Im not trying to be evasive here, but that is a BIG question. Let me take a stab at a few things, eh?
If you mean depth, well it compares. I have compared it to the ones I mentioned and it's pretty deep. The GB is easy to use, too. Is it the deepest detector in the history of the world? Of course not, although some may lead you to believe so. There are FAR too many variables to make a statement like that stick.
Keep in mind that there are OTHER performance elements that can be more important than just depth (although as another has noted, "Depth Sells.")
On sites where really deep targets may exist, I can say you better stay awake. Like all Tesoro's I've ever known, it is amplitude modulated. This means that the deeper the target, the narrower the response becomes and the weaker the audio signal is. It may go indeed go deep, but you better be paying attention when it finds something down there.
It has only monotone audio, which I dont like. Im not a big fan of exotic displays, cursors and little smiley faces blinking at you all the time, either, but I DO like tone ID. This sort of ID is a happy compromise, in my book (my favorite to date was the TID on the Fisher CZ's). The V doesn't have TID at all... so you are twiddling knobs if you even want to try to ID your target. However, I took mine out in the yard to verify some of these things and have to add that it is not unexpressive in terms of audio nuance. Whats that mean? Good metal targets come through sounding, well, good.
Also on the plus side, the DISC is razor edged, and twiddling for ID is easily done, albeit a tad fussy. Fortunately, the Giffords placed the DISC knob correctly for the practice. I place a marker (a tiny piece of flourescent tape) at nickle and ZC and I then have a passable ID detector. It is also good around smallish iron. Moving from "IRON" DISC to the notch below nickle will make a noticeable change in response in an area infested with small iron bits. But don't expect miracles around larger chunks; it aint gonna happen.
It has a fast target response, since it is an analog circuit. This is VERY good and makes for a comforting bit of performance. But, you can also swing it slow to isolate and pinpoint your target, which almost eliminates the need to use the PP function altogether. Some even say, it goes a little deeper when you do work it slowly. I cant respond to that, as Ive never noticed. For me, the jury is still out on that one.
BTW, it is still a dandy little coinshooter if you want to use it for that - some poo-poo tha idea since it is usually billed as a "purists" unit. It is, after all, just a progressive DISC, manual GB VLF detector, regardless of the hype. People were using that sort of instrument long before anything else was available.
Did I mention that it is lightweight and easy swinging, yet has a solid feel. Get the 5.75" coil and it makes a nice little hunter in parks, schools and other trashy sites, what with it's expanded DISC. midrange and good target separation.
Did that help?
