XLT,,is there ANYTHING as good yet,??

[comcat]

had an xlt,,loved it ,,let it go,,must have been crazy,,,i look an this forum and it seems all the new stuff has problems with this n that and difficult to use programs,not as deep etc. etc. is there anything as good as the old XLT e,,??? c:mon guys,,be honest,,,if not i will buy another,,,,rgds

 

[Larry (IL)]

The simple answer is yes, a lot of advances have been made in the last 15 years. The more difficult answer is, it depends........... on your ability to learn something new.

 

[Thound]

It's not the machines that are the problem. The latest technology comes with a longer learning curve that some just won't learn. It's not like fast food.

 

[muddyboy]

the xlt nis now extinct ,you will have to buy a used one! unless a dealer have a few in stock ,thats what happend to me,my old xlt was 8 years old so i got a new xlt 2 years ago and now i cant buy them no more! and the way i see people throw there machines around ,i would be nerveous buying one from somone,but you do what you have to do!

 

[nailfinder]

the XLT-E is the choice for me. i have used many different machines and always come back to my old faithful XLT. love it. with that said there are alot of really good machines out there these days

 

[WILL_PENNY]

Yes sir there is and always will be. Unless you have $$$ to invest in other makes and models, you will never find out. You just have to take the advise of every Tom, Dick and Harry. Good luck with that one... There goes my money.

 

[JerseyHunter]

I have a local dealer in NJ that still has a couple of XLT Detectors available, problem is you can buy a DFX for about the same price as he wants for the XLT's.

 

[Beepin Rick]

I replaced my XLT with the DFX. However, I didn't notice much difference. I use the DFX and a Explorer 2. The DFX is superior to the Explorer in just about every aspect except depth and simplicity. I have also found the explorer to be lousy at finding deep nickels. I wouldn't buy a new White's V3i detector unless it got the same depth as the Explorer but I don't have any hard evidence of that yet. I don't buy into all the White's settings mumbo-jumbo. Believe me if there are setting that give the White's greater depth the engineers would have it in the preset programs with maybe only a couple twinks. Talk to people you hunt with or people you meet out hunting. If they are finding treasure that you are missing check out what they are using. Otherwise, the XLT is a great detector that compares very favorably overall to any machine out there.

 

[Larry (IL)]

You must not have been reading the V3i forum Rick. Many of us old DFX users are now V3i users with notably deeper finds across the board. I used the DFX for 10 years and I'm one of it's biggest fans but the V3i is a major improvement not only in depth but in many other ways as well. In my ground, 7 to 8 inches was about as deep as I could go with the DFX but now 10 to 12 inch finds are more common in the same ground. The depth of the V3i is about the same as my Se Pro, you might be surprised if you give the V series a try.

 

[Beepin Rick]

Sorry Larry. But, the first thing I check out when I discuss detecting with someone is the depth they claim they get.

 

[Monte]

However, it is a very tough thing to figure out and it is based upon what we are used to, what we like to do and the types of sites we hunt, how much effort we want to put into learning manual set-up and operation, and, just maybe, where we draw-the-line on what is too much.

Old collectors cars were cheap initially, but most were able to be repaired by a novice, one step up from simpleton, with a screwdriver, pair of pliers and a few parts they could buy (or make). I was driving home from work in '74 in my 1960 Willy's Wagon, dealing just fine with the rush hour traffic on a busy two way when the fuel quit flowing on that straight 6 cyl. engine quit. I pulled over as
I coasted to the side of the road into a parking lot.

The fuel pump wasn't located inside the gas tank or buried and intertwined in the depths of a lot of modern hoses and belts and cables and crap. I crawled under the vehicle with two tools and figure out where the fuel pump was. I had gas so I checked the pump. I took it apart and realized a had a rupture in the diaphram of the pump. I could get a new part later, but I just flipped the diaphram over and reassembled the fuel pump after getting a little fuel to add to the carburetor. (Have you lifted a hood and seen one of those lately?)

I picked up my two tools and added the fuel, turned the key and it fired up and off I went. That wouldn't happen today. Now, my '60 Willy's Wagon wasn't the newest vehicle, and it didn't come with modern features like automatic transmission, automatic locking hubs, or push-button vacuum engaged 4-wheel drive. It wasn't a real old collectors vehicle that needed to be hand-cranked to start it, or have skinny tires on wooden wheels. It also didn't have the plush interior of today's 4X4's, the luxury ride and all of the push-button adjustments or automatic features under the hood and almost anywhere you can imagine on one of today's top contenders, but ....

