E-trac and SE pro question

[travis1460]

Hi,

I have been in the detecting hobby for about 12 years now and have used many brands of detectors. I like the sovereign and explorer xs the most out of everything I have used. I'm thinking of upgrading but not sure which would be a better route to go. I have been looking into the minelab se pro and the e-trac. I used to think the e-trac was just one grade higher than the se pro but have discovered its pretty much a totally different machine. I use my xs now and have pulled silver dimes at 15" no joke and am very impressed. If I can do that with an older model I'm excited to see what a newer model would do. Has anyone used these side by side and what have you noticed? I know the etrac is more a horizontal scale where the explorer series is more a vertical scale. I also know that the traditional xs is closer to what the se will be like. I have seen both of them are really nice machines and thats why I'm in such a toss up. If I get the etrac would there be quite a learning curve since I'm used to the explorer series? Has anyone seen a depth vs discrimination difference between the two? I just don't know if shelling out the extra dough for the etrac would be worth it if they are pretty similar in depth and discrimination and I would be learning a whole new animal again. Just wanted to get some thoughts from users so I know what I'll be getting into.


Thanks,
Travis Quinn

 

[Southwind]

Never owned the XS but my guess is the SE is closer to an upgraded XS than an upgraded E-Trac. I have owned both the SE and E-Trac.

My personal experience was that while the SE was a great detector the E-Trac was much better. The faster processor and better balance was enough to make the change worth it for me. It drove me nuts going so slow with the SE, after having used White's for the prior 20 years, but I swing my E-Trac just about the same speed as my other detectors. Also I could only swing my SE for several hours before my back hurt but I can swing my E-Trac all day no problem.

Depth wise I do feel the E-Trac is deeper and better at separating good from bad targets. More accurate target ID at more depth as well. As an example, I hunted a small(40'x70') area in our park with all my detectors including the SE until there was nothing being given up. I took the E-Trac to the same spot the first day and pulled a hand full of old coins including 2 walking liberty half dollars. The other coins I could understand, but having missed the halves blew my mind.

I used the SE for 2 years and felt I was pretty good with it because I put in a lot of hours in 2 years. I hunted 1-2 hours every night after work and roughly 8 hours on weekend days.