Minelab: "The Future of Discovery" - what do you think is going on?

[Heelgrasper]

I've just made aware that something is going over at Minelab where something called "The Future of Discovery" is going to be revealed in just under 43 hours: http://www.minelab.com/emea/consumer/knowledge-base/news?article=87806.

So why not spend this time guessing what they are going to present? Personally I guess two things:

1) The pinpointer we heard about some time ago. Doesn't look much different than the Garrett.
2) A new series of X-Terra detectors. Hopefully with some serious changes. I'm thinking wireless headphones and a bit smarter control box.

What do you think?

 

[Lipservice]

A sub $2000 GPX model... there had been talk of that awhile back???

 

[Steve O]

A ballanced and lighter e-trac with no-glare faceplate, wireless and a bit faster.

 

[Critterhunter]

More info including a blurb from a Minelab tech saying we are going to be "blown away"...

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?63,1691321

 

[Elton]

I think you may be right on the model Lipservice, or at least in that area... We can all hope for a lighter better balanced coin hunter...but I don't think that is where the money is for Minelab.

That said................ I hope I'm wrong, and it's a fine, light weight, colored screen, coin grabber.......... Did I read right..in 40 hrs..More info ?? Or is it a release on new detector?.

 

[targets]

any new machine should at least be wireless ,otherwise it will be laughed at .
the dues has raised the bar for other makers .
you dont need colour screen it just eats up the batteries .
thats why deus is B&W .

it will need to overhaul the deus wont it.

 

[Critterhunter]

The big "D" isn't a step above what Minelab has in their top three machines from what I've read in terms of depth or VDI reliability. It's main strengths are being light and fast so you can sweep fast in iron without as much of a chance of missing targets, but that is easily achieved on a slow machine by sweeping slow and you won't miss anything if you do that on a slow machine. And there are plenty of much cheaper fast machines than the big "D" on the market for swinging fast if that's what you want.

I could care less about a wireless coil. How many times have you been hunting and said "Boy, this would be much more enjoyable if that coil cable wasn't on my shaft"? Wireless headphones? Yea, I can see where that would have it's perks when bending down to dig targets but again it's not a game changer for me. I care about the performance of the machine and not the sizzle being sold when I just want to know how good the steak tastes.

I just hope this new machine isn't such a leap in technology that it will easily find masked or deep silver that even the best machines have to work for in order to find. If that happens then it's game over and it won't be worth hunting public sites anymore and all that will be left is water hunting for fresh dropped rings and hunting private property. I like the way things are now, where you need to really know your machine and work hard at one way masked signals or real deep iffy ones to find the silver that it still out there on public land. That's where the challenge and fun is, and if those coins get easily found by some leap in technology then the hobby is over for a lot of people.

The worst thing they could do would be to say come out with a machine that displays a picture of what's in the ground with good pixel resolution and detail on coin sized targets. Machines are out that do show pictures but they aren't this capable to be any real threat to modern VLF machines. If there is some quantum leap made and those hard to find silvers are easily found then it will not only kill the hobby but the detector manufacturers after about two years when the machine covers all the public sites. Also, I'd hate to see a machine that is able to find all the gold rings and leave behind pulltabs, foil, and other junk. That would also be a hobby killer. As it stands now you have to dig the junk to find the gold rings, and that's part of the fun and challenge.

 

[marcomo]

any new machine should at least be wireless ,otherwise it will be laughed at .
the dues has raised the bar for other makers .
you dont need colour screen it just eats up the batteries .
thats why deus is B&W .

it will need to overhaul the deus wont it.

I won't laugh at a new detector that isn't wireless, I'll laugh at silly posts like this

 

[Lipservice]

The Deus andit's wireless coil is a big MINUS to me. That elevates the cost of optional coils to ridiculous.

 

[MNCoinhunter]

The Deus andit's wireless coil is a big MINUS to me. That elevates the cost of optional coils to ridiculous.

No kidding .. $500 and $600+ for Deus coils alone . .... no thanks.

 

[Critterhunter]

Yep, just extra cost for a coil to have the gimmick of no coil cable. Who cares about that? And of course there's the question of just how waterproof that coil is since you have to charge the battery in it.

