My AT Pro review... Honesty is the best policy...

[OL' Mountain man]

How anyone can base their decision to buy or not to buy on the word of just one individual is beyond me. Getting the ground reading
wrong was just one aspect of this! Then the Sovereign gets better depth with a larger coil Duh! Since owning the AT, I have dug good targets much deeper than I usually care to. What's going on here is just another opinion, nothing more nothing less. Opinions are just like a!%#&^$, everyone has one. I also use brand X and am finding that the AT competes with brand X very well.
HH, OMM

 

[Jerry-Wi]

The At Pro will find all the coins the average person wants to dig and then some. For example, yesterday I dug 30 quarters, 27 dimes, 18 nickels and 32 pennies. Many of the dimes were at the level of the speaker holes of the propointer in depth. I do not know what some people expect out of a metal detector, but for me that is not a bad day.

Jerry

 

[fir469]

How anyone can base their decision to buy or not to buy on the word of just one individual is beyond me. Getting the ground reading
wrong was just one aspect of this! Then the Sovereign gets better depth with a larger coil Duh! Since owning the AT, I have dug good targets much deeper than I usually care to. What's going on here is just another opinion, nothing more nothing less. Opinions are just like a!%#&^$, everyone has one. I also use brand X and am finding that the AT competes with brand X very well.
HH, OMM

I never said it wasn't an opinion, and if you read my previous posts in this thread you'd notice I explained the coil difference on the Sovereign, DUH... I wrote the review for those thinking of purchasing one to get an honest opinion from a user who has one not just reviews of people screaming that its the best detector ever made... As for ground readings, may I ask what your machine GB's at and is your soil mineralized or not? In South Jersey we have some of the sandiest mild soil around... GBing my Nautilus (which is almost unusable in high minerals) GB's at 65 which is considered extremely mild on the Nautilus scale... So tell me how my soil is even numerically with black sand and magnetite as the manual states?? I surely wish there were more reviews out when I purchased mine, all I was reading was a ton of people screaming it was better then sliced bread, well when I purchased one I quickly found out it isn't all it was hyped up to be... a great machine? yes... as good as many claim?? no IMO.

 

[kirk01]

" arm cuff is too close to handle loading most of the detectors weight on your wrist and middle of the forearm"

Just ran across the Garrett "Gizmo" Arm cuff extension.

Has any one tried it yet?

Thanks
and GOOD Hunting

Denny

 

[fir469]

" arm cuff is too close to handle loading most of the detectors weight on your wrist and middle of the forearm"

Just ran across the Garrett "Gizmo" Arm cuff extension.

Has any one tried it yet?

Thanks
and GOOD Hunting

Denny

Ordered one yesterday... can't wait to get it!!

 

[OL' Mountain man]

fir,
Yes, I read your posts and your correction. My mineralization is high, here in the mtns of CO. And in general your assessment was right on. But not regarding depth and a couple other items.
For one, as stated by another poster the headphones are useless. I had to make my own adapter. 2. The arm cuff design was made for midgets. 3. My biggest complaint is wobbly shafts. Luckily for us there are a couple enterprising people on this forum that have come up with good solutions to these problems. I too had to send mine back to Garrett for the bad coil and plug in mount. Now that it's back it functions fine. It may not have the cosmetic finesse of Brand X, but it's a whole lot cheaper to buy. And worth every penny I've had to spend to improve its handling. I now have better than 100 hrs in the field with this machine and I'm a long way from figuring it out. My finds have increased considerably these last couple of months to boot.
HH, OMM

 

[MrPopTop]

Man oh man, it is a solid machine, I fell for the Ace 250 hype and was almost sworn off Garretts.
I would buy this At Pro again if I had to.
It is pretty sweet.

Not hypeing it.

 

[widebody]

[size=large]those enterprising people should have never had to invent the fixes for Garrett's bad design. that for me is the biggest irretent. they knew of the problems and didn't address them. they ignored them instead. aside from the coil problem this machine is doing better than some really thought it would. but it still has the same ace design flaws. this review is just a good attempt to tell it like it really is. i thank you for it. jmo

HH[/size]

 

[Jamief]

" arm cuff is too close to handle loading most of the detectors weight on your wrist and middle of the forearm"

Just ran across the Garrett "Gizmo" Arm cuff extension.

Has any one tried it yet?

Thanks
and GOOD Hunting

Denny

Yes, I have the Gizmo installed on my Pro. It made all the difference in the world. Prior to installing thr Gizmo, my elbow would become extremely sore after swinging the Pro for about 2 hours. Since I installed the Gizmo, I can hunt all day with no pain. I'm glad I bought it.

 

[ML]

fir469 - Great honest review. And for those claiming that the greater depth of the Sov is due to the size of the SEF over the Garrett coil, really? They are pretty much the same size. For me, I didn't buy an AT Pro thinking it was gonna replace my Minelabs at the beach, and in most areas it won't. But it performs well as a "do it all" unit that you can take anywhere. Is it overhyped? Probably. Aren't most detectors? Are there things you'd want changed on it? Probably. Every brand detector I own has aftermarket items. Garrett's got a real good unit at a great price. What else could you ask for?

