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1 More X-Terra 30 Question Please

S

SkiWhiz

Active member
I have my Tesoro Cibola up for sale on eBay now & if it sells I am seriously considering purchasing a Xterra 30. I once had a Garrett Ace 250 and was wondering how the Xterra 30 compares to it. I have noticed that the Minelab machines seem to be quite pricey, do you think it is they are made so well or because of the extra shipping charges to get them here. Is the quality of the X-30 pretty good & do they hold up well. Thanks again for your time! Steve.
P.S. I said in the subject line that I had 1 more question, I guess I got carried away, sorry.
 
Steve, I've owned them both and know that there are a lot of similarities. Both are light weight. Both have factory preset GB. Both offer notch discrimination. Both have Pinpointing capabilities. And both have a 2-year warranty. One thing I did like about the Ace 250 was the availability of the small sniper coil. But, if rumors are true, the small coil for the X-Terra should be here soon.

The Minelab X-Terra is more expensive than the Garrett Ace 250. But I think it is worth it. I believe the X-30 has much better depth, better pinpointing capability, better target separation (stock coil) and better discrimination due to having more available notch segments. The biggest complaint I had with the Ace 250 were TID and pinpointing. I spent way too much time trying to retrieve the coin after it had been located. The X-30 is dead on pinpointing. And if you learn to listen to what the audio is telling you and match it to the TID, it is a coin killer.

As with any electronic piece of equipment, it will usually perform well if you treat it properly. Occassionally there may be something out of the ordinary that requires service. I have owned lots of Minelab detectors over the years and have only had to send a couple in for repair. An Explorer and one X-Terra. In both instances, it was a software glitch that was easily remedied. And, in both cases, Minelab was fast, thorough and professional in the manner it was handled. As to the price difference between the X-30 and the Ace 250.... you get what you pay for, sometimes. In the case of the X-Terra, I think it is worth that difference. JMHO HH Randy
 
Thanks for the great reply Randy. Much appreciated. With the Ace 250 I had I did get the hang of pinpointing with it and had no problems but to me it was alittle too noisey. Not bashing it, it is a very good machine for the money. Great to hear that Minelab stands behind their product. Steve.
 
G'day SkiWhiz.
I own both machines and find their performance to be mostly on a par with each other. Just a slieght correction Digger, they both have 12 notches, wich operate in about the same spots.
About the only thing that the X-terra has over the Ace, is a volume control.
As you found with the Ace, once you learn how to pinpoint with it, I think that it is a bit more accuate than the X-terra's. It's kind of like comparing a manual verses an automatic transmission on a car. The pinpointing on the machines is one of four main points that seperate them. The X-terra's will give you target information through the volume and pitch of the pinpoint. A smaller target will be quieter and a screw cap if shallow, will screem at you. On the Ace,you have 2 main pinpointing methods, you can detune for both farther accuracy and target information and you still have constant depth read outs which can also help in determining if a target is junk. Also with the Ace, you can pick up target information by listening to how the target falls off the pinpoint. But again, this also only applies to targets in the top 2 inches.
Two things that the Ace has over the X-Terra's is 1) The Ace is an absolute killer at hunting in close to metal objects. By dropping the sensativity to 1 or 2 bars, even with the large coil on, you can still pick up coins that are only 2 inches away from a pole! The sniper coil is a coaxial coil, which means, that when you press the pinpoint button, you only have a signal that will go down and NOT up. I have found coins this way while the top of the coil is in DIRECT contact with the metal above it! The X-Terra's can't compete with the Ace for this sort of hunting. 2) The Ace is a much better balance machine. The X-Terra's are far too long. I hunt with mine 3 holes shorter than it came with.
As far as the audio and meter go, I prefer the X-Terra's. After using the X-Terra, then going over too the Ace, I found that the sounds of the Ace felt abrupt, and the TID a bit harder to see. I much prefer the number system of the X-Terra.
One last thing. The X-Terra has a quicker recovery than the Ace, which is helpful in busy ground, but the Ace with it's standard coil, can cover more ground than the X-Terra.
If you still own the Ace, then you aren't going to gain anything by going to the X-Terra 30. Personally, I think that they should be the same price, as the quality and general performance is about the same.
What ever you choose, you will enjoy either machine.
Good luck.
Mick Evans.
 
Now I am really confused, do I get the Xterra 30 or the Ace 250 and save about $200 Thanks! Steve.
 
Depends on your buget. Everything your hearing is probably correct. Personally I would get the Ace 250 with the sniper coil. You can find a good deal on a new or use one. I have the x30, I like the detector, it's very quiet, high quality detector. good notch, decent pinpointing. HH good luck.
 
was that the 250 you had was noisy. Two things come to mind when I hear that a detector is noisy. They are improper GB settings or outside electrical interference. Neither the Ace 250 nor the X-30 have an adjustable GB. Both are preset at the factories. And, neither one allow the user to "change channels" via a noise cancel feature. You may want to consider a model that allows both adjustable GB and Noise Cancel options, if you think that may be the problem.

As Mick pointed out, both models have 12 notch segments. Sorry for posting incorrect information. I must have been thinking about the 5 notches of the Ace 150. Thanks for straightening that out Mick. HH Randy
 
Sorry if I confused you Steve. Most of my recent hunting has been with the Ace, so it tends to be in the forefront of my thinking. In trying to give you points of reference, I seem to be referring to the Ace a lot more.
If you are able to check out the X-Terra 30 by getting to a detector shop, It would give you the best input as to how it compares to the Ace. If not, Nugget 71 has put in a link to a You tube video presentation of the X-Terra 30 and 50. It is 33 minutes in length.The link is nearby to this post, in response to some one else wanting to by the 30. It is tittled "Here's a video link".
Basically, it comes down to a few simple questions that you need to ask yourself. You mentioned that the Ace was a bit noisy for you. I'm not sure how you meant that. If you are just referring to the Aces general signals and no volume control, then you will find the the X-Terra 30, to be a much nicer detector on your ears. If you like to have a bigger and easier to read TID, then again, I would go with the X-Terra 30. If money is the overriding fact, then I would go with the Ace. I personally think that the only reason that the X-Terra is more expensive than the Ace, is because I think that Minelab wish to get maximum dollars for it. But that's just my opinion and after all , I did buy one.
I hope that that is a little clearer for you. If you still have questions and want to know more, then by all means, fire away.
Mick Evans.
 
I have to agree with Mick. I too had the 250 and xt-30 at the same time. They performed the same for me in my ground. But the main thing the 250 has over the xt-30 is it only cost $212.00. Also the $60.00 sniper coil. If ML ever gets a small coil for the xt-30 then it would be a toss up. But I'll bet the coil will be twice the price as the sniper.
 
GET the "X=30.
"quality is like buying oats; if you want nice clean fresh oats you will pay a little more, but if you can be happy the oats that have already been through horse, that comes a little cheaper." *author, unknown*
"good hunting" *Patricks*
 
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