Naultilus DMC 2B versus Vaquero...Pre-purchase help Needed!!

[Brevity]

Hello -
I'm new to the world of relic hunting and a guy near my place is selling a Nautilus DMC 2 B with 10" coil and headphones for $300. It's 9 years old, but he says it's in great shape and has been updated to a newer version of the 2B. Is $300 a fair price or too pricey? I can get a Vaquero for $420 new, so there in lies my dilema. I'm open to any other machines in the less than $600 range if you have suggestions.

I'm the kind of guy who likes good quality equipment no matter what I'm buying. I hate buying cheap and then having to upgrade or fix something later because it doesn't perform correctly! I like intermediate - advanced features and customizable options with setting etc. I will primarily dig relics/coins, but also want to take the unit to the beach from time to time. It seems like both machines have their pros and cons, but if there are any users of these machines out there who can offer some sound advice, that would be great!

For those that use the Nautilus 2b, is the manual balancing a pain? How often does one have to rebalance? I've heard good things about the depth of the 2b and some people really like the manual settings etc.

For the Vaquero, the only negatives I've heard are the sweep pattern has to be slow to moderate. Is this true? How does it compare depth-wise to the 2b?

Thanks for your help & info!
Chris

[Jeff R]

It looks like that nis a fair price. google search turned up one for $536.00 .
Sorry I cannot help you much more. I do not know anything about the detector.
Jeff

[Brian]

I like the Nautilus and for relic hunting thats what I would go for. You have picked chalk and cheese to compare. For coinshooting the Tesoro is so much lighter and easier to use. The Nautilus is heavy and does need rebalancing for maximum performance but at least your are considering the model that does not need the manual coil ajustment to cope with thermal effects. Thats where it can be hard work.
Would he let you try the Nautilus out ? Its noisy from the point of view that you have all metal sounding off in one ear and the discrimination in the other but it is the most sophisticated mixed mode machine on the market. The versions built into the top Whites machines are not as good.
Depth wise the Vaquero with 10 x 12 web coil and ground balance conversion is a deep machine....but depth is what the Nautilus is known for. Just check if it works well in your area. Sweep speed is not something to worry about in this case as you will be working slower with the DMC 2B as the audio discrimination works a little differently to most machines.

[TonyinCT]

To be honest with you , I'd get a brand new Nautilus IIB for the 536.00 before I'd invest in one that's 9 years old for 300.00. These are great relic detctors and well known down South. They have been around for a long time.