Which is Best: CTX3030, Deus, or V3i? Need Advice Please!

[Higgy]

Wow a couple of pro-V3i posts! Thank you, FindandDetect and PostalTwo. Looks like the CTX is slipping behind real bad in this race. Heavy weight. Heavy price. Light on the iron.

 

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[FindandDetect]

Also I would say that the V3i would probably be a lot to handle if you don't multitask very well.

 

[Higgy]

Also I would say that the V3i would probably be a lot to handle if you don't multitask very well.

Multi-tasking I can do but not very well. Its stressful to me.

 

[PostalTwo]

Also I would say that the V3i would probably be a lot to handle if you don't multitask very well.

Curious what is it that u need to multitask on the v3i?. When I was using I don't remember being stressed out lol. Swing beep dig. Ok well some times Analyze with polar plot but it's not required. V3i can be as simple or complicated as want it to be.

Want a simple machine np choose a preset program and off u go just like any other machine.

 

[FindandDetect]

I'm quoting someone on a different forum. Yes you can use the presets but then you wouldn't be using it to the full potential.

 

[PostalTwo]

I'm quoting someone on a different forum. Yes you can use the presets but then you wouldn't be using it to the full potential.

I agree with you on this point to get the most out of the machine u may need to tweak a bit but programs like the stock deep silver are deep out of the box. Tweak the deep silver program and u might get a little deeper maybe a 1/2" or so. Maybe more I didn't have a lot of time with the machine.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JwCnTo6T0so. Here's a vid of dirtfishing on youtube he buries a quarter at 10" and uses stock programs to see if he can hit it. Then he uses a tweaked program and get a little more. He then uses the ctx to see how that machine reacts to the target.

 

[PostalTwo]

I'm not saying that there isn't a lot to the v3i, there is for sure it's super customisable I just don't think it's a complicated as ppl make it out to be. I would not buy this machine however if your not willing to learn about the machine. You need to spend the time and learn what each setting does. It not hard tho the manual explains very well about the settings. Really no matter what u buy If it's a ctx deus or v3i there's gonna be lots of learning involved

 

[TabWhisperer]

All of these machines are really good. Lots of pros and cons, frequencies, prices, coils, etc. But there is also an intangible side of detecting where a great popular machine just may not feel right in your hands, the sounds might be annoying to you, the screen may not work well for you because of too much or too little information, etc. It seems when I have observed some people with detectors they are annoyed with they are more focused on the annoyances than getting down to becoming one with the machine. If someone is real comfortable with a given machine and gets time on it they will typically do well with it. In the end there are always trade-offs and sometimes it takes a few tries to get the machine that work best for you personally and the environment you hunt. The bad part is the cost. Buying clean used machines helps reduce the cost and potential losses if you decide to sell. The good part is it can be fun and interesting and you can learn a lot by using different machines.

 

[Pointman]

I've owned all 3 detectors and I have liked them for different reasons. I lean more toward the CTX because it is less complex. I am happy that I purchased the V3I but it seems like it is a very sophisticated machine in an old style wrapper. The Deus was too fragile for me. I had to send mine in for repairs after 3 months. Like it has been said a million times, the Deus is the fastest detector out of the 3. The CTX can pick between the trash, but you have to move slowly and sometimes change the coil out. Same for the V3I.

Best all around machine for me would be a more durable Deus with a color screen and it has to be waterproof.

Strength of the V3I is that you won't learn it too quickly, customization it more to include more coils. You also don't pay an arm and a leg for accessories like the Minelab.

I think comparing the 3 is simply comparing 3 high end machines that have their own faults and capabilities. In deciding which one to order, you really have to swing each one.

If you don't want to devote time learning a machine, then don't get any of these three. The Euro Tek would be a good choice or a Cibola or Compradre.

IF I HAD to part with all my machines and keep just one, I would lean toward the V3I.

 

[DiggerinVA]

The answer here is the same as with any other "which is best" type question....it alldepends who you ask. Some will say this machine is better and some will disagree. No one can tell you which you will prefer. When you are talking high end machines such as these I am sure they all have good qualities. I personally know users of each and have heard complaints on each. The deuse is fairly fragile(but super light) and not extremely deep.....the ctx is like a boat anchor......and the v3i is very complicated(for some) and requires extensive adjustments at each location for maximum performance.

