E-Trac is it worth the money and WHY ?????

[St Bernard]

Is this detector worth the money it costs compared to any other brand higher end detectors? What is your opinion on this detector. It has been around quite awhile and has had very little change. I see a lot of other manufactures replacing and upgrading models. Minelab has always had a good product. I have the 705 X-terra Gold model and like it a lot. For me to upgrade for the extra money it costs I do not know if it is worth it. I know the E-trac has FBS and quite a few other upgrades. I have had Garrett, Fisher, Whites and now Minelab. I am happy with what I have now and later upgrading to an E-trac ??????? I guess it is always fun to upgrade to something bigger and better and is a new learning curve. What is your overall opinion on the E-trac and its cost? Feedback Appreciated and I know it is a loaded question. I have till the first of next year to consider the E-trac I hate decisions !!! Thanks
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Bill

 

[bertman]

I'm a long time Fisher fan (still have my 1235-X)... Had a CZ-7 and a CZ-3D which found me many nice items... I now have an F75-SE and the E-Trac (and the 1235-X)...

I take the F75 out every now and again, but I truly enjoy the E-Trac... The modes I have saved are amazing...
Like having 5 detectors in one...

Watched many videos (Thanks to Bill_S, NebTrac, and Goes4ever) with their E-Trac... It didn't take long to learn how to navigate the functions or to learn the language...

Took the E-Trac to a house tear-out today and found a 1916S Merc and a 1964D Washington quarter, both were amongst the trash but sounded off loud and clear...

Robert

 

[St Bernard]

Hi bertman; Thanks for your input good information. I guess you are the only one who uses an E-trac funny how that works out !!!!
-----------------
Bill

 

[chuck ky]

Did you ask the question on the e-trac forum? There should be plenty of users on there.

 

[St Bernard]

Hi chuck,ky; Thanks for responding. I thought about that an I know any answers there most likely would be biased and that is ok. I thought I would ask it here in this section of the forum maybe to get different opinions of some that may have had an E-Trac and did not like it for one reason or another and why they switched to a different make and what made that decision . I have seen lots of good threads there and good info on the E-Trac. I may in the future decide to get one and wanted Pros and Cons on previous owners of an E-Trac Thanks again
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Bill

 

[kt]

My two cents:

Pros
1. IDs really well down to decent depth
2. Loves silver coins
3. Plentiful aftermarket coil selection
4. Easy to set up

Cons
1. Heavy
2. Must be used slowly
3. Screen is difficult to read
4. Expensive

Would I buy another one tomorrow, if something happened to mine? Yep.

 

[ChicagoJohn]

My two cents:

Pros
1. IDs really well down to decent depth
2. Loves silver coins
3. Plentiful aftermarket coil selection
4. Easy to set up

Cons
1. Heavy
2. Must be used slowly
3. Screen is difficult to read
4. Expensive





Would I buy another one tomorrow, if something happened to mine? Yep.

I used 4 different metal detectors in 5 years and E-Trac is the best for me! Heavy? Not for me and I able do for 4 hours per day! Slow? Slow is good for deep old coins and I found many old coins at heavy hunted parks, Screen is fine for me! Expensive? Yes but more you use E-Trac then its less expensive. I found all coins that cover what I paid for!

 

[HaroldILL.]

I hate to admit it as in my area every newbee yuppie and there Brother has an Etrac , But they are hard to beat on deep silver. I'm a long time CZ guy and have a CZ-3D to this day. But Etrac's are hot rite outta' the box in the stock coin program. That's why all the newbees find so much, its detector not skill. I mainly use a Sunray X-8 Coil on mine as lighter then Pro Coil and almost as deep with better separation. I still say coil for coil pure raw depth the CZ if Tuned properly will beat it. But in trash and ID at depth hard to beat the Etrac or Explorer models.

 

[roadapple]

I'm very very happy with mine !!! Sometimes I wish other people would just stick with those cheaper machines which would leave a lot more booty for my E-Trac to find. LOL

 

[St Bernard]

 

[mascard1]

Don"t get one..... The tones are Mesmerizing....Once you hear them...there's no hope!!!!

