Best detector by category poll

[roadapple]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE- Trac for all categories !!!

 

[ronhob]

14. Most under rated - ??????

GOTTA BE THE XTERRA LINE!!!!!!

 

[Tom Slick]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE- Trac for all categories !!!

Been drinking the Kool-Aid long?

 

[coinhunterseth]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE- Trac for all categories !!!

Oh good, someone who hates the Etrac, or maybe you just didn't notice that the sixth category is for the worst one you have used

 

[Tahts-a-dats-ago]

I have owned the following:

Fisher F4
Tek G2
Etrac
CTX 3030
Whites V3i
Tek Europro
White MX5

I bought them in the order listed (CTX 3030 and Whites V3i were purchased at same time).

The CTX 3030 saw very little use (I loved the V3i and just never warmed to the CTX so I sold it).

I now have the two Whites machines and the Europro; the others were traded or sold.

1. If I could have only 1 detector - V3i
2. Best detector for the money - G2, MX5 and ETP
3. Most versatile - V3i
4. Best coin shooter - V3i, Etrac, MX5
5. Deepest - V3i,CTX, Etrac (not sure of the order, as they're very close IMO)
6. Worst one I have used - F4 (not a bad machine, just my least liked of the bunch)
7. Most settings to play with - V3i
8. Best pinpointing - MX5, V3i (very close)
9. Best in trash - G2, V3i, MX5
10. Best salt water beach detector - has to be the CTX 3030, but I have not used any of my machines in that environment.
11. Fastest recovery - G2, V3i, MX5 (the latter two being very close but far behind the G2)
12. Best nickel finder - G2, V3i, MX5 (the latter two being very close to each other and reasonably close to the G2)
13. Most accurate TID - V3i, MX5, Etrac, G2 (I think the CTX would be near the V3i but I didn't use it enough to give a qualified opinion)
14. Most under rated - G2, MX5, V3i (all 3 are fantastic machines but don't seem to have the following that some other machines have - including two that I owned and sold/traded)
15. Machine I wish that I had not sold - G2 (a very fast, light, easy to swing machine that just worked great. I will buy another one someday)
16. Machines that I'd like to own - Fisher CZ21 if I ever get into salt water hunting, Tek Omega kind of interests me but I'd buy another G2 before trying an Omega.
17. Easiest machine to swing - G2, MX5, ETP, F4 (all are excellent)
18. Most difficult machine to swing - Etrac, CTX 3030 (I found the balance of the Etrac to be horrible)
19. Best screen - V3i (hands down, going away)
20. Bang for very little money - ETP (turn on and go machine that everyone loves using, plus it is a decent machine that will find the good stuff)

 

[silverseeker 2]

Jabbo,
I'm with you. The ID Edge is the most under-rated machine out there.
Audio ID,all metal vdi's. For the money it simply a great unit and has
descent Depth. Most people let that smaller box reflect there opinions
on it. Just a simple little powerful unit that works pretty well in the
Iron. JMHO.

 

[Mrmikejackie]

I have it all with my CTX 3030!

 

[EbbTide]

Let's see?
1. If I could have only 1 detector - CTX 3030
2. Best detector for the money - Eurotek Pro
3. Most versatile - CTX 3030
4. Best coin shooter - CTX + ETP
5. Deepest - CTX - Excalibur II
6. Worst one? They all were fun - no bad ones
7. Most settings to play with - CTX
8. Best pinpointing - CTX, Excal
9. Best in trash - Excalibur
10. Best salt water beach detector - Excalibur II
11. Fastest recovery - ETP
12. Best nickel finder - Excal, CTX
13. Most accurate TID - CTX
14. Most under rated - T2
15. Machine I wish that I had not sold - Sovereign GT
16. Machines that I'd like to own - Teknetics T2
17. Easiest machine to swing - CTX and Excalibur on CF shaft
18. Most difficult machine to swing - Explorer Series
19. Best screen - CTX
20. Bang for very little money - ETP

 

[Miser67]