 

[Elton]

n/t

 

[Critterhunter]

Like I said, who cares about a coil cable running from the coil to the box? How many times have you been hunting and let that bother you for ANY reason at all? Just a gimick. Wireless headphones? Sure, that can have it's perks but honestly how big of a problem is that for people? Only matters if you want to lay the machine down and then have to take them off so you can go see what your buddy is going.

That machine from what I read doesn't have stellar depth compared to the big "M" machines and it's ID is unreliable. It's only advantage is being super fast so you can sweep faster, but if you keep your sweep speed slow on a slow machine it's a non-issue. Besides, plenty of fast machines that you can swing fast for about 1/3rd the price of that thing. Sure, it's light....But so are quite a few fast machines on the market that are much cheaper. Just don't see any advantage to it, and for sure not at that price. Much better options out there.

You guys might want to check out two threads raging in the Etrac forum right now about the new machine. Lot's of rumors going on in there, and I rip apart the patent on the new machine with some mindless (but fun!) speculation on it. As it stands right now it sounds like it will show a performance increase in rare severly minarlized ground, but in most common moderate to heavy mineralization that current Minelabs can handle with no problem I don't think it's going to show any depth advantage over them. Just in the worst of the worst such as the red iron rich clay in VA perhaps. Depth anywhere else I bet will be the same as the current Etrac, Explorer, or GT...Which are all pretty much equal in depth using the same sized coil. Only place I think you'll see that machine show an advantage is in the worste of ground conditions that the current three flagship models have trouble with...Which is pretty rare situations. The patent talks about it's ability to cope with severe mineralization so that's what I'm basing my theory on.

 

[Critterhunter]

About the big "D" 's coil concerning a battery compartment and/or plug to charge it that's built into the coil that may have waterproofing issues down the road....What about the on/off switch for the coil too and the risks with keeping that water tight? I would assume the coil has to have an on/off switch on it, because if there was no way to turn it off it would still run the battery down rather fast even sitting in standby mode waiting for the control paid or headphones to talk to it. Just don't like that idea of being a wireless coil at all. You are giving up too much risk with being water tight against leaks, and as said the cost of those coils is as much as some detectors out there. Just don't see the usefulness in all that just so you don't have a coil cable running up the shaft.

Just my opinion. Others may strongly disagree and feel it's worth the effort.

 

[Roscue2]

Welp, they are going after the AT PRO, with a much higher price tag, of course.

 

[Barry NY]

Yeah - for the price they're gonna charge you can have an AT Pro for every day of the week.......hahaha.......

 

[kai_gold]

Looks cool but probably pricey.

 

[GoVidGo]

It's like combining the ETrac FE-Co, PC hookup, Pro-coil + the V3i color display and wireless headphones + Fisher's screen set up + Verizon's GPS (GPSi) + AT Pro's 10' waterproof

 

[Thound]

This machine is for the person who has to have the latest, greatest machine (he thinks) and can afford it. The weight and price alone will keep the masses away.I don't think it will sell very good unless the performance is unequaled. IMHO.

 

[Critterhunter]

It's too expensive. Too heavy (heavier than an Etrac even). Too many gimmicky features like GPS, and so on. I don't see it selling well. You can buy an Xcal and a Etrac, SE Pro, Or Sovereign GT for that price....Or at least the Xcal and one of those machines with one of them being used to match the price they are asking. Aint although I'm a Minelab fan, you can't beat the price of the AT Pro with full LCD screen and being light so it's as comfortable on land as in the water. I was hoping for a cheap Xcal/Sovereign hybrid for land and water use. BBS may be older technology but it goes just as deep or deeper than anything else on the market. I know, I've tested it against the latest and greatest machines in the field. Mainly I wanted to see them use the older BBS to keep the price low, an LCD screen or at least a VDI display, and light....so it would compete with the At Pro. Sure, the Xcal is deeper, and performs better in salt water, but have to admit Garrett has a real winner with the price and features of the AT Pro to hunt both water and land as a true dual purpose machine.