Who has a detector they DO NOT like???

[Dixiegal]

We have a White Sierra Madre. We bought it because its a deepseeker but it has zero discrimination as all the juice goes to antenna for depth. In our area we have a lot of highly mineralized soil and hot rocks. That thing loves hot rocks like a fat kid loves candy. One minute its banging 100 and then you dig out a foot of soil and it won't even register. It is definitely not a good MD for Georgia. We are thinking of dumping it for an MXT or XLT.

 

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[Trackerman]

Well lets see didn't like the Garrett Gtp 1350 much or the Minelab external 50 and also didn't like my bounty hunter discovery 2000 and also don't like the detector pro pirate didn't care much for the fisher f2 eighter.

 

[Sandman]

My newest detector I don't like is the AT PRO. A good friend bought me a new one and I have to say it works as advertised, but from the first two, I have no trust in it so it hangs on the wall and I use the Excal, CZ20 or Tiger Shark which I have never had any trouble with. These have been underwater to over 80 feet with no leaks.

 

[Diver_Down]

My newest detector I don't like is the AT PRO. A good friend bought me a new one and I have to say it works as advertised, but from the first two, I have no trust in it so it hangs on the wall and I use the Excal, CZ20 or Tiger Shark which I have never had any trouble with. These have been underwater to over 80 feet with no leaks.

I just picked up an AT Pro, and already I'm not fond of it. I'm still learning it's nuances, but so far I'm unimpressed. Conducting a bench test, my T2 beats it's depth by over 10". It is pathetic to not even be in the same range. By the way, I love the T2. My biggest complaint with the T2 is that it is too sensitive.

 

[Digging Fool]

Had a Bounty Hunter Big Bud one time. Worst machine I ever swung. Didn't care much for an Ace 250, either. Had alot of machines over a few decades, but these were my least favorite.

 

[Muddyhandz]

Did a quick tally and Garrett wins by a landslide!!!! Close to 40 complaints.
It was a close race to second, but Whites beat out Minelab by a couple of dislikes.
Fourth place was fisher but most of those models were First Texas fisher's.
Bounty hunter was fifth and believe it or not, Micronta had the least complaints!
The Radio Shack model would be my only complaint. It was my first detector and I wrapped it around a tree!
I had a couple of Whites after that and they were so-so.
What I list on my profile is what I still use today.
Anyone who complained about the old fisher's finding too many nails didn't know how to use them properly, as I almost never get fooled by iron.
The chatter is a good thing if you're a serious relic hunter. I couldn't hunt with nothing but silence! Just my preference.
Funny about Garrett. The most hated and yet they have the most sales these days.
Great thread!
Cheers,
Dave.

 

[GibH]

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

It would stand to reason the manufacturer with the most machines out there would have the most complaints. I can't say I'm overly fond of Garrett's, but any I've had worked as they should. Either weight or ergonomics would be the most complaints I've seen most about them.

 

[Diver_Down]

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

It would stand to reason the manufacturer with the most machines out there would have the most complaints. I can't say I'm overly fond of Garrett's, but any I've had worked as they should. Either weight or ergonomics would be the most complaints I've seen most about them.

The AT Pro that I've mentioned above should not be listed as a complaint. It has it's pro's such as being stable in the wet salty sand. Consider the jury still out. Based on my benchmark testing, I don't understand the claim that it is a deep machine.

 

[extractor]

I dont care for my Garrett AT Pro. I very seldom even admit that I own one. I leave it on the shelf, and it does find a lot of dust...!

 

[Chips]

I dont care for my Garrett AT Pro. I very seldom even admit that I own one. I leave it on the shelf, and it does find a lot of dust...!

Yea sadly mine is starting to play up a bit like a noisy banshee .
I have taken the coil cover off and cleaned the heck out of it.
I think it may be the coil well to be more specific, where the cable connects into the coil. I can wiggle the coil and sometimes it stops falsing off and works ok.
When using it in the rain it is especially bad.
I hope it's the coil and not the head unit.
Its just over a year old.
To throw money out on a new coil in the hope that it fixes it is a bit of a cross fingers gamble, but I guess it is cheaper than sending it in to Garrett, from where I live in New Zealand anyway...
I could always sell the coils if it turns out to be the head unit...

 

[fella]

Didn't like my Minelab E-Trac.

The unbalanced weight and the totally ridiculous long fluty tones made me never want to use it. Performance was good (if you like wicked slow detectors) but not the magical wand some users make it out to be.

 

[Detector Wars]

Then where are the finds?

It would stand to reason the manufacturer with the most machines out there would have the most complaints.

If Garrett have the most machines out there, then it would stand to reason that there would also be more finds being shown by Garrett users on forums. That's clearly not the case. In fact, out of the major manufacturers I see the least from Garrett users. Company reps not included (as they're just about the only Garrett users showing good finds).

