Lets play nice here or we will lock the thread and throw away the key...
There haven't been any bad responses to really warrant a thread closure has there? Why rush into locking the thread? He asked for a response.
Let me start by saying this, I currently own the White's Surf PI Dual Field, White's BeachHunter 300 Metal Detector, Garrett GTI 1500 Pro and Garrett GTI 2500 Pro, Garrett AT Pro, and the Minelab Excalibur II Metal Detector.
But you don't own a Minelab Etrac or a CTX3030? It's not fair if you've only used them for a few hours to 'test' with to make your comparisons. I mean, I have tried Garrett's CSI machine, essentially an AT Pro that isolates brass, lead, steel and such. Did that when out on a search with Texas Equuasearch. But I am not qualified to make a judgement on the CSI.
As for the Minelab Excalibur II, I can say this, I was out at another beach, and the beach dates back to the early 1800, in the water, about waist deep, out very far at low tide, nothing, no solid beeps, not even a penny! I was detecting in the water for well over 5 hours. I thought my shoulder was falling off at the end of the hunt because the detector is heavy. This detector cannot be reset to factory defaults it must be sent in for service. No Good....
Ok, everyone knows how much that detector is, $1,200 to $1,500. I stopped using this detector because of the lack of finding anything.
Did you go out there with another detector? Can't blame the detector if there is simply nothing to find.
Will you buy the AT Pro, the Minelab E-Trac or why hasn’t any mentioned the CTX-3030 just for comparison, who cares if the detector prices out at around $2,000 shipped!
I care as do many others. I look at the CTX3030 and see a glorified Etrac with features I will never use. Look at the comparisons between the Etrac and the 3030 and there are a lot of the reviewers saying the only differences is the waterproofing, and GPS. Neither of which I would need personally. And at a $2k price tag, that's an Etrac AND an AT Pro combined.
This was one time, I am sure once I setup the detector in Pro Mode like the folks on Diggers use, the AT Pro will find everything but I have not done it yet.
This will address all 'Diggers' show related comments : TV is not reality any way you look at it. I work in the TV/Film industry and I have done my fair share of reality TV shows. Let's just say Diggers is one of the shows you shouldn't fully believe. Yes, they use name brand equipment because that is their sponsor! Product placement... as for the finds, as a metal detectorist for over so many years, do you find your luck as good as theirs? The answer is likely a no. I do not mean to be harsh, but really, do you think they go out and find nothing but goods? They're digging trash and planted/seeded objects a lot of the time. It's comparable to storage wars. No matter the settings, if it's not in the ground to be found....
Also, the AT Pro in many cases will not hold your custom settings when it is turned off. It depends on the mode you are in and where those settings were set, i.e. which mode, Pro, Coin etc.
Mine holds my settings in ANY mode?
The frequencies, big deal, you know what they say about mobile phones, 3G, 4G, 4G LTE, etc, it’s all a marketing scam!
The E-Trac: 1.5kHz to 100kHz.
The AT Pro: 15kHz to 18kHz (At Gold).
Will you notice what is happening within those frequencies, no, if anyone tells you while they are detecting, they can tell which frequency the detector is on, they are full of hot air.
Frequencies play a big part in separation and target ID before you dig, so yeah, in a sense, many people can notice what is happening with those frequencies.
I love my AT Pro, but it has it's limitations, just like my Etrac does, and while we're on it, the EXCAL II.
But I will say this, I own all three because I use all three for particular reasons. Excal is a great beach machine. It works for me just fine. The AT Pro, I use as my relic machine and deep woods machine and it works great for that. But when it comes to deep coin hunting in open areas I like a little more target confidence and go to the Etrac.
Which do I like the most? I like them all the same, which do I favor most? My Garrett AT Pro, and the reason is because I do more of that hunting than any other. Not necessarily because of functionality. Will I get Garretts new machine? Absolutely.
I see a 1 post wonder in our midst. :P