1. If I could have only 1 detector - Fisher Gold Bug Pro
2. Best detector for the money - Tesoro Compadre
3. Most versatile - Whites V3i
4. Best coin shooter - E-Trac for deep coins / Tesoro DeLeon for 6" or less
5. Deepest - CTX or ETrac
6. Worst one? Early version Teknetics Omega (horrible EMI issues)
7. Most settings to play with - V3i
8. Best pinpointing - Toss up among several
9. Best in trash - Gold Bug Pro
10. Best salt water beach detector - Tesoro Sand Shark
11. Fastest recovery - Fisher Gold Bug Pro
12. Best nickel finder - Fisher Gold Bug Pro
13. Most accurate TID - Deep targets - E-Trac / 6" or less, Tesoro DeLeon
14. Most under rated - Tesoro Tejon
15. Machine I wish that I had not sold - NASA-Tom calibrated Fisher CZ-3D
16. Machines that I'd like to own - Fisher Gold Bug 2
17. Easiest machine to swing - Tesoro Compadre / Silver uMax
18. Most difficult machine to swing - E-Trac / CTX / Safari / V3i / MXT Pro
19. Best screen - E-Trac / Gold Bug Pro
20. Bang for very little money -Compadre

 

[JimGilmore]

1. If I could have only 1 detector -golden umax with cleansweep coil
2. Best detector for the money - compadre
3. Most versatile - which ever one your using at the moment
4. Best coin shooter - golden umax with 5 3/4" coil
5. Deepest - no opinion
6. Worst one? no opinion
7. Most settings to play with -no opinion
8. Best pinpointing - any detector using a wide scan big foot style coil/clean sweep.
9. Best in trash - bandidi umax ll and 4 " coil
10. Best salt water beach detector - no opinion
11. Fastest recovery - no opinion
12. Best nickel finder - goldbug pro
13. Most accurate TID - goldbug pro
14. Most under rated - compadre
15. Machine I wish that I had not sold -no opinion
16. Machines that I'd like to own - minelab 4500
17. Easiest machine to swing - bandido umax ll with 4 " coil
18. Most difficult machine to swing - garrett GTA 1500 with a 13" coil
19. Best screen - no opinion
20. Bang for very little money - ace 250

 

[mudpuppy]

What a great and confusing thread! If a noob was reading this, he would not know what to do! Probably end up with a Cobra Beach Magnet!

I got lucky with the F70 right out of the gate...recommended by a long time hunter I met.....then after a few years got an AtPro, based upon its performance/waterproofness a guy cannot ignore....they make a very good team! They both use the same batteries, AA's. When the Pro says its done with them after only 15hrs, I can pop those 'half deads' into the F70 and get another 15hrs hunting out of them!

I use the F70 exclusively on the dirt in totlots and sportsfields, tearouts etc. and I use the Pro exclusively in the water or for beach sweeping, its my gold hunter...its never once hunted for me on the dirt, on account of thats what the F70 is for..which also finds gold in the dirt, and a huge pile of clad and jewelry in a hurry....it would be very hard for me to take one over the other...they both have their specific duties and are both very good at what they do..One supports the other depending upon the day and weather, ..Plus, they sort of speak the same language, so its easy to switch from one to the other without recalibrating your ears...
Mud

 

[Hightone]

The most underrated and best for the money is the Land Ranger Pro by far in my book. $40 more gets manual and auto GB over the A 250 and F2, plus many other features including more depth. Single battery saves over time as well to make up the $40 difference.

 

[Phillip_in_NM]

Bill_S

Thanks so much for creating this thread. I just love these types of informal polls. Like others have written, it's amazing the variance in opinions, i.e. what I think is a great detector, others may think is a piece of junk and vice-versa. I'm going to do two things before giving my own answer. First I'm going to create a blank list so people can "cut and paste" the poll into their responses - and I'm going to add one category for finding gold jewelry. As much fun as it is to find silver, gold can 'pay the bills' much faster. I'm also going to create a header for the lists of what detectors people currently have and ones that they have had in the past. Hope you don't mind the changes.

Detectors currently owned:

Detectors formerly owned:

1. If I could only have one detector -
2. Best detector for the money -
3. Most versatile -
4. Best coin shooter -
5. Deepest -
6. Worst one I have used -
7. Most settings to play with -
8. Best pinpointing. -
9. Best in trash -
10. Best salt water beach detector - .
11. Fastest recovery time -
12. Best nickel finder -
13. Most accurate TID -
14. Most under rated -
15. Best for gold jewelry -

So, anyway, here's my list:

Detectors currently owned: Etrac, M6, Compadre (have a Makro Racer and Go-Find 60 on the way!)

