"One is a proven winner"...'proven winner' would be a good nickname for my Eurotek Pro
I never entered any contests with it, but I bet my F2 would have snatched a few trophies away in a couple if I did.
Here is the dealio....my view of the history of the entry level detector market.
A long one, but I just feel like writing this morning.
Skip down to near the bottom for my opinion if you have an actual life and don't want to slog through most of this...I marked it in dark red.
For a long time in the entry level slot around the $200 and under area there have been many detectors to chose from put out by many companies, but after looking at just about everything that has entered the market in the past few years overwhelmingly
there has been 2 that have stood out from most others as the most popular choices.
Considering all others take away the Silver and the Compadre from Tesoro, great units that find much and have a large following but have no screen at all and the information on a screen does make it a bit easier to learn the basics of this hobby when you are brand new, but they are a totally different kind of machine so we will put those aside for now.
Knock the BH line which many still love and many started with but in the really low price lines lack a few features and maybe a few abilities that really come in handy, and the lines that that do have some of those nicer features seem to be in a slightly higher than that $200 price bracket and most still come in behind one of those 2 standouts in areas that are
very important to me when I pick out units I would like to stand behind for hours,
target separation and rapid recovery.
Look up those terms if you don't know what they are.
There are others too, the Coinmaster by White's at that same $200 area, the Teknetics Delta that is a fine unit too, but the White's unit is lacking in some information on the screen called VDI numbers, very helpful in giving hunters much more information than just icons on a screen, and the Delta just never caught on as a premier choice for those entering the hobby for one reason or another, a few technical reasons that I won't go into here.
That left 2 standing that were far and above all others as far as choices that most decided on to enter this hobby with...the
Ace 250 and due to it's popularity the
F2 which Fisher eventually brought out to battle with that one head to head.
The 250 had the entry level market sewed up for a long time...the price was right in there that hit all the buttons, not too high, it was productive and worked, and they came out with it first and turned the market on its ear because there wasn't much to compete with it at this level at the time.
Garrett's marketing of this unit was professional and worked to perfection so many got it, found great targets with it, sung its praises and the legend grew.
When Fisher came out with the F2 in my mind that should have put a big dent in the Ace sales and maybe it did, I don't really know all the numbers, because it was a new generation model with some features that the 250 lacked. Superior target separation, it is much faster in the re-tune or as we call it the rapid recovery area, and most important of all it actually had those oh-so-helpful VDI numbers on the screen that other, nuch more expensive units already possessed.
I don't know when this started but somewhere along the line Fisher also began to throw into the F2 box a small extra coil, a sniper coil, and charged so little for it we can almost consider it free, and an actual free tool, a handheld pinpointer, that wasn't super great but did work and could be helpful and way better for hunters to use that had nothing at all.
That was the genius of the Fisher F2 offer, a complete package with a very capable machine with some very nice free options that others did not offer, and still don't to this day.
I am
a big believer in the great value and use of the small sniper coil because of what it has found for me at certain sites that the bigger coils struggled with, and that belief
definitely colors my opinion when we are talking about the value for the money when picking a detector to start out with...I admit that and you can see that in any post on starting detector recommendations to any others I have made on this and many other forums for years.
This package choice over all should have destroyed the entry level market on paper, but the problem was that the engineers at Fisher make such sensitive detectors all the way up and down their line that they are prone to something called Electrical Magnetic Interference, they become "chatty" under the right circumstances, and hunting with them sometimes is not a total quiet experience which many prefer over dealing with noise, sometimes the even the smallest bit of noise.
Forget the fact that for many of us this chatty behavior is a non issue and if you actually learn the F2 you come to know that this is actually part of its language and you can use this to your advantage.
Or the fact that if you turn down the power they can get pretty quiet, but most are convinced that if you do you lose at least some depth, and depth is extremely important to many around here over all other considerations.
Not to all, look at my albums with finds from 3 different detectors including a super deep Vaquero and there is a bunch, but mostly everything great I have found came from depth levels at about 6" or less...5" or less, really, but there are many wanted targets deeper than that for sure
Everybody has different opinions on how important it actually is to reach those deeper levels depending on the kind of targets they hunt for and the sites they choose to hunt.
So over time many bought the F2 and learned them well and grew to love them and understood the value of those multiple coil packages, others bought them and hated them and the way they worked and never did learn to deal with their chatty nature and behavior and for some reason seem to have a need to bash them all over the forums as much as they could because
they couldn't deal with them completely ignoring the fact that so many others could, saw absolutely no problem at all doing it and grew to love these things.
Without that noise "problem" over time the F2 would probably have had even more loyal users in its ranks, but many were scared off and turned to others when they read reports and reviews on the F2 from not only the honest, logical minded users but the bashers that seemed to want to tell everyone in the world how extremely bad these were.
We successful and happy F2 owners read these reviews and just laugh and laugh...but those reviews do have an effect on sales and choices of many looking for information when entering the hobby.
No matter what it is still a fact of life that some get along with certain detectors and some don't no matter how hard they try.