 

[tnsharpshooter]

I own 2-deus, CTX 3030, White's V3i, Fisher F75. Forget the F75/F75se unless you get an upgraded one (noise factor). CTX 3030 with stock 11 inch coil is better in iron than V3I with stock 10dd coil IMO. Battery system is inferior on White's V3i as compared to Deus and CTX. For only coin hunting the CTX is great. Deus is king for relics and the more iron the merrier. V3i is ergonomically dismal. Off balance and heavy. CTX is balanced but heavy. Deus is perfect. CTX is not swing speed sensitive nor is deus, V3i is very.
Deus and CTX handle EMI better than V3i IMO.
Deus seems to handle bad ground very well for VLF detector.
CTX is had deep ID capability, Deus and V3i do not.
CTX is waterproof.
V3i has color screen but eats battery up. Lots of stuff reflected on screen is useless- you still go by tone
Deus had 5 year warranty and so far free updates. 2 year warranty on V3i and CTX.
Extra coils are cheaper for V3i, not so with deus and CTX
Seems all 3 have significant following so future spare parts/service should be non issue.
Want to enjoy detecting regardless of age or stamina=deus
Want to build biceps= CTX and V3i
Want the best iron handling=deus
Want to spend the most green =CTX
If you have children/ girlfriend/wife the deus is weight manageable and with extra phones 2 folks can hear the detector.
You see what I have 2 of. Hint hint
And either the 9 inch or 11 inch coil will do.

 

[FindandDetect]

How long have you had all of your machines?

 

[PostalTwo]

I own 2-deus, CTX 3030, White's V3i, Fisher F75. Forget the F75/F75se unless you get an upgraded one (noise factor). CTX 3030 with stock 11 inch coil is better in iron than V3I with stock 10dd coil IMO. Battery system is inferior on White's V3i as compared to Deus and CTX. For only coin hunting the CTX is great. Deus is king for relics and the more iron the merrier. V3i is ergonomically dismal. Off balance and heavy. CTX is balanced but heavy. Deus is perfect. CTX is not swing speed sensitive nor is deus, V3i is very.
Deus and CTX handle EMI better than V3i IMO.
Deus seems to handle bad ground very well for VLF detector.
CTX is had deep ID capability, Deus and V3i do not.
CTX is waterproof.
V3i has color screen but eats battery up. Lots of stuff reflected on screen is useless- you still go by tone
Deus had 5 year warranty and so far free updates. 2 year warranty on V3i and CTX.
Extra coils are cheaper for V3i, not so with deus and CTX
Seems all 3 have significant following so future spare parts/service should be non issue.
Want to enjoy detecting regardless of age or stamina=deus
Want to build biceps= CTX and V3i
Want the best iron handling=deus
Want to spend the most green =CTX
If you have children/ girlfriend/wife the deus is weight manageable and with extra phones 2 folks can hear the detector.
You see what I have 2 of. Hint hint
And either the 9 inch or 11 inch coil will do.

It seems very obvious that u have not learned the v3i imo based on the comments made. All that stuff on the screen is not useless. The fact that you choose not to utilize this info is your choice not the fault of the machine. I disagree with your assessment on the v3i's balance I found it to be nicely balanced over the hand grip. I would be interested to know how u set up your v3i to handle iron

 

[tnsharpshooter]

I've had V3i almost 3 years, CTX for 1.5 years and deus for a little over a year. I also have a 10x12 sef coil for V3i it does help with balance. Take a close look at where the 10dd stock coil mounts on the V3i's rod. It mounts in the back and this is what causes the detector to be so badly balanced. I never said all V3i screen data was useless just most especially on deep targets. When I mention iron handling I'm mostly keying on how the machine rejects iron and how the machine finds targets colocated with iron. The CTX best the V3i in this dept for me.
I never even mentioned the squirrelly ground balance tracking system on the V3i. The V3i's system is inferior to both deus and CTX. The weak link on the V3i is the coil footprint. Even adjusting recovery delay the 10dd coil can't keep up IMO. Look at depth of V3i with say a 6x10 coil. Even though I don't have one and never used one it's being reported 6
7 inches max. I had etrac and with 6x8 sef it could lite up 8 inch dimes and a few deeper. Want to try something find a bud with etrac or CTX. Find a 9 inch deep dime. Sweep with V3i and the minelabs. See which detector(s) get more consistent tone. Speed up the sweep just a little and slow it down too. See which one hits more consistently. Mind you this is a target you already know the location. The V3i will be more hit and miss. Now go with someone using a CTX and you the V3i to an unfamiliar site. Watch who is hunting and watch who is trying to ground balance their machine and trying to get the noise out of their phones. If the V3i is as some say a see all use all condition detector then White's should never make another detector. Look at how many folks are using other brands of coils on their V3is?? Tell you something maybe.
Will the V3i make good finds? Certainly Will they usually be as apparent as say they are with CTX? Nope
Now the deus. The deus with 9 inch coil beats the V3i with any size coil for me. And with the stock 10dd coil it aint even close in heavy iron/nails. The V3i is deeper with 10dd coil vs deus with 9" coil. I now have 2nd deus with 11" coil, so we'll see how that does against V3i in the epth dept. V3i ID at depth is better than deus but not the CTX. The deus does something very special when around iron. It blends the signals, this to me makes it alert you more often/better. Find someone with deus who knows how to operate and take your V3i with any and all coils you want. Go to an old homestead site or civil war site. Take a spray can and mark off say a 20 foot by 20 foot section. Hunt the area with V3i trying to rid the 20/20 spot of all nonferrous targets. When you think your done, let the deus user sweep the area. You may be surprised!! The real difference or letdown with the V3i is this. The V3i needs to be swept. You can sweep V3i too slow no matter what the settings. And when you go to very fast recovery settings you lose depth. The Deus and CTX both can be swept verrryyyy slow and still render a tone and still get depth. This is my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[PostalTwo]