I considered that vehicle, and many similar to it, to fit the category of a functional, multi-purpose vehicle, and if I still had it today I know fully well how well it would perform in many day-to-day uses, and especially in many off-road applications against the big-dollar gadgets stuff that's offered now. I would prefer it for simplicity, ruggedness, and performance to get the job done w/o lot of flash and fancy.

The old, old collectible cars compare with the now ancient BFO and TR or even TR-Disc, detectors. They are more for collectors. They have been many motion-based discriminators that were sort of 'OK' but still not as capable as a better quality detector. However, just like my '60 Willy's Wagon, or the '67 Jeepster Commando I had, or my '89 Chevy S10 Blazer, and several other vehicles that worked well for me and my needs, there have been many metal detectors that are quite functional.

For Larry's benefit and a few others, I will even include the DFX (I have owned 4 of them) as one of the more functional detectors that can do okay, and there I like the Teknetics T2 and Omega, and from White's the Spectra V3i, M6 and MXT's. But to this day, my all-time favorite White's models include the XLT, XL Pro and a modified IDX Pro. One single detector will not work really well all of the time as there is no 'perfect' detector, regardless of all the adjustment features they might have.

I like simplicity, and I like performance. I like to have two or three models set to handle different applications that I usually find myself searching for to hunt. My most used detector, today, is a modified IDX Pro w/6

 

[MarkCZ]

I replaced my XLT with the DFX. However, I didn't notice much difference. I use the DFX and a Explorer 2. The DFX is superior to the Explorer in just about every aspect except depth and simplicity. I have also found the explorer to be lousy at finding deep nickels. I wouldn't buy a new White's V3i detector unless it got the same depth as the Explorer but I don't have any hard evidence of that yet. I don't buy into all the White's settings mumbo-jumbo. Believe me if there are setting that give the White's greater depth the engineers would have it in the preset programs with maybe only a couple twinks. Talk to people you hunt with or people you meet out hunting. If they are finding treasure that you are missing check out what they are using. Otherwise, the XLT is a great detector that compares very favorably overall to any machine out there.

Its my understanding that the preset programs take into consideration a new user to the model.
So the presets is a starting point,
Settings that will deliver smooth and stable operation in most conditions.
The idea is to brake the new user in to what the unit is doing and saying without getting confused with maybe noise from chatter or the occasional false report.

The presets also do not take into account a change in coil size, smaller coils are less sensitive and can almost always take a fair amount of gain increase.

In other words, presets are "safe settings" they work, there quite, have stable performance, but they will never push the envelope of possible performance possibilities as can be adjusted by a seasoned operator.

My take for whatever that's worth. LOL!

Mark

 

[comcat]

I replaced my XLT with the DFX. However, I didn't notice much difference. I use the DFX and a Explorer 2. The DFX is superior to the Explorer in just about every aspect except depth and simplicity. I have also found the explorer to be lousy at finding deep nickels. I wouldn't buy a new White's V3i detector unless it got the same depth as the Explorer but I don't have any hard evidence of that yet. I don't buy into all the White's settings mumbo-jumbo. Believe me if there are setting that give the White's greater depth the engineers would have it in the preset programs with maybe only a couple twinks. Talk to people you hunt with or people you meet out hunting. If they are finding treasure that you are missing check out what they are using. Otherwise, the XLT is a great detector that compares very favorably overall to any machine out there.

,,,,you know,,i totally agree with you,,,i loved the old xlt,,,my friend has bought the dfx,,and now the v3i,,,he couldnt cope with the dfx,,,had to keep programming it for the same sites,,,the v3i,,is awesome he says,,,but has just sold it on after 2 months or so,,,i believe its what you make of all the machines you use ,,but back to basics it has to be easy to use,,,it cant be succesfull if its past your best??? the xlt would work anywhere i wanted to use it ,,,,i also have used the sov. g.t. which is great,,,but heavy,,,but my favourite for ease of use is the xlt,,and tesoro vachero,,which is a deep simple to use machine,,,i miss the info the xlt gave me though,,,a very entertaining machine,,,,WHITES,,please make the xlt again??? go on,,,just for me,,!! and another 100,000 people,,