Let's look at this logically, Garrett have the most complaints here, by far. They also have the least amount of finds on forums.

Hope this helps newbies.

 

[Trackerman]

in Minor defense of Garrett i did find a Gold cross with my Ace 250 and its a decent clad machine and not to bad on jewlrey. But had a Gtp 1350 and didnt like it much.

 

[search and recovery]

Great thread! My brother loves his Garrets, and I always out hunt him. I have never liked what they put out. A machine with some new bell or whistle that does not help the treasure hunter. My least favorite machines ever made aside from the Chinese machines. Of the machines I have owned...Land machines, I started with a Whites Eagle Spectrum...Loved the display, hate the weight, found relics and clad really good, would not find a nickel or gold. Wrong frequency! CZ6a by Fisher...great machine, still use it, finds targets as deep as anything made, just does not find very small items like perccussion caps and tiny gold chains. It has found more relics and coins for me than all detectors that I have owned. Just have to dig some large iron objects. Most will have a iron sound as you reach the edge of the target but give a good signal directly over the target... Teknetics G2... Great separation of good targets from bad. Light weight, great balance. Just not great depth. Should be a great park hunter...Fisher Goldbug II, great for gold hunting in the west and and micro jewelry detector for the beach volleyball courts if you have the patients, light, great for the smallest gold specks...Deeptech Vista Gold...Light weight, new beep and dig machine, no meter, from Bulgaria. Finding lots of small buttons and coins from hunted out relic sights. Easy to swing relic machine. Boost mode, iron volumn. Incredible depth! Great machine for relics, but only two tones, iron and non ferrous, only for relics unless you love digging a lot. Although it may turn out to be a great beach dry sand machine. Only time will tell!...Water machines...Sand Shark and Dual Field are both great PI machines and find their share of gold!...But the best machine for salt water for your time is the Excallibur because it is a multi frequency machine that discriminates and will not only pay for itself, but pay for all of your detectors in such a short time as to be considered amazing! Just my humble opinion and what I find from my experiences...Stuart

 

[gallileo60]

wow, this thread has really hung in there...Thanks for all the replies everyone, and Happy Hunting to you all....

 

[dirtfishingdave]

Wow, this is an awesome thread, I just wish I would have read it before buying of bunch of different types of detectors. I started out with a brinkmann sensor 5000, was my first detector back in 1983. It found metal but the meter jumped all over the place, it didn't have very good depth and discrimination, I am sure this detector could discriminate between trash or treasure. I took a long break from detecting until the last few years, then I started with the garrett ace 250. I never really liked the machine too slow on response to targets, and no depth. Also didn't like the bright yellow and if u got it wet the display would fog up and eventually quit working. Don't waste your money on one unless thats all you can afford or u r just a beginner. Next machine a few months later was a fisher f2, I like the fast recovery speed but didn't like the discrimination and for some reason it wouldn't play sound out of external speaker only use headphones. Next machine was fisher f70, I really liked machine as it was a coin killer but on beach it was terrible, and it would false alot on beach and in wet soil conditions. Next was the minelab explorer se, heavy machine never quite got used to target id numbers, probably just didn't give it enough time. Next was fisher f75, great machine fast, but same problem as f70 false signals on beach or wet soil. Next whites dfx, great machine, still have it but way too many settings to adjust and it just didn't detect targets past 6 inches confidently. Next fisher gb2, I don't know what I was thinking when I bought this, guess I just wanted to see if it was as sensitive as everyone says it is. Its a trash hound. Next and final machine was the minelab ctx 3030, all I can say is its by far the best machine I have ever used. I am pulling coins out of hunted parks that I have never saw before. For instance just this week I have found a standing liberty quarter, 1920 buffalo nickel, an 1872 shield nickel, a bunch of wheats and a couple other cool relics! All I can say is if you have one of these and you are in the right place omg you will love this machine. I know I do, I am selling all my other machines to pay for this one!!

 

[dholland02]

Ace250 bought ir bc a friend told me it was a good one. Used it for about 6 months got bored with it and very annoyed by the bell tone.

 

[gregl01]

I too find this thread interesting. I started with a Radio shack discovery 2000-not too good, then fell onto the Garrett Ace250 bandwagon-good little machine but belltones were irritating. I then stepped up to a Tesoro Cibola- great machine, but felt I was needing visual id, sooooo I bought a Whites M6- very nice machine-had 6 yrs now and still like it. Also picked up an older Whites QXT pro- haven't used it much......
One thing these all have in common is they do all find metal

 

[jarocki]

Still not a clear winner regarding best coin, jewellery machine.

 

[christo000]

Still not a clear winner regarding best coin, jewellery machine.

I think its just gonna b really up to ones WHO use a brand r gonna tell u theres is the best others r junk so i think kellyco has a comparison chart on there page u can compare some & c the resulta there