Safari or Garret AT pro?

[Supadupame]

Hi!
I am going to buy my first detector and cant decide between. As i read Minelabs are better for depth but AT pro is new (safari 2 years) and can have more new technology-better? I know both could be good but which one would be better at their limits? I will go for all kind of very early or newish eras findings in Europe (woodland). I am secretly in love with (as what i read) AT pro but can it in any way outpreform Safari. Please say your thoughts.

I asked same question on garrett side and they were confident AT pro is the way to go. So what is opinion here?
If anyone want to read that: http://www.findmall.com/read.php?32,1390931

 

[Dan-o]

Well first off, if you post this on the Garrett forum, you are pretty much going to get pointed toward the AT Pro and vice versa.
As far as new technology, I don't see where the AT Pro offers anything that I would call new.
I personally wouldn't buy the AT Pro for a few reasons.
As of yet you can not use your own headphones unless you put together some sort of adapter. Garrett is supposed to release one soon, but will cost $40.
It's too new. I would wait longer to see if they are any bugs to work out of it.
Everyone is hyping the Waterproof part of it, but that is something I don't need out of a land detector. That feature wouldn't even be on my list of features in my purchase.
A lot of people are complaining about the balance issue, and are having to mod the arm cup. I'm not handy that way and don't want to have to mod my detector.

As far as the Safari goes, the only worry I have with owning my Safari is customer service and repair if it ever needs it.
For my type of hunting, old coins, I will still stick with the Safari.
If I lived in England, I would still go for Safari over Garrett.

You may want to post this in the Metal Detecting Forum and see if you get some different responses.

After posting this I went over to the Garrett Forum to see the responses.
Someone said the Tones on the Safari will drive you nuts. Maybe, maybe not. I love the tones. You don't have to watch the meter and if you are hunting small silver, the tones will help. Go to the Minelab site, there is video demonstration on the tones.

Also, the Safari is very easy to learn. A beginner should have no problem with it.

Both machines are excellent choices.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[brocifus]

Well I had a AT PRO when the 1st came out I traded it for a MXT pro way better machine did'nt care for the AT pro much its not a bad machine but MXT is a much better machine for coins gold and silver rings not as much chatter IMO. I just traded for a Safari and I like that better then the AT also.

 

[Supadupame]

So if we exclude weight, balance, bugs and that sort of stuff. Which of them would be better at deep relic hunting (deeper?) with gold/silver/iron.... (not just coins)?

Edit: Are Nautilus DMC-IIB and Tesoro Tejon better deep relic detectors?

 

[Elton]

Get the one that interests you the most..

 

[ronaldj2]

I agree with Elton, its about personal preference. Unless you own both machines and have put in equal amounts of time on each machine, really getting to know the ins and outs, then you really can't form an unbiased opinion. My own opinion is this, I really don't think Garrett would put out a piece of junk, and that goes for all the top names in the industry. In order to stay competitive you have to offer value, reliability, quality, etc. I own the Safari and I love the machine, but I put the time in and have learned what works for me. I have also owned the White's xlt for the past 12 yrs, and I also love that machine and have put the time in on it. As far as customer service goes, I haven't had to use Minelabs as of yet. I did however send my xlt out to get serviced and was very satisfied with the whole experience. You can read all the posts in the world, but the decision is ultimately your own. There is a learning curve to every machine, and nobody becomes master in an instant. Whatever you decide, have fun with your decision and Good Luck. Ron

 

[Supadupame]

Thanks for tips. I chose AT PRO =). Thinking waterproof isnt so bad, at least dont have to worry about sudden rain and things like that =P.

 

[Shenandoah Digger]

Good luck with your choice. Machines that some love others don't. I've owned 50 machines over the years. While I like the Garrett line and think they are a fine company, for some reason the AT has never peaked my interest. Maybe when they get all the bugs worked out I will look at it differently. But at this point I don't see anything groundbreaking. The Minelab FBS line of detectors was truly groundbreaking, and continue to be 10 years after they came out.

 

[Cibola]

Hello,

I am in the same position as you are...torn between the Safari and the AT pro and have been trying to gather as much information as I can. AS luck would have it a buddy of mine got a AT pro and I have had the chance to use it. He actually let me run a full day with it!!

My observations on AT pro:

DEPTH- Good, where I live the soil is highly mineralized with lots of iron in the ground. So far the deepest coin with at pro for me is 8 inches on a penny and the signal was very clear with no distortion.

