Best detector by category poll

[Bill_S]

I have tried many detectors. Some I liked some I didn't. I was thinking about all the features and which ones I liked best. I am going to make a list and I would like to see others opinions. This is not meant to say which is better just want to see what others prefer too.

1. If I could only have one detector - Etrac
2. Best detector for the money - Ace 250 or Fisher F2
3. Most versatile - At Pro
4. Best coin shooter - Omega
5. Deepest - Etrac, CZ3D
6. Worst one I have used - ID Edge
7. Most settings to play with - V3i - Have not used one
8. Best pinpointing. - quite a few once you learn it. - Deleon, M6, Omega
9. Best in trash - Etrac, Omega, AT Pro
10. Best salt water beach detector - ???? Never used one.
11. Fastest recovery time - Omega
12. Best nickel finder - CZ3D, Etrac
13. Most accurate TID - Etrac, Omega, CZ3D
14. Most under rated - ??????

 

[Finder82]

I have had six detectors in my detecting career: A Chinese crap, Garrett ace 250, C.scope 3mx, X-terra 70, Golden mask 3 and Xp Deus, but here goes nothing...

1. If I could only have one detector - Xp Deus
2. Best detector for the money - Golden mask 3
3. Most versatile - Xp Deus
4. Best coin shooter - X-terra 70 for now.
5. Deepest - Golden mask 3.
6. Worst one I have used - my first detector, a chinese copy of some Whites detector.
7. Most settings to play with - Xp Deus
8. Best pinpointing. -Xp Deus and C.scope 3mx.
9. Best in trash - Xp Deus
10. Best salt water beach detector - ???? Never used one.
11. Fastest recovery time - Xp Deus by far.
13. Most accurate TID - Xp Deus
14. Most under rated - ??????

 

[qicpic]

#10 best salt water beach detector Tesoros Sand Shark.

 

[Bill_S]

Seems like the Xp Deus must be a pretty good machine.....;o)

 

[Finder82]

Seems like the Xp Deus must be a pretty good machine.....;o)

Yes and the price is pretty good too.uke:

 

[Denar]

1. Deus
2. Cibola, ACE250
3. Deus, Tejon
4. Silver uMAX
5. Deus, Tejon, Nexus
6. Etrac, V3, GTI2500, DFX, Coin Select, Ground Hawk
7. Spectra V3, Etrac
8. Silver uMAX
9. Deus, Tejon
10. Sand Shark, PIranha
11. Deus
12. Tejon
13. Deus
14. Lobo SuperTRAQ

 

[jabbo]

ID Edge ranks worst? I say it's awesome, rank it my best ever.

 

[Bill_S]

Maybe I had a dud ID edge. Would not correclty ID even shallow targets......;o)

 

[targets]

its a tie between my DEUS and T2 SE for all i need .not much to choose between them ,but DEUS is super light so thats my No1.
for water work the Whites is best for me

 

[jabbo]

Bill, Several months ago someone posted the importance of precision sweeps for a good meter ID. He was right. Now when I locate a target I slow down the sweep and try to keep the sweeps the same to get a more steady ID reading. HH, Jabbo

 

[Dave J.]

Using Bill_S's categories:

1. If I could only have one detector - Teknetics G2
2. Best detector for the money - (I presume this means best value in the low end) Tek Delta. Fisher F2 a close second.
3. Most versatile - Tek G2
4. Best coin shooter - Tek Omega
5. Deepest - F75 LTD (Minelab Etrack etc. also said to be deep but I haven't used one myself)
6. Worst one I have used - White's Spectrum XLT -- worst user interface on any product of any kind I've every used. Signagraph feature was really good, though.
7. Most settings to play with - I don't like a lot of settings to play with, the Tek T2 and Fisher F5 are already enough settings for me.
8. Best pinpointing. - no opinion
9. Best in trash - Fisher Gold Bug Pro or Tek G2 with 5 inch searchcoil
10. Best salt water beach detector - as long as it's not gonna get drowned, CZ3D or Tek G2. If it's gonna get drowned, CZ-21.
11. Fastest recovery time - GB/G2, T2.
12. Best nickel finder - GB/G2. A whole slew of machines from several manufacturers are close seconds.
13. Most accurate TID - Etrac, G2, CZ3D, White's Spectrum XLT (using the Signagraph).
14. Most under rated - the Omega was a real "sleeper" for about a year because it had no newfangled pizzaz to shout about, it was just a metal detector done extraordinarily well. However it's finally catching on.

