AT Pro or better...?

[controlfreq]

Not sure how to phrase this question; I have started over three times already...

I bought my two detectors, with SCUBA diving and water/beach hunting in mind. They also seem pretty good at relic hunting (haven't made a chance to go gold hunting yet but...) Lately I decided I needed to get more serious about MD and went out to a local park with a friend who was using a Safari. I eventually ended up putting my machines back in the truck and just watched him dig coins. I had never seen one of these type detectors in action and was really impressed (adding insult to injury, turns out my Stingray was having some desc problems and has since been sent back to Tesoro; at least I hope it was detector and not detectorist... I do not yet have the patience or skill to hunt a park containing 50+ years of pulltabs and gum wrappers with the Infinium.)

After doing some online research, I find myself drawn (or pushed) toward the AT Pro. From what I have read, the combination of price, features, and capability make this a very worthwhile machine and with what I already have, should fill the gap quite nicely but...

can anyone tell me how it stacks up against machines like Etrac, V3i, GTI-2500 and others in that category? (Probably could not get those past my accountant, aka wife, anyway.) Any other suggestions for a machine with good desc capability would be welcome...

Thanks
John

 

[abcoin]

I've been using the AT Pro on park and schoolyard sites for eight months now, and I am happy with my purchase. The audio on this unit is amazing, and the coins clearly stand out amongst the trash. If you compare it to other detectors in the same price range, it is hard to beat. You would be misled, however, if you expected Etrac or V3i performance from this machine. Don't get me wrong, for $600, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Pro, but it isn't fair to compare it to a machine that costs twice as much (or more). If spending that much on a detector isn't possible right now, then the AT Pro is a good value and has some good features for the price range. If you really want the performance of a $1200+ detector, though, you would probably be better off saving up for one.

 

[widebody]

[size=large]before blowing the bucks on more costly machines do a reality check. what are you hunting for. the AT Pro has filled a lot of niches. the $1500 machines will find a coin if you crawl slow enough. i have an explorer se pro. one down from the e-trac and have found more with the AT Pro
the idea gets down to how well you learn the machine.if you're in a target rich enviorment then you'll find enough to buy the spendy machines later.


HH [/size]

 

[John-Edmonton]

One could write pages on the differences, as you want comparisons between apples and oranges. What you get with the AT Series, is a water proof detector, designed to work well searching for gold, relics and of course coins. It sometimes meets and beats different metal detectors in trashy areas and high mineralized areas, sometimes costing 2 x as much as the AT Pro. It just depends on soil conditions, coil size type, machine setup and user experience. The detector is easy to use....the AT pro has both a simple standard mode to learn the detector and a PRO mode which has excellent audio to enhance your discrimination abilities.

Here are the specifics of the AT Pro - http://www.garrett.com/hobbysite/hbby_at_pro_main.aspx

Below is a link to all my finds from 2011 with the AT pro & AT Gold.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh9Y7vxkLeU&context=C3afb2eaADOEgsToPDskLw8rC9bCPALdvv_dHQ3Rcd

 

[John LA]

The Etrac is very deep, very slow, very heavy and not well balanced. The ATPro has less of a learning curve but for max dept there is a bit of a learning curve.

 

[controlfreq]

Guys, thanks for the replies. They have been very helpful...

Yes, I knew the three I picked for comparison were "high end" machines, but I was curious how the middle of the pack"" AT would fare against them and what the other $600 was buying. Also, considering that this is a Garrett forum, I am a little curious why there was no mention of the GTI detectors.

Thanks
John

 

[bacardi]

I had an etrac got rid after getting the the at-pro iam finding lot more than did with the trac think at-pro great machine

 

[dabbie1]

Since you already have the beach and water taken care of with your high end machines, Why dont you just get the best and most relieable land machine?????The ACE250 tried and proven, over and over. Its a coin killer, especialy with the 10 by 14 excellsior coil. It goes deep.I never have a problem.It just keeps pulling coins out of the ground,Best part it only cost you $212 I use a Whites coin master pro as my back-up.HH Wayne in Delaware PS If you notch out everything to left of nickel,It is quite a beach hunting detector,It will not false in wet sand that way.

 

[Waterdog]

Did you say that you was thinking about going to an area with 50+ years of trash with a Garrett Infinium ? You must like digging ALOT. That is a PI machine. I would go over the area and clean it out with a discrimanting machine first.

 

[controlfreq]

Yes and no; I went out to a 50+ year old park/school with the intent of using my Stingray II. After hunting a few minutes it was determined that the desc was not working on the Stingray (finally got it back from Tesoro on Friday...) Since I also had my Infinium in the truck, I decided to try it just to see how much worse could it be than using the Stingray with no desc; besides I didn't have anything else going on at the time... I was hitting multiple targets per swing and predominately all trash. I just do not quite yet have the perseverance for that... at the beach I don't have a problem with digging all targets, but in a park "replacing the divots" is a major consideration.

 

[bacardi]

well i had an etrac and sold it soon after i bought AT-PRO iam finding more now than did with etrac i think the pros great machine