Which Pinpointer Is Better

[Critterhunter]

Pro Pointer from a height of about 6 feet at least twice onto the hard cement it still works like brand new.
I do not believe

Believe what you want. I've got no ax to grind here. All I can say is what my own eyes and ears have seen. I have dropped my Pro Pointer from a height of about 6 feet onto hard cement because of the stupid place I was storing it and my tool harness in my garage. I'd pull the harness out without paying attention if it was upright or not due to the dark spot I was storing it and on two different occasions the Pro Pointer fell to what I thought for sure would be it's death. Yet, it still works as new with the same depth it did then, and does not get unstable.

If I were all praise I would not have mentioned that a friend's Pro Pointer's switch has just gone bad. Now, he has used the tar out of that thing over the past 3 years or so, more so than most hunters I bet as he's an avid hunter who hunts like a machine for hours on end, but regardless of that the one weak flaw of the Pro Pointer is the on/off switch. I suspect it's not the switch it's self going bad, but in his case the rubber cover was lifting off and mud probably got down into the switch and jammed it. I'm wondering If Garrett has fixed this seemingly only weak spot with the Pro Pointer.

As for the Minelab VS Pro Pointer stuff, we can get dragged down into the technical whats and whys for hand held probes, but the bottom line is that in a few videos I saw the Minelab air tested a bit deeper yet in the ground with the same two pin pointers the Pro Pointer seemed to have more depth, and also would sound off and vibrate more strongly to the targets when both were compared before digging the target out of the dirt. Can't get any more real life than that. Not saying the Minelab doesn't have some perks with features some may prefer paying more for. Just saying to me the Garrett has all the features I want, and the only time I want to change the sensitivity is by super tuning for max depth when I can't hear the target.

Somebody brought up a good point- that having an alarm if the probe is left on the ground for X amount of time isn't much help when you are hearing headphones. Besides, the Garrett sort of has that feature too. If it's left on for several minutes it will start to drift out of tune and false constantly. Different strokes for different folks. Just glad there are good pin pointers to pick from these days to suit one's tastes.

 

[DaytonaGold]

After watching this video I purchased the Garrett, I own the CTX 3030 and really wanted to stick with a Minelab pinpointer but other reviews of the MInelab pinpointer compared to the Garrett suggests pretty much the same as this review.

If you look back in this forum 4 or so months or so ago you'll find a thread where a guy posted some videos of his new Minelab vs the Pro Pointer. The Minelab air tested a bit deeper but then later in the thread you'll see another video in an actual "in ground" hunt and the Minelab didn't appear to do nearly as well as the Pro Pointer. That thread has all the pros vs cons so no sense going over them here. Some do like the extra features of the Minelab for the extra cost, while others don't feel it's as a whole as good as the Pro Pointer in certain respects to them. All about which you are looking for I guess. Me? I won't hunt without my Pro Pointer. Best accessory hands down for a metal detector other than headphones, and even then if I had to make a choice I might have to give up my headphones before I'd give up my Pro Pointer.

By the way, might want to check out this slick way to super or detune the Pro Pointer I did a pictorial about. Easier one handed (thumb) method than all prior ones I've tried, so I did a pictorial style video about it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ozNtD-dKh8