best pinpointer under $100?

[5900_XL-1]

The best for under $100.00 is definitly the Deteknix xpointer, it will preform just as well as the Garrett pinpointer. I have bought and woudn't get rid of either one.

X1

 

[After-1-]

The best for under $100.00 is definitly the Deteknix xpointer, it will preform just as well as the Garrett pinpointer. I have bought and woudn't get rid of either one.

X1

yep-------x-pointer--------------after1-----

 

[Mega]

This post was originally started in 2009,the prices of pinpointer since then have increased 'Big Time'

 

[MarkCZ]

The free First Texas's ones really should be free!
I had one at one point and it ranked right in the class of a dollar store toy. I offered it up for free to somebody on the forum and I felt so bad about it that I didn't feel right charging him for the shipping! so I paid the freight.
I would drop $20.00 bucks on the one at Harbor Freight, fit a small metal ring around the probe shaft so you can super tune it (make it a little more sensitive) do more clad stabbing and save towards something like the Propointer.
Keep the HF one for a loaner or a backup.

Mark

 

[barnett25]

I am always surprised to hear people suggest the Harbor Freight pinpointer as the one I have falses so bad that it just about ruins detecting for me. If I touch it (even lightly) against anything it goes off, if I haven't adjusted the sensitivity in the last few seconds it goes off. Meanwhile it only detects anything coin sized from about 1/2 inch away. I just got a Garrett ProPointer AT for my birthday and it is amazing compared to the HF model. It would be like comparing a stick with a magnet on the end to an E-trac or something.

I don't know if they are making the Harbor Freight models better now (mine is a few years old), or if the quality control is such that you might randomly get a good one, or if some people just have a lot higher tolerance for flaky, random behavior out of their equipment.

And bear in mind that this is coming from someone who does not throw money at the hobby. All of my detectors were bought for a hundred dollars or less (used) other than the ACE 250 I started on. And I usually mod everything I own to get the best performance without wasting money.

 

[MarkCZ]

I am always surprised to hear people suggest the Harbor Freight pinpointer as the one I have falses so bad that it just about ruins detecting for me. If I touch it (even lightly) against anything it goes off, if I haven't adjusted the sensitivity in the last few seconds it goes off. Meanwhile it only detects anything coin sized from about 1/2 inch away. I just got a Garrett ProPointer AT for my birthday and it is amazing compared to the HF model. It would be like comparing a stick with a magnet on the end to an E-trac or something.

I don't know if they are making the Harbor Freight models better now (mine is a few years old), or if the quality control is such that you might randomly get a good one, or if some people just have a lot higher tolerance for flaky, random behavior out of their equipment.

And bear in mind that this is coming from someone who does not throw money at the hobby. All of my detectors were bought for a hundred dollars or less (used) other than the ACE 250 I started on. And I usually mod everything I own to get the best performance without wasting money.

Nobody is really recommending the harbor freight in that we think they're a good buy for the money! but it as good as many of the free ones that comes in the package deals! I had one and it wasn't as quirky as yours, the worse thing about mind was in cold weather it lost most of its sensitivity, I fixed a metal band around the probe shaft that I could slide up and down the shaft and that better adjusted the sensitivity than the control did.

The HF pin pointer is just something to hold you over until you can get a real one.
If the one you have worked like that out of the box I think I would have took it back to the store and exchanged it for another. The one I had I gave to the brother when he got back into metal detecting and he used it for probably a year or so then he upgraded to a real one (Propointer).

I didn't feel bad like I ripped my brother off when I gave him the HF pinpointer, but I did feel like a cheat when I gave the BH one away and even with me paying the shipping!

So, we're not comparing the HF pin pointer to anything good, what we're saying is that its better @ $15.00 than the near $40.00 for ones like the BH!

Mark

 

[supertraq]

Save a few more dollars and get the best,a Garrett pro pointer

 

[barnett25]

Nobody is really recommending the harbor freight in that we think they're a good buy for the money! but it as good as many of the free ones that comes in the package deals! I had one and it wasn't as quirky as yours, the worse thing about mind was in cold weather it lost most of its sensitivity, I fixed a metal band around the probe shaft that I could slide up and down the shaft and that better adjusted the sensitivity than the control did.

The HF pin pointer is just something to hold you over until you can get a real one.
If the one you have worked like that out of the box I think I would have took it back to the store and exchanged it for another. The one I had I gave to the brother when he got back into metal detecting and he used it for probably a year or so then he upgraded to a real one (Propointer).

I didn't feel bad like I ripped my brother off when I gave him the HF pinpointer, but I did feel like a cheat when I gave the BH one away and even with me paying the shipping!

So, we're not comparing the HF pin pointer to anything good, what we're saying is that its better @ $15.00 than the near $40.00 for ones like the BH!

Mark

It sounds like mine was a lemon. Which makes sense given how often I hear about the HF pinpointer as a viable option for someone with a low budget. Every time I went out to hunt I seriously considered not taking it at all because I would get more frustrated trying to use it than I did when I was having to wave dirt over my coil.