Detectors formerly owned: Garrett GTI2500, Bounty Hunter Big Bud Pro, Ace 250, Explorer SE, CZ3D,!236x2,Explorer XS, XP Deus, Micronta, Omega, F75, Stingray II, BeachHunter ID, DFX, AT Pro

1. If I could only have one detector - Etrac
2. Best detector for the money - M6
3. Most versatile - Etrac
4. Best coin shooter - M6
5. Deepest - Etrac
6. Worst one I have used - Micronta or BeachHunter ID (this water detector had a floating coil!!! )
7. Most settings to play with - Deus or DFX
8. Best pinpointing. - M6 (with stock coil - when depth shows most shallow number, target is directly under the center of the open coil. I hit target 95% of the time on the first probe!)
9. Best in trash - Etrac (in iron trash), M6 (in modern trash)
10. Best salt water beach detector - .???? (not a lot of salt water beaches in New Mexico )
11. Fastest recovery time - Deus
12. Best nickel finder - M6
13. Most accurate TID - M6
14. Most under rated - M6
15. Best for gold jewelry - M6 (found over 30 pieces of gold jewelry in the 7 years I've owned it and found my first nugget with it this year)

Thanks again for posting this, Bill. I'm just loving reading the different opinions

 

[bigchuckinva]

By Far the Best Relic model are Nautilus DMC2B which no longer being made. I using Blisstoll V-5 and get deepest relics. Im talking deep targets over 12 inch plus.

 

[amberjack]

newbie nightmare I must say the questions are a bit vague but hey I didn't ask them and will answer as best I can going on VLF and PI ask me tomorrow I will probably have a different answer

1. If I could only have one detector - hard question to answer really ... can I have several coils if held at gun point it probably would be a Tesoro or F19

2. Best detector for the money - Compadre

3. Most versatile - CTX...F19 finds nuggets too

4. Best coin shooter - what sort of coins old or clad ? clad F19... Vaquaro & Omega , Old Coins CTX...Omega

5. Deepest - xterra 705 with a big a$$ NEL coil 7.5 kHz........ Whites DF and then those Gold ones Minelab make but where is a big part of this question

6. Worst one I have used - no worst one but the one that I didn't like was the Golden micromax

7. Most settings to play with - CTX

8. Best pinpointing. - Tesoro CSC

9. Best in trash - easy F19 - 5" coil

10. Best salt water beach detector - Whites DF would still have it if the coils didn't keep blowing up...... CTX wet sand shallow water...pretty much anything on the dry sand something light !!
.
11. Fastest recovery time - F19

12. Best nickel finder - Compadre

13. Most accurate TID - F19

14. Most under rated - F19

15. Best for gold jewelry - Tesoro, Cibola, Vaquaro, Outlaw

AJ

 

[Justme]

Had tons of detectors...I've settled on CTX 3030

 

[The Magician]

I have owned these detectors in the past:
GP 3000, SD 2000, Explorer SE, Excalibur 2 10", Sword Excalibur, Excalibur 2 small coil", Infinium, Sea Hunter 2, Vaquero, Outlaw, Golden uMax, Compadre, Whites GMT, Whites Surfmaster DF, Whites Surfmaster PI Plus, Explorer 2. That's 16 detectors not including pinpointers.


1. If I could only have one detector - Hard one, Explorer 2/Golden uMax.
2. Best detector for the money - Golden uMax/Compadre.
3. Most versatile - Golden uMax
4. Best coin shooter - Explorer 2.
5. Deepest - SD 2000
6. Worst one I have used - Explorer SE/Infinium then daylight.
7. Most settings to play with - Explorer 2.
8. Best pinpointing. - Golden uMax by miles.
9. Best in trash - Explorer 2.
10. Best salt water beach detector - Surfmaster PI Plus by a long way.
11. Fastest recovery time - Golden uMax.
12. Best nickel finder - we don't have nickels in oz, i guess it would be the Golden uMax.
13. Most accurate TID - Explorer 2.
14. Most under rated - Golden uMax.

 

[PSS1963]

Very little mention of the White's MXT (pro, all-pro) on this thread. Surprising, considering what a capable machine it is. One person mentioned it was "hard to swing".

Any inputs?

-pete

 

[amberjack]

never used one but they look big and heavy, my friend keeps saying use the ctx for gold ring hunting, I say you swing the tank for hrs, i'll stick with the Tesoro not saying it wont find it but I take speed over comfort

AJ

 

[Flintstone]

I love my MXT, have tried lots of others but keep coming back to my MXT, Someone said the MXT pro was deeper than the MXT. Does any else think this? Thanks flintstone