I'll add another category:

15. Machine that never got a fair shake - Tesoro Diablo MicroMax. Jack wasn't personally excited about, so he overpriced it and wrote mediocre ad copy. Result: few buyers, and he soon took it out of production. Nobody who's got one will let go of it. A few years ago I had a chance to pick one up used for about $300 and was feeling kinda broke at the time, so passed on it. Been kyckin' myself in the butt over that ever since.

* * * * * * *

You could say that I'm biased since I work for FTP-Fisher, or you could say that I'm not much biased having worked for several manufacturers. Of course the machines I'm most familiar with are the ones that I've been involved with in some way. Most machines out there I don't know enough about to have an informed opinion, so can't name them in my list.

--Dave J.

 

[Bill_S]

Thanks for the post. If the GB/G2 is real good on nickels I may just have to try one. I have the Omega and Etrac but always like to try different detectors.

 

[gmanlight]

Bill S Thy are hot on Nickles/Gold great ID and great in iron.

 

[Elton]

 

[joe dirt_1]

I'm perfectly happy with my Fisher CZ5 and Tesoro Vaquero. They are both good on gold and nickels, and the CZ5 gets the deep coins other detectors pass over without a signal. All I do is coin hunt and look for jewelry on land.... no water hunting so a waterproof detector isn't needed.
Some of the machines mentioned as the best this or that has me confused because my experiences with the same detectors was totally different....I couldn't get rid of them fast enough. Different strokes for different folks I guess......

Roger

 

[Hombre]

I just love a good poll !.......In the past 17 years I have or had the following detectors: Whites XLT, DFX, 6000 Pro XL, 5900 Di Pro SL 'CB' and finally the IDX Pro (Mr. Bill modified) and still have the last three. In the Tesoro corner: Silver Saber, Inca, Bandido, Bandido ll, Bandido ll

 

[coinhunterseth]

I really like this post so I am going to try and get it going again.

I've only used five detectors so this is going to be pretty limited.

1. If I could only have one detector - AT Pro or a v3i if I had one
2. Best detector for the money - Ace 250 or bounty hunter junior for 40 bucks it can't be beat
3. Most versatile - At Pro
4. Best coin shooter - AT Pro
5. Deepest - AT Pro
6. Worst one I have used - bounty hunter quick draw II
7. Most settings to play with - V3i - Have not used one
8. Best pinpointing. - AT Pro with the 5x8 coil or the metrotech 220a
9. Best in trash - AT Pro
10. Best salt water beach detector - AT Pro
11. Fastest recovery time - AT Pro
12. Best nickel finder - AT Pro
13. Most accurate TID - AT Pro
14. Most under rated - bounty hunter junior

 

[Sven]

I had a couple ID Edge machines and they were excellent.

 

[Southwind]

1. If I could only have one detector - Deus
2. Best detector for the money - Racer/AT Pro
3. Most versatile - Deus
4. Best coin shooter - E-Trac/CTX
5. Deepest - Etrac/CTX, Deus
6. Worst one I have used - Omega 8000/F75 LTD
7. Most settings to play with - V3i
8. Best pinpointing. V3i
9. Best in trash - DFX/Deus
10. Best salt water beach detector - ???? Never used one.
11. Fastest recovery time - Deus
12. Best nickel finder - DFX/AT Pro
13. Most accurate TID - Etrac for depth, DFX
14. Most under rated - DFX

 

[Tom Slick]

Using Bill_S's categories:

1. If I could only have one detector - Right now a toss up between Makro Racer and Fisher F19
2. Best detector for the money - Makro Racer
3. Most versatile - White's V3i
4. Best coin shooter - V3i with BigFoot Coil
5. Deepest - White's TDI SL (PI) Fisher F75 (VLF)
6. Worst one I have used - Tesoro Golden Umax
7. Most settings to play with - White's V3i
8. Best pinpointing. - no opinion
9. Best in trash - Makro Racer with 4.7" x 5.5" coil
10. Best salt water beach detector - as long as it's not gonna get drowned, Minelab Sovereign GT with Sunray S12 coil
11. Fastest recovery time - Makro Racer
12. Best nickel finder - Fisher F19 /GBP
13. Most accurate TID White's V3i, Makro Racer