XLT Going/Which one is coming?

[Anonymous]

Um, OK -- let me get this right: You don't have "the time to commit to an XLT" (a TID machine) to custom-set and tweak it to the best of its abilities, yet you're willing to commit to entirely different TID that naturally comes with its own unique set of programming challenges? Even worse if she's not prepared for it, having your wife commit to that, too? IMO, there's nothing inherently easy and trouble-free about any TID machine, no matter who makes it.
Speaking from having used a beeper-only Bandido IIuMax and a Troy X5, you basically just set 'em and go. Doesn't get easier than that, in theory. However *any* TID -- just by virtue of what they are -- requires you to deal with a lot more than that if you're not completely satisfied with the factory pre-sets. And few who own TIDs end up ever happy with those pre-sets. But on the bright side, having all that programming power at your disposal gives you are far more versatile detector than something that requires you to do nothing more flip a toggle or three and decide whether or not to manually ground balance.
Overly trashy areas will make ANY detector -- TID or not, no matter what brand ever invented -- behave erratically. It's called biting off more than it can chew. Nature of the beast. Which is why most everyone else in this world would rather take up golf or building ships in bottles.
I dunno. You're the best judge of yourself, and pretty much that's what choosing the "best" detector for you comes down to.
Scott

 

[Anonymous]

All uMaxes seem to pinpoint equally well, provided of course you're not standing in a patch of dirt packed pretty much end to end with pop tops or screw caps. Which I've found myself in the middle of more than once. My Silver Sabre II and my Bandido II uMax pinpointed equally dead-on with the brown 8" donut coil, but things changed quite a bit when trying to pinpoint equally well with the Bandido with a 10x12 bolted onto it. Maybe she just needs practice in basic pinpointing skills, I dunno.
If weight is the *only* consideration, may I suggest a model that's hip- or chest-mountable. I personally don't like hip- or chest-mounting and IMO anything other than a Tesoro or a Troy is a brick on a stick, but there are quite a few 10-pound detectors out there that will dust a Tesoro or a Troy in a New York minute and swing as light as a feather if you're able to get the brain box off the pole.
Besides, just going by features alone, it seems to me that your XLT gives you FAR more versatility than a Cortes or DeLeon ever could, and IMO, I'd rather have too many features at my disposal than not enough. The fact that you're not willing to devote the time to your XLT's myriad of features is not the mfr's fault, all in all.
Scott

 

[Anonymous]

Whew, I tried to read some of the posts below and it just made my head spin with all the "knowledge". I have owned a Deleon and currently have a Cortez in my arsenal. I can assure you that they are both nice machines. They both disc out nice and can eliminate bothersom trash effectivly with a roll of the thumb. <FONT COLOR="#ff0000">The Cortez runs in Manual Ground Balance only in All Metal. </FONT><FONT COLOR="#ff0000">If you run in disc it is by preset GB.</FONT> Still a "turn and go" machine. TID works in both modes. I gave the nod to the Cortez because it had a few more features like the sum multitone mode. It is a spring loaded toggle that will sum multiple sweeps and give a better average id for faint signals. And it has nine different tones when you use this. I like the high/low backlight for night hunts. A two speed notch, wide and narrow. And the manual GB for all metal. My Deleon was a little "hotter" than the Cortez but it was pretty sensitive around vapor lights and electrical interference. It had been retuned at the factory and they did a superb job, no charge! They paid shipping back to me!
You already have a couple of great detectors and like most of us are ready to try something new. The Tejon has a little different learning curve than the TID's. You will spend more time really listening to the targets tone and determining to dig or not. I like the dual disc and the all metal trigger switch mounted under the pole. Quick to pinpoint and adjust GB with a squeeze of the trigger and roll of the thumb. Unfortunatly the coils on the Tejon and the D&C do not interchange. I believe that the coils on your wifes Bandito will interchange with the D&C.
Jim-Iowa pretty much hit it on the head about the performance dollar, same circuitry for both the Deleon and Cortez. Dollars or sense? Tough decision. No matter what you decide it will be like Christmas morning when that box arrives. Good luck and HH.
<SMALL>(Go for the bells and whistles friend!)</SMALL>

 

[Anonymous]

You seem to rate the XLT over the other TID's. Interestingly, one possible indicator of overall performance is that the Whites team continues to place towards the bottom in the GNRS competition which is relic hunting. Natalus and Tesoro seems to have been well placed the last few years.
Assuming the participants know their machines one "might" use the placing as a "basic" indicator of overall performance.
....I said Might <img src="/metal/html/biggrin.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt="">

 

[Anonymous]

Actually, I'm the most partial so far to Fisher TIDs, and their new one seems to be extremely neat.
Scott