Ok been a long time since iv been here its cold and *%#!@ here in Minnesota and time to re group my thoughts I have owned an x terra 70 for 2 years now and it seems pretty good. I haven't been out as much as id like but planning on changing that. for me neatest find was a wedding band inscribed with initials and a date of Nov 8 1901 tried to track an owner/ relative but no such luck its from an late 1800 house...Also found a pipe bomb on the job ... Investigator for Sheriff's Office actually used the detector a few times for the job... now to my question. I have been debating on a possible upgrade in detectors now I haven't a lot of money so for me will be a large purchase so I want to make sure it will be worth it in the long run. Wondering if any of you have owned the x tarra 70 for a comparrison to the e trac and your honest opinion as far as if it is a much better machine... I mainly coin hunt but also like looking for anything else interesting. I also do some prospecting out west and wondering if the e trac will find gold.. I will also be looking at past posts here for info... been a while and I usually stuck with the x terra forum thanks for any info Don in Minnesota
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e trac vs x terra 70
- Thread starter rotceted
- Start date
tippyhound
New member
Don - I owned and used a X-terra 70 for four years before taking the leap and purchasing a E-Trac. The X-terra was a pretty good machine and I found some nice coins with it. Depth was pretty good and target I.D. wasn't to bad either. My biggest problem with the X-terra 70 was poor volume, at least for me as I have very poor hearing and with out a preamp I wasn't able to operate it at all, and that is what made me go looking for a different machine.
I did some reading on line about the E-Trac and decided to look up a dealer where I could actually hear one in operation ( I drove 200 miles to the closest dealer) so I could hear for my self before putting that kind of money in another detector. Like you my money wasn't to easy to come by and I wanted to know before hand what I was sticking my money into.
Immediately I was shocked at the volume of this machine. I not only didn't need a preamp, I had to turn it down to operate it. And that was only the beginning of the surprises for me. I was given a copy of Andy's Explorer/E-Trac Hand Book by the dealer when I purchased my new detector with instructions to read it all the way threw. I read that book twice and the E-Trac instruction manual once before even taking it out. It was obvious there was a learning curve to this machine, but reading this forum and using the machine helped tremendously. There is just no end to the different setting that can be made to help in different hunting situations.
I have only owned my machine since Mid Sept. but have found many silver coins, Wheat Pennies, V nickles, a heavy 10K gold plated watch, a silver ring and a very small silver Frat charm from a bracelet and several nice tokens. This is the go getting-est nickle machine you'll ever use. It will pick out coins from the worst of junkie areas and I personally have found several silver coins and tokens laying over and right next to big old rusty nails. It has a Quick Mask program that will help identify good targets laying right in the middle of trash. I have personally dug many good targets that didn't sound the best but when checked with the Quick Mask program it showed the target to be good and I would dig it and 99% of the time it was a worth while item. That's the biggest back saving program I've ever seen. The dept ability of this machine is like none I've ever used before, and the target I.D. is just as good at 10 inch's as it is at two inch's. Another thing you will like is the fact that discrimination doesn't seem to effect the dept ability as it will on other machines.
I guess I could have shortened this whole thing and simply said there is no comparison period between the two machines. If you can afford the up grade you won't be sorry. Rick (IL)
I did some reading on line about the E-Trac and decided to look up a dealer where I could actually hear one in operation ( I drove 200 miles to the closest dealer) so I could hear for my self before putting that kind of money in another detector. Like you my money wasn't to easy to come by and I wanted to know before hand what I was sticking my money into.
Immediately I was shocked at the volume of this machine. I not only didn't need a preamp, I had to turn it down to operate it. And that was only the beginning of the surprises for me. I was given a copy of Andy's Explorer/E-Trac Hand Book by the dealer when I purchased my new detector with instructions to read it all the way threw. I read that book twice and the E-Trac instruction manual once before even taking it out. It was obvious there was a learning curve to this machine, but reading this forum and using the machine helped tremendously. There is just no end to the different setting that can be made to help in different hunting situations.
I have only owned my machine since Mid Sept. but have found many silver coins, Wheat Pennies, V nickles, a heavy 10K gold plated watch, a silver ring and a very small silver Frat charm from a bracelet and several nice tokens. This is the go getting-est nickle machine you'll ever use. It will pick out coins from the worst of junkie areas and I personally have found several silver coins and tokens laying over and right next to big old rusty nails. It has a Quick Mask program that will help identify good targets laying right in the middle of trash. I have personally dug many good targets that didn't sound the best but when checked with the Quick Mask program it showed the target to be good and I would dig it and 99% of the time it was a worth while item. That's the biggest back saving program I've ever seen. The dept ability of this machine is like none I've ever used before, and the target I.D. is just as good at 10 inch's as it is at two inch's. Another thing you will like is the fact that discrimination doesn't seem to effect the dept ability as it will on other machines.
I guess I could have shortened this whole thing and simply said there is no comparison period between the two machines. If you can afford the up grade you won't be sorry. Rick (IL)
I haven't owned the 705 but have owned several competitor's models. I took the chance after hearing alot of great things on the Etrac and let me tell you I have a new obsession/passion for treasure hunting now. I mostly coinhunt, but have also found rings with it. I have done ocean, lake beaches, fields, foundations, and parks. The ability to change settings or keep a stock program allows for a ton of flexibility in different locations. I would think that keeping with same brand as you may be, going from the 705 to the Etrac will be an awesome upgrade. I will assure you that you can go back to all of the places you have been and with some patients you will find more finds there. I think that the money is well worth it. HH and good luck.