 

[St Bernard]

Well all I can say is I think I want to be mesmerized. I am looking at both the E-trac or the Safari. I have all summer to think about it so no big hurry. They are both FBS detectors and one costs a lot more than the other. I do not know if I need all the extras the E-trac comes with maybe with a lot of use it may be worth the money. I guess time will tell. Thanks
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Bill

 

[chuck ky]

I haven't used either but from posts I've read it looks like the safari wasn't liked or wasn't bought. A lot of people seem to like the e-trac and it seems like a lot preferred it over the explorers but some prefer the explorers.

 

[Prep1957]

I had Etrac but kept Safari I will admit the Etrac had a lot of extra settings but it did not get any more depth or was not any faster in trash.Another problem it had too much to play with I spent more time playing than coin hunting.The Safari has 8 different programs that should be plenty for anyone.The main reason I sold Etrac was I was trusting that FE reading and missing great coins.I was following right behind Etrac users including myself using Safari and finding great coins was not the fault of Etrac was the fault of operator too much info and not using your skills and walking right over good coins because you were counting on the extra cost of Etrac too guide you not to dig junk.That machine still does not exsist.If you really ask an old time Etrac user he only uses one or two programs and does not trust FE number because he has learned through hard hunting and experience Safari has 50 pixels Etrac has 1700 I believe could be wrong.I suppose if I was watching a movie while coin hunting it would be nice.You can even adjust the size of can slaw you dig with 1700 pixels which is pretty cool but with Safari I find a lot of gold rings which cannot be said for most Etrac users cause again they put too much attention setting up patterns and programs most are missing Fatty IH pennies which have nickel content.Same with Shield Nickels come in a different pixel range.Etrac is a great machine but do not let it talk you out of coins you are still going to have to dig.

 

[St Bernard]

Prep1957; I understand your message. I will most likely go with the Safari. I really do not see any reason to get into more than I would ever use. Looking at the owners manual for the E-trac I would never make detecting programs anyway. That is really the part I would not use. Getting the Safari will save a lot of money also. The savings will get me another coil and some other goodies. Thanks for your feedback appreciated.
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Bill :

 

[Rick(ND)]

Sounds like you are set on getting a Safari, do more checking on those with the E-Trac and had a Safari as I think you will find those that went to the E-Trac from the Safaris are glad they did. Myself the E-trac is superior to the other Explorers and Safaris as I have the setting I can change to help me understand the detector better. My hearing is bad and I find the Pitch-hold of the E-Trac let me know when I go over a deep target as I know the threshold tone has changed, on the other the threshold changes so fast you can miss a deep signal easy.
A Friend got a Explorer XS, then bought a Safari for his wife or back up for himself to try and he sold the Safari as his XS was better and could tell the signals better so he didn't dig as much trash and didn't feel in his test garden it got the depth either his XS would get.
Both of these are good detectors along with all of the Explorers too, but the E-Trac is superior and you will see more great finds found with the E-Trac reading the forum from many well worked area. I found what worked the best as far as setting on my E-Trac and use them most of the time other than changing the sensitivity from a +3 to lowering it at time.
That's just my opinion on using all the different Explorers, E-Trac, Quatro and Safari myself and found the E-Trac was the best along with the Sun Ray X8 coil for most of my hunting sites of trashy area.

Rick

 

[Prep1957]

You might want to look at other brands other then FBS detectors or Minelabs that are now almost 7 years old and go with AT Pro or Gold they work better in junk and you do not dig as many nails or Iron.My nephew put a storm coil on his and I feel like I am the one under gunned now that coil turned his AT Pro into a real deep coin machine he is smoking my Safari and my buddies CTX in open school yards we are sweeping over his deep reads not hearing nothing and he is pulling deep coins where we read nothing I am thinking of getting tornado coil for my Safari just to keep up.

 

[mascard1]

I would get a e-trac..with 13 ultimate..coil....Great setup.............


.

You might want to look at other brands other then FBS detectors or Minelabs that are now almost 7 years old and go with AT Pro or Gold they work better in junk and you do not dig as many nails or Iron.My nephew put a storm coil on his and I feel like I am the one under gunned now that coil turned his AT Pro into a real deep coin machine he is smoking my Safari and my buddies CTX in open school yards we are sweeping over his deep reads not hearing nothing and he is pulling deep coins where we read nothing I am thinking of getting tornado coil for my Safari just to keep up.