RECOVERY SPEED- Very fast, the faster you swing the deeper it goes with great target seperation which surprised me for such a large coil.

LEARNING CURVE- At first I only ran it in standard mode...all the noises from pro mode where a little intimidating. After aquiring a target I would then double check it in pro mode and hit the iron audio....Once I got used to it (about an hour) I never left pro mode. It becomes very easy to ignore the trash and only dig solid targets once you get used to it.

PINPOINTING- Not good. One of my first detectors was the ace 250 and I did not like how you had to make it p.point effectively. That being said, I like the ace 250 pinpoint mode better than the at pro. If you are digging a deep hole pinpointing is VERY important otherwise you will start digging trenches. After a while I just ignored the pinpoint feature and would X my targets and dig.

TRASH ID- Amazing!! With this machines audio I have not dug any pulltabs or standard bottle caps and very little other trash. The only thing that fools this machine on a consistent basis is the longish screw on bottlecaps (like on a quart of beer or from old large soda bottles) First half of the day I dug all targets to get a comparison. After you learn to trust this machine and you are not in a "good" target rich environment you will almost get bored ONLY because you are not digging trash LOL< amazing!!

DURABILITY-great!! This is a well built machine and I have not experienced any of the falsing problems as others nor did I have any difficulty with any of the connections as others have.

BALANCE/WEIGHT- Poorly balanced unit!! It hardly weighs anything BUT after using it for an extended period you will hate it. I know they sell an aftermarket (fixit) for this and I hope it works well. I am in good physical condition and have swung heavier detectors all day long with no arm fatigue...this thing?? I had to switch arms periodically throughout the day just to continue.

FINAL THOUGHTS- I tested it on gold...Incredible depth and response. This unit is waterproof which is very nice as it rains where I am all the time and you could also go water hunting which sounds fun to me. If I get the safari, I will miss more gold and have to get a enviro cover for the rain. The safari weighs more but is better balanced I hear and is deeper on coins. Only other consideration for me is I enjoy listening to the flute tones more than at pro in pro mode, I actually like the bell tones in standard mode but it not efficient to hunt that way and keep switching modes. I would dig more trash with the safari also BUT I have heard its pinpointing is very good which would mean quicker retreivals. AND the safari while on sale now is like still 300$ more.

Bottom line, I like alot of the features the AT pro has but I am about willing to forego them until garret produces a later model and adresses some of the issues. The innovation on the at pro is amazing...water proof with a LED display..AND not digging trash!!? Incredible...but my frustration with balance (and arm pain) and pinpoint mode is leaning toward a safari.

Sorry, long review and everyone has a diff experience on this machine..just wanted to give you the benefit of my insight to help since we are both looking at the same machines.

 

[hershey1]

Don't worry about getting caught in a storm. Put a rain cover on the Safari and hunt in the rain if you want but get out of a storm. If you are going to spend $600.00 get a Teknetics G-2 if you want a water machine get an Excallibur II. You will get your moneys worth and they all find money. JMHO HH

 

[TomH]

Folks,

Do not depend on the "raincover" that is available as an accessory for the Safari, it is not waterproof. I got caught in a heavy downpour and when the cover got wet my machine went totally whacky. Played almost every tone it could produce in random sequences and sounded like a Chalie Mingus freesstyle jazz riff! Could not reset the machine at all. After about two hours in the dry hotel room the unit finally reset and I was able to return to hunting after the rain stopped. The problem seems to be that the elastic material on the back of the cover lines up with the air vents on the back of the control box and enough moisture was able to get into the machine to cause the overload.

If you have to hunt in the rain the old tried and true system of plastic bags and saran wrap still is the only defense.

Just a humble opinion,
TomH

 

[David]

Tough choice. Does the Safari have more depth than the AT Pro? Maybe go for an E-Trac instead because it has more information about the target than both of those machines. Does the AT Pro hit on coins right beside iron nails better?

Waterproof is nice and so is the 00 to 99, but no ground breaking technology on the AT Pro unless all the Iron ID info it provides is something completely new and outstanding.

 

[Cache Man]

Safari, enough said. HH

 

[Prep1957]

I already beat 2 Garrett AT Pro in test gardens with my Safari.AT is very good detector will go 8 inches on dime for 600 bucks you get a lot for your money.Safari will go 10 inches on a dime about 160 bucks an inch for those 2 extra inches or for 350 dollars more you can own a Safari it will take you about 100 hours of field use to learn Safari well enough to beat the new AT Pro in test garden.All of us would like to have 10 inches but 8 inches is not bad either.