[quote UK Brian]Its overpriced and another poor Minelab design in that it falls over, is nose heavy (why not put the batteries in a pod at the back?) relatively insensitive to very small/thin coins in general detecting mode and lacks depth on large items so I'm not convinced it would be the best choice for you for relic hunting.
Jack of all trades apart from wet sand and fairly good for the coin shooter but by the time you have the range of coils you need the cheaper/better option is to buy a couple of other detectors.
I would see if could have a go with one through a local detecting club before buying.[/quote]
Maybe it's just because you are in the UK and other machines work better there for you on your side of the pond. The X-terra 70 is worth every dime you spend on it. Yes, it may be a little top heavy when setting it down on the ground, but I will match it against any detector in it's price range. It sounds to me like you are a Minelab hater. That's fine as we are all entitled to our own opinions and as we all know, the machine you are most comfortable with will make the most finds for you. Look at the number of posts in the X-Terra section of this site, Read about how happy the owners of the X-terra are with their detectors and try one if you get the chance. Minelab did a great job in the design, performance and number of features in the 70. The ease of use, deep finding ability and versatility of the 70, it's light weight and the fact that 4 AA batteries seem to last for ever make it the best detector for the money.
Good hunting, John K