real time as I experienced it...for the first several months as I was deep into my learning process, anyway.
https://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=173474
If you want to see what an F2 user went through after upgrading to a much more capable detector take a look through that one.
I got deep into attempting to learn and understand everything I could after that upgrade, I couldn't have picked a better tool with more abilities to learn on, so many more settings I could tweak and it was so much fun to do it all along the way.
Funny thing is that stuff never ended, I still learn new things about the top end Fishers almost every time I take mine out, in my opinion learning never ends no matter what detector you choose to stand behind.
Now things have changed over time since those early days that in reality was less than 10 years in the past.
So many capable detectors and brands now at such lower to mid end price points like the Simplex, Vanquish and more plus iconic models like the F5, F70, F75 and T2 have come way down in price, too, among others.
Never had there been such a large range of choices for detectors at most price levels that can do so much, has such bang for the buck.
It can get confusing, I guess sometimes there can be such a thing as too much to choose from and I am glad I don't have to deal with that having already gone through several stages of upgrading over the years.
But I can see where that puts you...you want to upgrade but you also want to choose correctly.
All I can say is once you make a decision go all in, an upgrade is an upgrade and you can learn, get deeper, find more and enjoy yourself immensely no matter what move you make if you commit to the learning process and your decision.
I have had hundreds of hours of sheer joy using a low end Compadre and F2 and it was no different using any mid or high end detector I have ever owned...and that continues to this day.
It's all good, this is a hobby, not a job, and the object is to have fun doing it no matter what tool you happen to be standing behind.