I'm a bit confused about some of the bad reviews, It is true that you can't feel a magnetic coin through a hand so you might want to ding them a tad on their advertising but put it all in perspective.
1. Finding a coin under a hand is an easy trick, and easily done without the Minimax or any other gimmick. For instructions...go rent the "Illusionist!" Lean to do this effect for real as a set up for coin under one of several cards. A much more powerful effect that the Minimax will do great.
2. Minimax with a PK ring is great! If you really want to do the "guess which hand" trick then use a PK ring. It will make more sense than carting around odd currency(especially if you live outside the US or England) a ring is an organic item in any part of the world.
3. Start thinking outside the box a bit. If you used to shim items with sheet metal for use with your Raven and Micro 5, then start thinking about shimming items with small magnets for use with the Minimax.
4. Remember that this thing detects "Magnets!" It sounds from some reviews as if people were expecting it to detect metal???Have you seen the size of most metal detectors? I reckon it will be a while before they can fin one of those in the palm of your hand!

Overall- Don't look into this if all you want to do is guess which hand someone is hiding an object. Their are gimmickless ways of doing that that are very effective. Instead consider the Minimax if you are interested in Mentalism and have wanted to play around with electronic detectors. With a little bit of ingenuity you can create performances that will come close to matching the kinds of performances that can be done with Andy Neiman's "Dead Zone Pro" and the Labco "UFO." Both of those retail for over $1000.00!

I see reviews saying it is not sensitive enough. If you have a strong magnet, it will detect it without touching someone's hand. However, you can do really strong magic by using methods other than someone's hand. For example, having a magnetic coin hidden under one of several cards. I have a fantastic routine that combines a number of effects that work exceptionally well together:
Joshua Jay has a DVD called "Method in Magic - Live in the UK ". On that DVD, amongst other great effects, is a fantastically simple three coin vanish. It uses a flipper coin and a shell coin (I use half dollars, available at penguin). I follow that with the Tango Internal System folding half dollar in a Vernet Sixth finger. I place the folding coin in the sixth finger and keep it in my pocket. After the three coin vanish, I pull out the sixth finger and pretend to "explain" to the audience how I did the trick with the sixth finger. I then vanish the folding coin by simply pretending to pass it from one hand to the other and make it "appear in my pocket". In my pocket, I replace the folding coin for a magnetic coin (Strong Magnetic half dollar by Tango). So, now the folding coin becomes a "regular" coin. I then have a spectator hide the coin under a series of bills and I find it with the minimax. I know it takes a number of items, but each of these items you will find countless applications in magic routines or just to have fun with family and friends. are indispensible for good magic. Good stuff.

I bought this a while ago and it just doesn´t work consistently. Also, you need a very strong magnet and have to almost touch the espectator. Not to mention how pricey it is.

i just recieved my minimax today and very happy with my purchase,,, i bought it especially for spike,, u are just so clean doin the effect no one will ever cop it,,,i just might purchase a gimmicked coin now also just for an extra effect,,, 2 thumbs up to edo..............................................

I´m from Germany and love it to buy magic stuff on penguin. The crazy part is that this effect is imported, made in Germany. The effect is great, this little gimmick is much better than the pen. The range of magnetic detection is much wider and you are free of any props if you want.
Buy this now before get the banner "out of stock" ;-)

Greetings from Germany.

Definitely a clever piece of apparatus, but be prepared to seek out pretty strong items to detect.

I purchased this specifically for use with "Spike", and it will indeed work like a charm on that front.

Beyond that, "Which Hand?" doesn't seem to fly with the PK rings in my arsenal, and frankly, forget about coins. In all my trial and error playing with this device I had to be touching or VERY nearly touching the hand which led to my cohort feeling the vibration (which in a live-performance scenario would outright blow the gaff wide open). The best signal was from an old, gaffed, Kennedy half-dollar which activated the sensor at about an inch away from the holding hand. This was conducted with both the supplied batteries, and with 100% fresh, brand new ones.

Honestly, a tad unimpressive considering the hype and $100 price tag.

The size and conceal-ability are truly outstanding, but the sensitivity requires very strong signals from what you're "divining". With Spike, I can pick it up from about 6 inches away (and can almost risk getting a false positive from an adjacent cup if they are laid out too close).

I highly suggest you consider finding a dealer that will let you play with the device a bit first before plunking down the $100 on this item. Ordering blind, without "Spike" as your intended use, could leave you very flat.

This is a very good gimmick, tiny and easy to use. An experienced magician can make up anything they want with it. I myself have purchased it for years since it comes out. After some years the gimmick it will stop working (yes, even if i changed the new battery). This is one major problem, and a reason I won't purchase it again. Apart from this, the rest is quite good.

not a good experience, battery short term keep alot on hand. doesn't indicate metal unless it has magnet deposits.

To tell you the truth, I am rather disappointed in this trick. Since coins here in the U.S. are not and cannot be magnetized I don't understand how this trick can work. If one uses something that can be magnetized in place of a coin, then the audience would be instantly suspicious and suggest that the magician use a different item to "find" magically. Out of everything I have purchased from Penguin, this trick was the largest disappointment to me. I may think of a way to use it in some other way.

The gimmick was well made, but it wasn't able to accomplish all of the effects the ad said it would. There are better gimmicks out there such as sixth sense 2.0 by Hugo Shelley that can do all of the effects that this gimmick does and better. there are plenty of other effects this gimmick can do that doesn't demend much range from the gimmick so don't overlook this gimmick.