I've had V3i almost 3 years, CTX for 1.5 years and deus for a little over a year. I also have a 10x12 sef coil for V3i it does help with balance. Take a close look at where the 10dd stock coil mounts on the V3i's rod. It mounts in the back and this is what causes the detector to be so badly balanced. I never said all V3i screen data was useless just most especially on deep targets. When I mention iron handling I'm mostly keying on how the machine rejects iron and how the machine finds targets colocated with iron. The CTX best the V3i in this dept for me.
I never even mentioned the squirrelly ground balance tracking system on the V3i. The V3i's system is inferior to both deus and CTX. The weak link on the V3i is the coil footprint. Even adjusting recovery delay the 10dd coil can't keep up IMO. Look at depth of V3i with say a 6x10 coil. Even though I don't have one and never used one it's being reported 6
7 inches max. I had etrac and with 6x8 sef it could lite up 8 inch dimes and a few deeper. Want to try something find a bud with etrac or CTX. Find a 9 inch deep dime. Sweep with V3i and the minelabs. See which detector(s) get more consistent tone. Speed up the sweep just a little and slow it down too. See which one hits more consistently. Mind you this is a target you already know the location. The V3i will be more hit and miss. Now go with someone using a CTX and you the V3i to an unfamiliar site. Watch who is hunting and watch who is trying to ground balance their machine and trying to get the noise out of their phones. If the V3i is as some say a see all use all condition detector then White's should never make another detector. Look at how many folks are using other brands of coils on their V3is?? Tell you something maybe.
Will the V3i make good finds? Certainly Will they usually be as apparent as say they are with CTX? Nope
Now the deus. The deus with 9 inch coil beats the V3i with any size coil for me. And with the stock 10dd coil it aint even close in heavy iron/nails. The V3i is deeper with 10dd coil vs deus with 9" coil. I now have 2nd deus with 11" coil, so we'll see how that does against V3i in the epth dept. V3i ID at depth is better than deus but not the CTX. The deus does something very special when around iron. It blends the signals, this to me makes it alert you more often/better. Find someone with deus who knows how to operate and take your V3i with any and all coils you want. Go to an old homestead site or civil war site. Take a spray can and mark off say a 20 foot by 20 foot section. Hunt the area with V3i trying to rid the 20/20 spot of all nonferrous targets. When you think your done, let the deus user sweep the area. You may be surprised!! The real difference or letdown with the V3i is this. The V3i needs to be swept. You can sweep V3i too slow no matter what the settings. And when you go to very fast recovery settings you lose depth. The Deus and CTX both can be swept verrryyyy slow and still render a tone and still get depth. This is my story and I'm sticking to it.

I agree that the ctx id at depth is more consistent I do not own the ctx but have a couple friends that do. I disagree that the 6x10 is a 6 to 7" max in fact I have read that no where. in fact most posts regarding the 6x10 depth have been 9+.I do not rely on consistent I'd numbers if it tones good and the id is high ish I'm digging afterall it could be an Indian head ,button hat badge or other cool item. I'm not just a silver hunter. Part of the reason why mine labs are so consistent with V3i numbers is that there numbers are spread out over 50 numbers while other machine are across 100 or 200 like in the v3i. So ur they are gonna move around more .

Every v3i owner I've met has been using the stock coil or other White's coil even on the Internet at forums and such most ppl are using stock coils not aftermarket coils as u suggest.

The ctx is a good machine no question I just don't think it the magic wand ppl make it out to be afterall it's still a VLF metal detector and as such will still false on tips of iron nails and bottle caps. They all do. The difference is that the v3i has more tools in its bag to distinguish trash from treasure how u use those tools is up to the user.