 

[GraveDiggerMax-VaBch-Va]

Let me make it clearer for you.

My main reason for buying it was fresh drops.........they will start in May I hope and then I can report back more.

It is heavy...little over 4 lbs...........for over 15 years I have just swung a straight shaft with a coil only.....little over 2 lbs. After two or three hours that extra two pounds BECOMES HEAVY.

 

[Southwind]

As a past owner of the Sovereign GT let's be honest here. The GT was indeed the deepest detector I've even owned. So why don't I still own one? Simple, I thought it was the worst coin detector I've even owned. I had the 180 meter and it still was next to impossible to cherry pick. If you prefer to dig it all then yes you can't go wrong with the GT, and I'm sure there are those who can, to some degree, cherry pick with it, but It was not for me. For my type of hunting, parks, schools, front yards, tot lots I'd take the AT Pro hands down. Ever tried a GT in a tot lot? Yup, worthless. Now I'd take the GT anytime for relic hunting.

The AT Pro is not the master of do-it-all detecting by any means, but what it is, in my opinion <- note, is the best tot lot/gold detector for the money period. If I want extremely deep coin hunting in worked out sites I'll use my E-Trac. When I want to make sure I'm not missing even the smallest gold in those tot lots there is nothing better than the AT Pro. There are other detector close to the same price range that can do deep coins and relics just as good as the AT Pro, but NONE do gold as deep. Test it yourself. I did.

 

[goodmore]

It reminds me of my local bicycle shop. The owner once told me that he doesn't make that much money on the sale of bicycles. He makes it on the accessories. Well I bought the Gizmo (not from Garrett). I bought two shaft locks (not from Garrett). I put a new handle on my detector to replace the twisting foam grip (Not from Garrett). I would like to buy a headphone adapter, but Garrett is running late and my detecting season is under way. I would like to buy a coil extension for hip mounting, but Garrett offers none.

 

[kirk01]

Southwind

" but NONE do gold as deep. Test it yourself. I did."

You have that right. Air tested my 14k gold wedding band at 13 to 14 inches!
0.4 gram gold nugget air tested at 4 1/2 inches!

That is the reason I will probably keep the machine and order the Gizmo to save my wrist.

Good Hunting

Denny

 

[Kayaker]

The shaft on my does not wobble at all, even if I try. And I certainly couldn't consider the headphones useless. They work just fine for me although I don't have any high dollar ones to compare to. But the cord is definitely too short. I followed a suggestion to stretch the heck out of it and it does help with the length issue, but it's still too short. The weight and balance, though, are definitely off. I have some arm tendon issues and my elbows hurt after a few hours (on the inner/lateral side if holding palms up) even if I'm switching arms. I'll be ordering a Garrett Gizmo soon, too.

 

[kirk01]

Just ordered my Gizmo from Kenny. (khouse)
Can't wait to get it!

Good Hunting

Denny

 

[sandnsea49]

detectors and reviewed every one before I bought. Do you know how hard it is to find a good honest review? If you got to the forum for that detector, most reviews are "Great machine", "deepest one I ever owned", "finds gold", " gold magnet", "silver magnet", etc., etc, blah, blah, blah. Reviews like this are hard to find and some of you guys just want to bash the guy. He has his opinon, I like to here different opinions. Instead of bashing someone, why don't you take the time to do what he did. Go out in the field, do some comparisons and let us know what you find. Don't sit on your a** and tell everyone how wrong he is. Get out there and show me. I'm a doubting Thomas (which is my name) and I like to SEE comparisons, not just bragging. Bragging is your right, but I won't pay much attention to it unless you can back it up. So leave the guy alone and thank him for his hard work. Bashing people will keep them from posting honest opinions. Which is what we all really want isn't it? Why should he post any review if he is going to be torn apart for it. I personally thank him for what he has given the hobby.

 

[Eric (NH)]

I really don't think anyone is "bashing" the original poster. The post has created discussion...what would you expect? Personally, it seems like a well balanced review, and at least time was spent in the field under real world conditions. I appreciate the commitment to writing the review.

Personally, I don't rely on one or two reviews...I need to find some balance in all the reports. In regard to the depth performance, it is at least as much or more than I would expect in a mid-range priced detector.

Pro's and con's abound with every detector release, regardless of manufacturer...a potential buyer needs to prioritize what is most important in relation to their budget and type of hunting.

HH, Eric (NH)

 

[kirk01]

sandnsea

Good post.

"Why should he post any review if he is going to be torn apart for it. I personally thank him for what he has given the hobby"

I thank him too.

Good Hunting

Denny.

 

[Stix]

The depth issue is all that really bugs me on the machine. I been researching and this is the first couple on this thread that say it is average. I dislike buying a machine and sending it back. Seems unfair and I dislike losing money on the open market. This time I am going to have to stop being so worried and give the machine a go. This is the first new detector I will have bought all others have been used or reconditioned. I have had quite a few to compare this machine to. I am gonna stick with this purchase and give it a go.

There is alot of pro's and a few con's I just hope the depth will be satisfactory to me. Good review.... I did not see anyone bash him tho.