???? Is the Whites TDI twice as good as other White products????

[earthsea]

How come the Whites TDI is almost twice the price of the rest of the Whites product range? I own a Whites TDI and no other detector, so I have been wondering if the rest of the Whites product range is really 100% inferior and I have payed for something extra I don't know about.
I don't mean to sound short on the subject, just wondering that's all.
Good hunting.

 

[Adrian SS]

I am inclined to think that PI costs are much higher than VLF machines because the market for PI machines is small compared to the VLF market;
Not a lot of detectorists like PI detectors because of the lack of good discrimination ability and the fact that most are only good for Saltwater beach work and Scuba Diving.

Manufacturing and design and development costs are high, so in order to make the PI a viable proposition for a limited market (low profit) the retail cost will be significantly higher than for a high end VLF machine that sells to a much larger user pool. (large profit)

I will admit though that a certain brand PI that sells to a HUGE world wide market retails at an extreme price.

 

[Steve from Ohio]

I agree with Adrian SS. It is the scale of production. The more machines made the cheaper they can sell them. Not many TDI's are being sold to coin shooters. I know one White's dealer that has had a TDI on the showroom floor for almost a year and no one is even looking at it.

PI requires a different mindset. There are no screens to tell you what the target may be and so you need to learn the machine a bit more.

Most people are not willing to go through the learning process and so they stick with VLF machines that can tell them what they are finding.

If people really knew how well the TDI and PI works especially for coins, they would buy a TDI and clean up. I have found the TDI to be a great machine for parks and beaches. I can find deeper targets than an E-trac and I can ignore iron and pull tabs.

With gold going up so often lately, gold nugget prospecting will be big again and you may see more TDI's being sold to find that gold.

The TDI is twice as good as VLF especially in mineralized ground. It is deeper than almost all VLF machines and my TDI has now taken the top spot as my all time favorite machine. (I've been metal detecting for almost 30 years and have owned almost all the top of the line detectors from almost all manufacturers.)

 

[earthsea]

Thanks Guys for your response, good replies. Its always appreciated when the more experienced hunters share there knowledge with us novices.
I am detecting in New Zealand where we have areas around our country set aside by the government for public fossicking, no mechanical or motorized devises allowed. There is not a lot of large gold around like in Australia but if you are persistent you can get some nice wee nuggets, While the Minelab 4500's ( around $8,000 NZ new ) are becoming the flavor of the month their cost is way beyond my budget, hence settling for the TDI, a good half way point. I bought my TDI off EBay for $2,500 NZ, second hand but only used once, still a fairly expensive exercise. Not only do I live near some good gold hunting areas I also live near a popular holiday beach and walking the Beach's suits my TDI as well.
I wonder if the daily increasing price of gold will make the investment of the TDI worth the extra $$, a new TDI is now around the price of one ounce of Gold! which seemed like a good investment to me, besides I like the challenge of fine tuning during the hunt that goes with the TDI. Simply reading on a screen what you are about to dig up seems a little boring to me. Give me the extra depth any day.
I guess I should be asking myself now, is the Minelab 4500 worth a 150% more than the TDI??
I'll sleep on it.

 

[tvanwho]

Steve,

How do you set up your TDi to ignore pulltabs and iron and still hit on coins? Do you lose nickels and rings to do this? Will it ignore all aluminum trash or just the tabs?
I learnt the hard way NOT to accidentally drop your TDi. It upset something inside my unit and the local service guy could not fix it so had to send it back to Whites.
Thanks,

Tom

 

[Ism]

There is a "whites TDI forum that can be googled, with seasoned users that can help you. Many of your questions have already been answered there better than I can explain them.



Here's some help....

Hi,

The following is a

 

[ixlr8]

Tvanwho,

Check out a post on the PI TECHNOLOGY FORUM, If you click on the forum, go down about 17 posts to one called "PI and coin hunting" by Pennyfinder. He has a video on there. But there is another video on there by "Reg" and he does a great job showing you how to disc. out nails and
tabs and still find coins. Check it out.

Steve