Did you buy, and why?

[☠ Cipher]

At this point I have a V3i and I absolutely love it. I'm not lacking depth. I'm not lacking reactivity/recovery, as the V3i has 200 selectable points of reactivity. The V3i also has single selectable and multi modes ranging from 2.5khz to 22.5khz. I'm not lacking a wealth of information about my targets. I'm not lacking the ability to hunt for fine gold nuggets and micro jewelry. What I am lacking is a water machine. I've been excited about the Equinox since it was announced. I had began thinning a herd of 9 machines prior to that, and Minelab is a company I trust, so I kept my eye on a certain tester I trust. When he began to fall in love with the thing, I felt free to let the rest of my machines go, except my V3i (interestingly he held onto his for nearly the same reason I did mine). I knew my MX Sport would lose value because of the Equinox, so I let it go a month before the release. If I didn't care for the Nox I could easily trade back. In any case, the Nox gave me in a water machine what I would've been missing if I went with the CTX over the V3i a year ago. The ability to switch from single to multi and a more balanced approach across the spectrum of metals. It also seemed from the tester I followed that ID at depth was excellent. That it seemed at least to him to carry a reliable ID deeper than the others. I've been following this guy's forum for years, and I never saw him get as excited about a machine as this one. He even sold off nearly all his collection of machines, saying the Equinox as a do it all machine, does it all better than any machine he's ever used (after 35 years). So I see it as something that could even possibly take the place of my lone holdout machine. I've never seen so much excitement generated about a machine from everyone in general. I see the Nox as the water machine the V3i should've been developed into. It's one of only two single selectable/multi units on the market now.

 

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[digger460]

At this point I have a V3i and I absolutely love it. I'm not lacking depth. I'm not lacking reactivity/recovery, as the V3i has 200 selectable points of reactivity. The V3i also has single selectable and multi modes ranging from 2.5khz to 22.5khz. I'm not lacking a wealth of information about my targets. I'm not lacking the ability to hunt for fine gold nuggets and micro jewelry. What I am lacking is a water machine. I've been excited about the Equinox since it was announced. I had began thinning a herd of 9 machines prior to that, and Minelab is a company I trust, so I kept my eye on a certain tester I trust. When he began to fall in love with the thing, I felt free to let the rest of my machines go, except my V3i (interestingly he held onto his for nearly the same reason I did mine). I knew my MX Sport would lose value because of the Equinox, so I let it go a month before the release. If I didn't care for the Nox I could easily trade back. In any case, the Nox gave me in a water machine what I would've been missing if I went with the CTX over the V3i a year ago. The ability to switch from single to multi and a more balanced approach across the spectrum of metals. It also seemed from the tester I followed that ID at depth was excellent. That it seemed at least to him to carry a reliable ID deeper than the others. I've been following this guy's forum for years, and I never saw him get as excited about a machine as this one. He even sold off nearly all his collection of machines, saying the Equinox as a do it all machine, does it all better than any machine he's ever used (after 35 years). So I see it as something that could even possibly take the place of my lone holdout machine. I've never seen so much excitement generated about a machine from everyone in general. I see the Nox as the water machine the V3i should've been developed into. It's one of only two single selectable/multi units on the market now.

Nice write up! You said what alot of us probably want to say about the Equinox, but don't want to realize that it probably is going to make alot of our machines obsolete. Hard to look at one's collection of metal detector's and decide which one to use for the day's hunt, when inside you know the EQ would be the best in most cases. Just blow's me away when a machine of this capability, is under $1000. I say thank you Minelab, for putting a machine out there that is more affordable for the masses.

And this is just the beginning. We haven't even seen how the additional coils will perform!

Interesting to see what happens in the next few years.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

No, didn't bother. I already have two machines and and don't need another.

To specifically address your bullet points I already get targets deeper than 6-8" so that's not an upward move for me. and 2) I don't buy on manufacturer's bragging and 3) $899 plus shipping, handling taxes all that, don't need to spend another grand right now while I'm doing great with my current two machines.

I expect the industry to scramble in the next 1-2 years and multi frequency will either be replaced or common place or outdated by then, so I'll wait for a real change in technology.

I am doing well enough in pounded sites I just don't need any other machine right now.

Don't think your going to see multi freq replaced any time soon, I will not be surprised if we see a 3030 II with multi-IQ either.