Again based on ur comments it seems quite obvious to me that u have not mastered the v3i not even close. If the ctx is working for u that's all that matters but I don't think it's fair to say that there no adjustments to deal with iron or that coils are not deep when u haven't used them because the ppl that do use then think otherwise. Or that the ergonomics are dismal it's simply not true. Blaming coil connection position does nothing to validate ur claim.

In my uses with the v3i I had 0 issues with gb and 0 issues getting the machine stable actually I found it a joy to use its almost like we're discussing two different machines lol because the v3i was nothing that u describe

U should look up dirtfishing on youtube he does some great comparison videos of all types of machines the v3i does quite well against the ctx even on deep targets. At the very least u may pick some pointers on how to make the v3i work for u. Otherwise again based on your comments as u have nothing really positive to say about the v3i may be it's time to sell it.

 

[Giant056]

Personally I've only used the V3i and will continue using it till Whites comes out with something better. What I'm waiting for is the new SEF coil that's supposed to be coming out soon for the V3i, it's the ultra (13") and much lighter than the D2. When I bought my V3i one of the first things that I did was put my old D2(one I bought when I was still using my MXT) on it cause it's so much lighter but last year it died on me so I put the original back on. I hunt with a guy who has both Etrac and CTX3030 and he actually prefers the Etrac cause it's no where near as heavy, I've never hunted with anyone who owned a Deus. If I was going to buy a foreign detector I'd probably get the Deus simply because all I've heard about them is really good.

 

[Steve Herschbach]

The straight scoop? They are all top of the line fantastic metal detectors. They will all make great finds if learned and used. They have very different personalities though and so who likes what is very, very much a personal preference thing.

I have owned all three. The DEUS has got to be the slickest little thing since sliced bread, and perhaps the best unit available for working in extremely thick ferrous trash, like around an old cabin site with a zillion nails. So you might think it odd that I sold it with no regrets. I did not like charging everything up and coils that cost over $400. That's just me, but it illustrates my point. Personal preferences.

The CTX and V3i still get used and I enjoy both of them. The CTX being waterproof has the obvious advantage on beaches as well as being multi frequency. The DEUS weak spot is beach hunting. V3i as a multi frequency unit also is good on land or beach but not waterproof.

The CTX is heavier than my V but not bad. I guess if I had to ditch one it would be the V3i but luckily I do not have to choose, I can own both. I like things like the stereo mixed mode program that is very unique and available on only the V3i and the Nautilus as far as I know, and the Nauties are all so old they are getting hard to trust any more. I do think for a novice the CTX is a far easier machine to master. THe V3i is easy to use out of box but it really is a tweakers dream and kind of a waste to just use without learning more about it. If you learn everything a V3i can do it is like a college course in detecting. CTX works very well as a turn on and go detector. Oh yeah, V also has a bit more trouble with electrical interference than some detectors so look out for that.

 

[donj]

The straight scoop? They are all top of the line fantastic metal detectors. They will all make great finds if learned and used. They have very different personalities though and so who likes what is very, very much a personal preference thing.

I have owned all three. The DEUS has got to be the slickest little thing since sliced bread, and perhaps the best unit available for working in extremely thick ferrous trash, like around an old cabin site with a zillion nails. So you might think it odd that I sold it with no regrets. I did not like charging everything up and coils that cost over $400. That's just me, but it illustrates my point. Personal preferences.

The CTX and V3i still get used and I enjoy both of them. The CTX being waterproof has the obvious advantage on beaches as well as being multi frequency. The DEUS weak spot is beach hunting. V3i as a multi frequency unit also is good on land or beach but not waterproof.

The CTX is heavier than my V but not bad. I guess if I had to ditch one it would be the V3i but luckily I do not have to choose, I can own both. I like things like the stereo mixed mode program that is very unique and available on only the V3i and the Nautilus as far as I know, and the Nauties are all so old they are getting hard to trust any more. I do think for a novice the CTX is a far easier machine to master. THe V3i is easy to use out of box but it really is a tweakers dream and kind of a waste to just use without learning more about it. If you learn everything a V3i can do it is like a college course in detecting. CTX works very well as a turn on and go detector. Oh yeah, V also has a bit more trouble with electrical interference than some detectors so look out for that.

Ha I like your statement about the V3i being like a college course in detecting it's more like a college degree at least 2 years to really learn it 4 years to master.

 

[donj]

Higgy, try going to the brand specific threads and see what each says about the detectors your interested in they may be more biased but you may find what they can and cant do.

 

[WNCsweeper]

hello I would get the Nokta fors core....and just ordered it.......I got the Pro Pack 850..hear is right up there with the deus or better.