Myers Depot Metal Detectors

E Trac or XP Deus?

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Nuggetslayer

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Hello everyone, new to this forum, but been detecting for years. However, big time gold prospector. I've had every Minelab from the old 1700 and and now the new GPZ7000. However, my old man loves coin shooting, and I'd like to join him on his adventures as he's getting older. I'm not relic hunting, I will be pretty much just looking for coins. I've looked at the CTX 3030, but it seems to be similar to the E Trac only water proof and I'm not detecting in the water. With that said I'm looking for your opinions on which would be the better coin machine between the ETrac and the XP Deus. learning curves are not a problem, been doing it for over 20 years so that's not a problem neither is price. Thank you in advance for your thoughts and advice
 
I have a detecting buddy that swung a White's DFX for many years.

He then bought an XP Deus but wasn't happy with it, but I'm not sure exactly why.

He then got an E-Trac and really seemed to like it. Had it for a year.

He now has a CTX3030 and swears by it.
 
Really depends on conditions. Both are great coinshooters. In my opinion, the big difference is weight. After swinging the Deus the E-Trac would feel like a brick on a stick. I do believe the E-Trac is the quicker learner as far as Identifying very deep coins. The Deus is the better relic and gold machine.
 
I have had most of them over the years. Never a XP but I love the Etrac. Only negative on the Etrac is that it is time consuming to change coils. I boxed up all my others and bought two Etracs so I could just switch detectors instead of Coils.
 
I went through the same "dilemma." Went with the Deus primarily for ergonomic reasons- I love not having any wires and it is feather light. Both are great machines. I hold my own against my etrac wielding buddies, but I will openly admit that the TID/VDI on the FBS minelabs is tough to beat. I hope to also add an etrac to my lineup some day...would love to have both.

TLDR- Deus is wireless and feather light, etrac has awesome TID/VDI
 
Since this will be for coin shooting my vote goes to the Etrac.

CTX is much more than just a waterproof Etrac BTW.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
CTX is much more than just a waterproof Etrac BTW.

I've never had an eTrac but do have an Explorer2. From ALL knowledgable users I've seen post....the CTX has SOME similarities to the eTrac but it is certainly not simply a waterproof eTrac. Differences abound and can be read about by searching and even comparing the two respective manuals. Very accurate results can be had with both,as many have attested to. Target Trace is a big difference,though I have little experience using it. I should use it more. "Jerr-man" on Findmall has a good take on the CTX,and the patience it takes to make it perform where others may not be able to effectively. As far as WEIGHT goes there is no contest,Deus is it. Many have had great success with IT as well...
 
Tyberoz said:
I have a detecting buddy that swung a White's DFX for many years.

He then bought an XP Deus but wasn't happy with it, but I'm not sure exactly why.

He then got an E-Trac and really seemed to like it. Had it for a year.

He now has a CTX3030 and swears by it.
Click to expand...

That's your answer.
 
Thanks guys! I wasn't trying to discredit the 3030, just thinking for coin shooting only I'd stay between the E Trac and Deus. I'm thinking a testing of each unit might help as well. Thanks again all
 
IDXMonster said:
CTX is much more than just a waterproof Etrac BTW.

I've never had an eTrac but do have an Explorer2. From ALL knowledgable users I've seen post....the CTX has SOME similarities to the eTrac but it is certainly not simply a waterproof eTrac. Differences abound and can be read about by searching and even comparing the two respective manuals. Very accurate results can be had with both,as many have attested to. Target Trace is a big difference,though I have little experience using it. I should use it more. "Jerr-man" on Findmall has a good take on the CTX,and the patience it takes to make it perform where others may not be able to effectively. As far as WEIGHT goes there is no contest,Deus is it. Many have had great success with IT as well...
Click to expand...

Yep. I had an Etrac before getting my CTX. While they do have a lot of similarities, the CTX has some major strengths over the Etrac. CTX is much better at hunting in iron/trash thanks to Combined mode, all the various target separation options, Target Trace, and a quicker recovery speed.
 
I own a CTX and the Deus. I grab the CTX 95% of the time and find it to be a better machine for most areas that I hunt and I primarily coin hunt. The Deus is no more than a beep and dig machine with great separation ability. If you want to dig every target the deus may be for you. If you want to be able to fairly accurately search for coins I would go for the etrac or ctx.

I owned the etrac and loved its performance, But the nose heaviness of it I was not a fan of. the CTX is actually heavier but is balanced and is easy to swing all day for me and many others
 
Sounds like maybe I underestimated the CTX? Kind of like me comparing my gpx4500 to my gpz7000. Thanks again
 
I have the E-Trac and have hunted along side of a couple Deuses a few times. I am here to tell you that the E-Trac WILL MOST CERTAINLY perform very well in trashy sites, so don't listen to those guys saying "ONLY IN CLEAN GROUND", they are dead wrong. The times that I've hunted beside the Deus, it has been fairly close but I've never been disappointed in my take. Of course I don't EVER look at it as a competition. I hunt with a buddy who owns TWO 3030s (yeah, he likes the 3030 that much) and he almost always bests me (of course he's been at it about 10 years longer than me) but I swing slower than he does

My main point is that the E-Trac isn't just for clean soil, it will give you the goods in trash also if you do your part. The CTX3030 IS a better machine than the E-Trac but it also costs like $1000 more than the E-Trac. Sure the E-Trac outweighs the Deus, but the display is alo bigger, easier to see, and more informative than the Deus.

If it were my vote and you are going coinshooting, I'd say "Go with the E-Trac..."
 
I am a Minelab fan for sure and have owned the etrac, I have many hrs on it.. But the display is horrible and does not compare to the ctx. Very hard to read in any light. Ctx is better for sure but no v3i. Both great machines.
 
Of those 2 I would have to choose the Etrac. I have had the Etrac, Deus and a CTX. The Etrac was the one I had first and it's silver warble was/is awesome, I found a lot of silver with that machine but it really hurt my shoulder for some reason, the CTX is heavier in weight and price but balanced better like others have said. I got the Deus after I owned my CTX for awhile and it was ok for a few months, nice to swing and hit on nickels like monster but it just seemed like a fancy beep and dig machine to me, I dug a little silver with it but nothing like the Etrac or the CTX and eventually sold it because. I'm not real smart so I just look at what the guys with a high silver count are using and do that! Lol.
 
If my body and wallet could afford it it would be the CTX. Do it all machine and can really cut down on the amount of time spent digging trash.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Owned both, Etrac if your digging coins and less trash. Deus is a great machine but the Etrac simply just has better TID
 
I have yet to see one very important difference. GOLD! Did you nothice the OP's mention of "big time gold prospector" ? the Deus smokes both the E-Trac and CTX when it comes to hitting gold with any depth. If gold isn't your bag, then the E-Trac Has a better tone ID the CTX has the more accurate target ID. If you don't use the target ID then you might as well be using a beep-N-dig.

I've owned all three and I sure wouldn't put the Deus in the beep-N-dig category. But it is true the target ID is not as accurate on very deep targets, UNLESS, you are able to isolate the target and then the Deus as fairly good target ID. Just not as deep target ID as say the CTX. Which in my opinion has the deeper and more accurate target ID than either the E-Trac or Deus.
 
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