You can hear opinions on both sides and wonder just who's being biased. The "unbiased" opinion would be to look in the DFX and V3 forums, then look in the Etrac, Sovereign, and Explorer forums. The big three Minelabs will clean the clock of any machine currently on the market when it comes to depth and unmasking ability, not to mention hunting in heavy minerals or iron. I'm a Whites fan but they have really gone off the deep end with bells and whistles when they should spent all that extra research making a machine that will get deeper and unmask better. What I'd really like to see would be a "Flex 3". On this machine rather than having three preset frequencies let the user select what they are. Going for deep copper and silver? Then set it at say 1.5, 3, and 5khz. Going for gold? Then how about using 12, 14, and maybe 18 or 22khz. Also, don't load the machine down with so much software that it's out of phase with it's self in both VDI and audio. Now THAT'S A Whites I'd own, and I don't need most of the other useless features that will rarely if ever be used.
For a mid priced unit how about a low frequency 3 to 6khz machine and a decent coil stock instead of a monster 12" concentric. Give it a 12" Double D or contract with Kellyco to make a 10x12 or 10x14 or so for it. I'd rather see a 15x12 SEF on it but that's probably too big for selling to the masses. I need assignable hi-tones and a good VDI along the lines of the M6/MXT. Now you've got yourself a cheap (say $500 to $600) machine that is custom built to hunt and hunt DEEP for silver and copper, meaning old coins. I'm really let down that Whites seems to have left the low frequency machines they cut their teeth on and gone to the higher M6/MXT one. Great for gold but not giving you max depth for old coins or in heavy minerals, which low frequencies tend to penetrate better. Problem is the old Whites units don't have anybody making a larger DD coil for them in say the 12 to 14" size range, just the 9.5" concentric. Oh sure, there is the 12" Hot Shot concentric but I couldn't get two brand new ones to work on my QXT. I bet there are more of the older Whites out there (QXT, 6000 Pro XL, XLT, and so on) using the same low frequency (and thus coils) than any other models on the market. That makes it seem a PRIME market for somebody to start making bigger 12 to 14" coils for those units in a DD. Now only will they get deep, maybe as deep or deeper than the Minelabs in some situatioins (low ground minerals), but the DD will let them handle trash and minerals a bit better than the 9.5" did. I'd love to see a 15x12 or at least the 12x10 SEF made for these units. It would bring new life back to the old Whites line and at least get them near the ballpark when it comes to some of the deepest machines on the market today....That is, at least closer than any of the Whites are now.