Hi - I have an E-Trac but not an Xterra.
I believe you will be very pleased with the E-Trac. From everything I have read, Xterra owners who have switched are pleased.
However, for prospecting I have read that the Xterra outfitted with the gold coil (higher frequency??) is a solid machine for the money - it may outperform the E-Trac for that use.
There are plenty of comments on this forum and also on the Minelab owners forum too.
I believe you will be very pleased with the E-Trac. From everything I have read, Xterra owners who have switched are pleased.
However, for prospecting I have read that the Xterra outfitted with the gold coil (higher frequency??) is a solid machine for the money - it may outperform the E-Trac for that use.
There are plenty of comments on this forum and also on the Minelab owners forum too.
Tenspeed
Member
I own both (the Xterra 70 is now a backup or loaner) and I agree with Tippyhounds comments. My biggest lesson about the differences in them was learned when hunting and old fairgroung with Andy when he was hunting with the development Etrac and I was still using my Xterra 70. We had picked all the easy coins and I couldn't see anything for the nulls. He was busy pulling wheaties and silver dimes in places I couldn't get anything. That was the day I decided to buy an Etrac when they were released.
There is no comparison between the two when hunting in a trashy place, the Etrac will run circles around an Xterra 70. A Etrac will also not pass up silver under almost any circumstance. My silver count has been way up since getting the Etrac.
Now if you want to look for small gold bits, then the Xterra with a high frequency coil is hard to beat.
Good luck in your decision and if the financial difference is not a problem, I would go with the Etrac.
Merry Christmas!!
There is no comparison between the two when hunting in a trashy place, the Etrac will run circles around an Xterra 70. A Etrac will also not pass up silver under almost any circumstance. My silver count has been way up since getting the Etrac.
Now if you want to look for small gold bits, then the Xterra with a high frequency coil is hard to beat.
Good luck in your decision and if the financial difference is not a problem, I would go with the Etrac.
Merry Christmas!!
I had and still own an x-70, I will not get rid of it because it is a GREAT machine, BUT the etrac is way better. I did so well with the x-70 I didn't think it was possible for me to do any better with the etrac. My local dealer tried hard to get me to bump up to the etrac but I was hesitant for a long time. Finally I broke down and purchased one (spring of 2010) and now I am kicking myself for not getting it SOONER! The etrac is so far above the x-70 it is not funny.
The x-70 is super light....big bonus since I have carpal tunnel and tendonitis. The etrac is heavier but extremely balanced so the extra weight has not negatively effected me in any way.
The x-70 is easy to use. The etrac was a breeze to transition too because I was already accustomed to multi tone, so I consider it very easy to use
The x-70 is not good on deep iron, a lot of times I dug deep coin signals which was really iron. The etrac is amazing at telling you what is in the ground. It is rare for me to be fooled on iron with it.
The x-70 is good on depth. The etrac is a nice bit deeper, I'd venture to say 2-3" deeper on coins easy
The x-70 is not bad on nickels, the etrac is AMAZING on nickels.
The x-70 can only use one freq. at a time, I used the 3khz coil almost always because I primarily wanted silver and copper coins, but this caused me to not get gold and very many nickels. The etrac is a FBS detector, so I don't have to worry about picking and choosing between silver and missing low conductors like nickels and gold.
overall I love the etrac better than the x70,but I will NOT get rid of the x70 because it is a great detector, a good backup machine, if I want to take a friend along it is simple enough a newbie can detect with me. Plus it is paid for so why get rid of it....lol
The x-70 is super light....big bonus since I have carpal tunnel and tendonitis. The etrac is heavier but extremely balanced so the extra weight has not negatively effected me in any way.
The x-70 is easy to use. The etrac was a breeze to transition too because I was already accustomed to multi tone, so I consider it very easy to use
The x-70 is not good on deep iron, a lot of times I dug deep coin signals which was really iron. The etrac is amazing at telling you what is in the ground. It is rare for me to be fooled on iron with it.
The x-70 is good on depth. The etrac is a nice bit deeper, I'd venture to say 2-3" deeper on coins easy
The x-70 is not bad on nickels, the etrac is AMAZING on nickels.
The x-70 can only use one freq. at a time, I used the 3khz coil almost always because I primarily wanted silver and copper coins, but this caused me to not get gold and very many nickels. The etrac is a FBS detector, so I don't have to worry about picking and choosing between silver and missing low conductors like nickels and gold.
overall I love the etrac better than the x70,but I will NOT get rid of the x70 because it is a great detector, a good backup machine, if I want to take a friend along it is simple enough a newbie can detect with me. Plus it is paid for so why get rid of it....lol
Well thank you so much for the responses I have made my mind I will save my pennies through most of winter here in mn and I will buy the e trac my kids will love using the x 70 along with their ace 250 i look foward to the purchase and more so the new hunt I have plenty places I want to go back to. Thanks again Don