The first time I hunted with the X-50 I was sure impressed with it. I felt it was a really great machine but felt it was lacking a few things for me personally. I did get one for my wife to use and it is probably the best machine I could have got for her. She can set it up easy and I know she wont be missing much with it. She is getting really good at it too. I found myself sneaking it out of the house when I'd be off from work and when she'd be at work. And started using it more than my primary machine.
So when the X-70 was released I was it addressed some of the things I thought the X-50 was lacking and took a big chance on the machine. I bought one and have only had it a few days now. Of course when you get the box open you see that assembly is the same as the X-50. I really like the gray color of the shaft. It looks really sleek and professional...like all Minelab machines.
BUT to me from what I have read, I was understanding the X-70 to be the same as the X-50 with a couple more bells and whistles. So really I wasn't expecting more in performance but instead just a few added things I thought the X-50 lacked.
That proved to be wrong. The X-70 is alot more than that. A whole lot more. I was going to get an X-70 and a Vaquero to mop up the relics but after getting familiar with some of the newer features and playing in the yard...I believe I've got all the machine I need.
I read where someone mentioned below that they liked the 2-3 tone better. I am in a similar boat. I like the 1 or 2 tone better for relic hunting. My reason was that with the 4 tones of the X-50 that if you had objects that bounced or came in on the edge of the tones, it would distort the sound and I always felt like it was knocking off some depth because of it. With just one tone, that is eliminated and even with two tones, everything above the ferrous range gives the same tone and everything in the ferrous range gives its tone. So to me that is a very handy feature...one that I did not expect I would find much use for but really like having.
The Automatic settings are nice and fast to use...but its nice to have manual available as well. The auto track is DEAD on the money and fast. I've tried hunting with it a while and checking it manually to see if it was not catching up and that hasn't been the case at all.
BUT the big surprise to me...was the prospecting mode. All I want in a relic machine is to knock out iron. The prospecting mode gives you a wider range of iron disc only...and since that's all I'm interested in knocking out, in my testing it gives quite a whollop with the 7khz coil. So much that it will probably be my primary hunt mode for relics. But for coins and jewelry, I'll be poking along in the coin/treasure mode. It's a good mode and actually for it, I prefer the multi tone setting. It is very smooth sounding; doesn't sound chopped off like the 4 tone mode. I think it will be very good for coin and jewelry hunting.
So in short...I don't think it's fair to say that the X-70 is just an X-50 with a couple eye candy features. To me it's a really really hard packing and performing machine. If a machine ever fit my niche I've been trying to fill, the X-70 comes as close to perfect as any I've had. I am extremely happy. Even in this ole iron dirt here, I was hitting every target I have in my test garden and holding the coil 4-6 inches above the ground (in prospecting mode) still able to get signals I'd dig.
So when the X-70 was released I was it addressed some of the things I thought the X-50 was lacking and took a big chance on the machine. I bought one and have only had it a few days now. Of course when you get the box open you see that assembly is the same as the X-50. I really like the gray color of the shaft. It looks really sleek and professional...like all Minelab machines.
BUT to me from what I have read, I was understanding the X-70 to be the same as the X-50 with a couple more bells and whistles. So really I wasn't expecting more in performance but instead just a few added things I thought the X-50 lacked.
That proved to be wrong. The X-70 is alot more than that. A whole lot more. I was going to get an X-70 and a Vaquero to mop up the relics but after getting familiar with some of the newer features and playing in the yard...I believe I've got all the machine I need.
I read where someone mentioned below that they liked the 2-3 tone better. I am in a similar boat. I like the 1 or 2 tone better for relic hunting. My reason was that with the 4 tones of the X-50 that if you had objects that bounced or came in on the edge of the tones, it would distort the sound and I always felt like it was knocking off some depth because of it. With just one tone, that is eliminated and even with two tones, everything above the ferrous range gives the same tone and everything in the ferrous range gives its tone. So to me that is a very handy feature...one that I did not expect I would find much use for but really like having.
The Automatic settings are nice and fast to use...but its nice to have manual available as well. The auto track is DEAD on the money and fast. I've tried hunting with it a while and checking it manually to see if it was not catching up and that hasn't been the case at all.
BUT the big surprise to me...was the prospecting mode. All I want in a relic machine is to knock out iron. The prospecting mode gives you a wider range of iron disc only...and since that's all I'm interested in knocking out, in my testing it gives quite a whollop with the 7khz coil. So much that it will probably be my primary hunt mode for relics. But for coins and jewelry, I'll be poking along in the coin/treasure mode. It's a good mode and actually for it, I prefer the multi tone setting. It is very smooth sounding; doesn't sound chopped off like the 4 tone mode. I think it will be very good for coin and jewelry hunting.
So in short...I don't think it's fair to say that the X-70 is just an X-50 with a couple eye candy features. To me it's a really really hard packing and performing machine. If a machine ever fit my niche I've been trying to fill, the X-70 comes as close to perfect as any I've had. I am extremely happy. Even in this ole iron dirt here, I was hitting every target I have in my test garden and holding the coil 4-6 inches above the ground (in prospecting mode) still able to get signals I'd dig.