Thanks for posting guys!! I was glad to read all of your comments! Sorry it's been so long for me to get back to this, but work from April to the end of May is always crazy for me and I generally pass out as soon as I get home!
I've had some time to use and evaluate the Apex...
Here's what I'm thinking... and I will do an online review here in a bit.
Great things...
1. Battery life with an external battery runs all night long... and then some!! EPS5
2. Clarity is great... can see mutts out to 350+ and know it's a coyote.
3. Accuracy is outstanding. Furthest mutt shot... 376 yards... dropped cold.
4. Holds up to weather.. rainy day... didn't phase. Waterproofing is working. Did have to adjust thermal settings so that everything didn't look grey though!
5. Light weight ... self-explanatory!
6. Holds zero!
7. Picture in Picture. I wish all my scopes had this feature. I really like this for multiples that come in.
8. Can freaking hunt at night!!! Ok... not exclusive to the APEX!! LOL
9. The Zoom/Brightness/Contrast dial works fast and is placed well. Easy to find and use.
Not so Great things....
1. The objective lens cap... hard to close... and rubber gasket went missing after a couple of hunts. Nice that they included on though... but needs work.
2. The Power, Calibration & PIP buttons are really tough to differentiate.. especially when wearing gloves. They need to put risers in front of each one so that you know what you are pressing... and don't put the unit in standby mode when you want to calibrate or bring up the PIP window.
3. The video connector has 2 issues. First... they put the male pins on the unit. If you bend one... you'd have to send the whole unit in to get it fixed. If they would have put the female side on the unit (sort of like they do with most computer connectors... VGA, DVI, Etc), a bend pin would mean replacing the cable... cheaper and easier. Second... it only keys one way (good), but the cable then sticks out from the scope at a weird angle. If a lot of pressure is put on the cable... I could see where it could bend the pins inside the unit. Need a swivelable connector that you could tighten when you get it in the position you want.
4.Cost .. This thing is freaking expensive. I'm glad I went with this unit, however, I'd probably go with a 38a or 50a if I bought again. My son is wanting one and I'm just thinking wow... we could hardly afford the one!! I had to sell a lot of stuff in my gun closet to afford it. Not sure if I had to do again... that I would get rid of all my guns and scopes so that I could own a couple of thermals...
This being said... I'm 100% pleased with the unit. There's always room for improvement but out of the box... the minor issues are easily outweighed by the performance of the scope. I'm super jazzed and can hardly wait until mutt hunting starts up again in the fall!!
(oh... and here's my last coyote of the season! What a great one to end it on!)
