I love my Cortes, but...

[dan b]

I've been very successful with my Cortes, and would even venture to say that it is the best detector I've ever owned. Then, just for pure curiosity sake, I traded a Vaquero I wasn't using for a Fisher F5. I never owned a Fisher, so I figured what the heck, try it out.

Here is what I think. Quality wise, the Tesoro has the advantage in most areas. The poles fit together much better on the Fisher, but the front of the display, and the lower pole where it attaches to the coil seems kind of flimsy on the Fisher. The Tesoro can get out in the mud, then at the end of the day, cleans up beautifully to brand new condition. I'm not so confident that the Fisher will do the same. I think it will be imperative to get some kind of clear protective film over that display ASAP.

Performance wise, the Fisher stomps on the Cortes, from my early testing. The tones on the Fisher are clear and distinctive. The ground balancing is quick and easy, with the live monitoring of the soil an added bonus. It's easy to see when you need to tweak in the GB just by looking at the numbers on the display. The Cortes doesn't GB in disc at all. As for depth, my first indications are that it is slightly deeper than the Cortes. I say that because I dug a few coins at a measured 8" in a small area of my yard that I would have bet the farm was cleaned out. I've gone over it slowly and meticulously with every new machine I've had. The F5 gave a nice tone which inspired me to dig signals that the Cortes couldn't reach. I know the Cortes is capable of that kind of depth, but for what ever reason (perhaps the ability to GB in disc on the F5) the F5 scored better this time around.

Using the 2 machines side by side, the age of the Cortes shows. It is a decade old design up against 21st century engineering. If you take into account the retail price of each, the Cortes is not a contender. You get so many more features on the Fisher, for a lot less money. Tesoro needs to wake up and realize that the competition is moving fast, and to not release new product for at least 6 years is not a good idea. They make the best beep-and-dig machines, no question about it, but when it comes to the more popular target ID machines, they don't come close.

In conclusion, I'm still keeping my Cortes for now, but I'm going to put more time in with the F5. I think this new machine is going to be a lot of fun.

Dan

 

[BarberBill]

Well, in my opinion, anything worh having is worth having 2 of, so now you have a loaner/backup to the new machine and both seem to be capable for the most part so get out and retrieve the goodies.
HH
BB

 

[jabbo]

I love my Cortes too, such a delightful detector for medium depth. But I'm going to switch over to my ID Edge which I haven't used much and see if it goes deeper since it GB in both modes.

 

[SteveP(NH)]

If you think the F5 is hot wait till you get your hands on a F75

 

[Hombre]

n/t

 

[dan b]

Hombre, what are you talking about? They're both mine. Maybe you should read the post.

 

[Hombre]

Not talking about your post Dan , I was refering to the post above mine, sorry,I should just shut up.

 

[SteveP(NH)]

So I obviously wasn't motivated to post my comment for the reason you falsely assumed. Before posting comments insulting other forum users maybe it would be a good idea to engage your brain and realize that you don't have any special insight into the reasons behind the posts that other people make - people who you have never met and do not know.

It is a well documented fact that the F75 outperforms the F5 both by design as well as by field tests by ordinary users. If the OP is impressed by the performance of the F5 compared to other machines he has used then he will be even more impressed by the F75 if he gets the chance to use one. With the advent of the F75 LTD model there have been some great deals on used F75s some going for the same price as a new F5 so he may have a chance to pick one up - it certainly not beyond the realm of possibilities.

So please don't guess at motivations that you have no clue about. My experience with a vast majority of the folks who use this forum is that they are much more interested in sharing their opinions and experience in order to help others who also share this hobby rather than self aggrandizement. I think you might get along better here if you jump to conclusions along these lines rather than your original ones.

 

[marcomo]

Dan - I've been using the F5 as my #1 machine for almost a year now and I agree with you it's a fine detector.

I'll also agree with you that Tesoro generally seems to have better build quality, but that's not saying that Fisher's is bad.

I also agree with you about something else - get that ID display on the F5 covered ASAP. After only about 10 hours with the detector I got enough light scratching on the display that I knew I better get it protected pronto. Taking someone's suggestion on this forum, I cut a piece of clear thin plastic from a notebook folder to size. It has kind of a staticy kind of cling to it, plus I attached it with a couple pieces of gaffers tape to the sides of the control box. After about 10 months the plastic protective piece has only gotten a little wear and I'm still using the same piece. And no more damage to the ID screen.

I also have a Tesoro I use a fair amount but not as much as the F5 - it's a Tejon. Depth wise, both are similar with the stock coils. But I haven't taken the 11" DD off the F5 since I've gotten it and it gets better depth than the stock and also better separation than the stock coil's.

As you said the F5 is a technologically a much more advanced detector, and I love the knobs and all the real time information with the F5.

IMO, the Tejon is better as a relic hunter than the F5 - it hits super hard on nickels and is way better than the F5 on low conductors. The F5 is mediocre on nickels. But I prefer the F5 for the high conductors, and since the majority of my hunting is coinshooting in old or semi-old yards, the F5 is what I go to the most.

As far as Tesoro falling behind, there may be some truth to that. But someone here posted a while back that he had talked to James Gifford who told him that 60% of Tesoro's sales are overseas. That's a whole different market with much different hunting scenarios that Tesoros are very well suited for. But again, I'm sure we agree. It sure would be nice to see Tesoro come up with a killer new technologically updated detector.

Glad your enjoying the F5, keep us updated on your successes on the Fisher forum. And check for all F5 posts by Mike Hillis - he's our F5 guru and he's posted a ton of great info on it on the Fisher forum.