DiggerDanbo
New member
Whittled my detector purchase to one of these 3! Your advice is needed! I will be 75% beach hunting but will expand inland. My budget is $1500 no more. Thanks ahead of time
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Ready to buy V3i Etrac or Deus
- Thread starter DiggerDanbo
- Start date
If so, ditch all three and get a CTX, Excal or CZ21.
I have all 3 and the Deus is great in the dry sand but wet salt water, the V3i or E-Trac will hunt better. But none of them are waterproof and salt water is a bear on non-waterproof units ( even salt air). You can't give a non-waterproof unit a fresh water bath after a salt water beach hunt.
I primarily use CZ's on the beaches here in NJ. Been using them since the mid 90's so they are my go to unit. Not that I don't like the Excal or CTX...had them too. I just mesh with my CZ's.
If you aren't going to hunt wet salt sand and the suds, then it's a hard choice. I say E-Trac or V3i just because of the after market coil choices. E-Trac out of the box is easier to use and hunt with. V3i has a lot of programming options and tweaking needed to tune that baby to get the performance needed. Whites does have better customer service in my opinion and the 13 inch DeTech coil on the V3i is a killer combo.
Then again that Deus with the wireless feature is a joy to use. Dry sand hunting with the Deus is so much fun and I don't get tired swinging that unit.
Hope I confused you more ! HA !
Seriously though, it is a hard choice. If I had to only have one unit between the Deus, V3i and E-Trac I would keep my E-Trac with the several coils I have for it. Probably because I have had that unit the longest out of the 3 and learned it better than the others.
I have all 3 and the Deus is great in the dry sand but wet salt water, the V3i or E-Trac will hunt better. But none of them are waterproof and salt water is a bear on non-waterproof units ( even salt air). You can't give a non-waterproof unit a fresh water bath after a salt water beach hunt.
I primarily use CZ's on the beaches here in NJ. Been using them since the mid 90's so they are my go to unit. Not that I don't like the Excal or CTX...had them too. I just mesh with my CZ's.
If you aren't going to hunt wet salt sand and the suds, then it's a hard choice. I say E-Trac or V3i just because of the after market coil choices. E-Trac out of the box is easier to use and hunt with. V3i has a lot of programming options and tweaking needed to tune that baby to get the performance needed. Whites does have better customer service in my opinion and the 13 inch DeTech coil on the V3i is a killer combo.
Then again that Deus with the wireless feature is a joy to use. Dry sand hunting with the Deus is so much fun and I don't get tired swinging that unit.
Hope I confused you more ! HA !
Seriously though, it is a hard choice. If I had to only have one unit between the Deus, V3i and E-Trac I would keep my E-Trac with the several coils I have for it. Probably because I have had that unit the longest out of the 3 and learned it better than the others.
MackDog said:Look for a V3 on EBay they still upgrade to a V3i for free ($25 Shipping). You'll save a lot and love the machine
Whites used to charge $100 for that upgrade. I'm glad that they wised up
Zinc Penny
Member
V3i is hands down better in the hands of the right person. The amount you can change makes it way more versatile.
I have owned the V3i and now the E-trac and F75ltd2. If coins (especially silver) get the the e-trac. However, the Impact and At Maxx should be considered after they get some proven performance. I could not get any depth out of the V3i. If you want a new V3i I can tell you were to get a great new price on it. I got an epic price on my V3i when I got it. Almost price if used. If U can afford a CTX3030 i can also tell you where to get a new one. Price below 2000.00
Yes the v isn't for everyone . Myself I have no issues matching depth of the 3030 or etrac on silver in the same patch of ground. I have compared many many tines with friends out in the field on real world targetsnalc472 said:I have owned the V3i and now the E-trac and F75ltd2. If coins (especially silver) get the the e-trac. However, the Impact and At Maxx should be considered after they get some proven performance. I could not get any depth out of the V3i. If you want a new V3i I can tell you were to get a great new price on it. I got an epic price on my V3i when I got it. Almost price if used. If U can afford a CTX3030 i can also tell you where to get a new one. Price below 2000.00
I loved the settings, color screen, 3 freqs on the V3i. I only had the problem with depth. I tried over 5 different coils. I kept getting smoked by a e-trac of a fellow hunter. That was when I sold my V3i. I even sent it back to Whites and had the detector and coil checked out. Nothing wrong. Maybe my expectations was a little high but did find a detector I could do what I want it to do. Between the E-trac (silver sniffer) and F75ltd2 (copper and relic) I can clean a site up.
nalc472 said:I loved the settings, color screen, 3 freqs on the V3i. I only had the problem with depth. I tried over 5 different coils. I kept getting smoked by a e-trac of a fellow hunter. That was when I sold my V3i. I even sent it back to Whites and had the detector and coil checked out. Nothing wrong. Maybe my expectations was a little high but did find a detector I could do what I want it to do. Between the E-trac (silver sniffer) and F75ltd2 (copper and relic) I can clean a site up.
Same opinion/experience with the V3i. It's just not good on depth. I've given it 6 years and still own it,,,a collection of various coils. The aftermarket Detech coils did improve the V3i depth, but I moved onto Minelabs last year deep coins are now fun. I FIND THEM. Still, the Minelab Se Pro snags those deep tones where the V3i is "weak to none", dependable repeatability at different angles fail a lot. I added an Etrac to my arsenal last week.
I will say this though. I'm digging at least three times the iffy signals with the Minelabs. It's not all cut and dried, yet I'm starring at a pile of deep silvers I've found wth the Minelab right now.
DiggerDanbo
New member
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