Why did I buy the AT Pro? .... another honest review
What were my needs?
I live in an area where it's possible to find some civil war relics. I also love to hunt coins. Once a year, we spend a few weeks in Florida, so I wanted a detector that would perform decently on the beach and in shallow water.There is also a slight chance that my job will take me to an area where I could hope to find some gold nuggets. For this purchase, money was not really a concern. I wanted one detector that I could take anywhere, and look for anything. I knew it was a tall order.
Why did I decide on an AT Pro?
I spent lots of time reading up on different detectors. I read a ton of reviews and considered all the features of just about every detector out there. It appeared to me that every machine had short comings in at least one of the categories I desired... then I read about the AT Pro. AT stands for All Terrain and it's well named. It is one machine that will do just about all things I needed. A big plus was the price... for under $600 - I felt like I was getting a fantastic deal. Even though money wasn't a huge concern, no one wants to waste money. Compared to a lot of other machines, the AT Pro was a bargain. The fact that it's made by Garrett is another positive. They are a company with a good reputation, and I'd already had experience with the Ace model line.
The Review...
Is it the deepest detector out there? I don't know and I don't care. I've found civil war bullets up to 10" deep. Coins up to 12". Yesterday, I found a necklace that was 8" down. These aren't estimates, they are actual measured depths. As for depth - Just like anyone else, I want to find the good stuff and I don't want to miss anything...but... the reality is, we all dig a certain amount of trash and I don't want to run around digging a bunch of 16" deep holes all day. I'll probably catch flack for saying that, but it's just honesty. I'm finding plenty of stuff on every outing, and I don't feel disadvantaged in the least when using this machine.
Speaking of trash - the Pro mode is fantastic. Once I'd used the machine a couple of times, I quickly learned how to tell good targets from junk. It may sound silly, but some times I will dig a bottle cap, just to prove to myself that I was right, and it's a bottle cap. Once you learn how to listen to the machine, it becomes a coin monster. The discrimination and target ID is spot on and I very much enjoy using it. Pinpointing is also very accurate. Once you master the technique of re-tuning the pinpoint, it is dead on top of the target each time.
I haven't taken it to Florida yet, so I can't comment on the beach hunting or shallow water. But, I have no doubt, the AT Pro will do just fine in that environment too.
As for the ins and outs of the various features like Iron Audio, Pro vs Standard mode, ground balancing, etc... I'm going to skip all of that. If you want a review that covers the bells and whistles, go to Garrett's website and watch the videos. They are very detailed (much more so than I could write) and will show you everything the machine can do.
Overall, the machine is great and I am a very happy customer. Just like anything else that tries to "do it all", there are going to be specialized machines that are better in one specific area... but, I believe that no single detector out there does everything the AT Pro can do, especially at the $600 price point. I had to spend $40 on a Gizmo to save my elbow, but it's not a big deal. I hope Garrett address the ergonomics in the future, but if they don't, then people will be buying a lot of Gizmos. It's a small price to pay to make a great machine almost perfect. The headphone jack is also in a difficult place, but it's only a small annoyance.
I guess the real test is - If someone stole my AT Pro, would I buy another one? ....
Yes. And I'd have it sent overnight mail!