Nothing wrong with that at all, just a fact of life here in the big city.
All along the Ace 250 kept plugging along and selling, many due to the glowing reports of the shear number of happy owners that came before.
For the life of me I can't understand why the Garrett people don't feel a need to redo the Ace series, tweak the thing, make it faster, add some VDI numbers and a new screen, maybe make the Ace 250 II series or something.
The technology is probably there, they can make a totally new and better unit with more features that can still come in at or near that $200 price point that would be very popular and can still make a really nice profit, I believe, but I don't know all the ins and outs of R&D and production costs and all that so maybe not.
All I know is instead they came out with the Ace 350 which is for all intents and purposes and Ace 250 with a different coil that is tuned for that unit.
Maybe with these two Garret is happy with their current sales in the low end of the market and don't mind coasting along on the reputation of those yellow colored things that that have built up from all the sales previously.
I wouldn't be, but that is me and I don't own a detecting manufacturing company.
Now let's talk about the new kid on the block the Euro Tek Pro.
I have noticed all of a sudden there is a ton of info about these, seen lists with all its features, read many reports and reviews and have tracked down many videos on Youtube showing what this one is capable of.
It appears that once again the bar has been raised and raised high regarding the entry level market.
Not only are newbies entering the hobby singing its praises but experienced veterans too, First Texas and their engineers are very proud of what they have designed and brought to the market as well they should, it is a winner all around from most that have used them.
Unless this thing has some weird tendency to actually explode in owners hands after like 100 hours or so use or something like that, I expect this is the benchmark that all others will be compared to for some time to come if no other companies come out with a new unit to compare to it and go into combat head to head with it...which does not seem likely at this time.
It has a feature called Iron Audio that others near its price do not, very handy if hunting in area with lots of iron like old home sites filled with nails, for instance.
Seems to go pretty deep and from what I can see and is putting up some pretty good marks in other areas like target ID, speed and depth, all things that I mentioned before that many hunters look for in their detectors.
In all honesty if it was 3 years ago and I was still in my search for a detector in that $200 range this one would have edged out the F2, and I would have been another happy well satisfied and successful ETP owner for the past few seasons.
***OPINION***
But here is my opinion on why it might not be the obvious choice for absolutely everybody, and my true opinion in an effort to answer your question about which is the better choice between this one and the F2.
Not everyone hunts in heavy iron infested sites exclusively or maybe even ever that would benefit from that iron audio feature, I hunt parks most of the time and it is rare that I come across areas where this would come in handy and I am not the only one.
Also, and this is important, if you do want to get an extra sniper coil for this thing, something that
I believe is a must have for everyone as I stated previously, it is not cheap to add to the ETP, not everyone happens to have other units with extra coils that fit those that will transfer over and the fact is when you add in the price of somewhere around $100 if you wanted one that would push the ETP into a whole other level and price point.
If I owned one I would still get that sniper, I know it would pay for itself in no time considering where I hunt and knowing full well what coils like that are able to find.
Be that as it may, if we are talking about the F2 vs. the ETP at that $200 entry level price point, and understanding that even though many here just ignore the fact that not everybody has access all the time to money that others do...that extra $100 for the sniper coil cold just be a deal breaker for many.
When some people say they have $200 to spend they actually have $200 to spend...more money than that will not magically appear or grow on a tree outside your home.
In my opinion the F2 still has great value for many on the market today, especially when you add in the value of those multiple coil packages and considering the still only around $200 price for what you get.
My experience only, but I learned to deal with and understand its chatty nature and came to know that for the money, this thing is sensitive, quick, very productive and more fun than I would have ever thought to swing before I had one in my hands.
Not everybody hunts in heavy iron all the time, many just hit common areas with normal trash that most detectors can handle very well.
The sniper coil in these F2 packages can easily expand the amount of hunting sites the average newbie might come across, heavy trash sites even in public areas and would make it more fun to hunt than using larger coils and might just help to find something great that using larger coils could struggle with due to something called masking.
As far as that iron stuff, a few that talk about the ETP and that iron audio feature seem to think that using detectors without that feature would be a lost cause, nobody should even try...a huge waste of time.
That feature would be of great help to many in some problem sites but to say it is the only way to fly in this area is laughable to me.
I have used all kinds of detectors in some sites with a lot of iron and you know what...I never seemed to have too much of a problem, somehow I still managed to find some great things even with the great handicap of not having that feature, the F2 included, and found them pretty easily too using both the larger coils and especially the smaller one.
I have always believed that it is more important to learn all the ins and outs of any detector you choose, technology is good and very helpful, but common sense and and a great understanding in knowing what your detector is telling you, actual in your face info AND the hidden stuff that you realize is there too when you learn to really read between the lines is even more important.
If you cousin is going to be hunting lots old home sites with hundreds of nails other heavy iron infested sites too, and all the other sites that we tend to hunt along with that type the ETP is the way to go with that one coil you have available if the trash and iron at these sites is not way too close to each other.
No brainer decision, there.
If, on the other hand he is going to be hunting parks and other sites with normal amounts of trash and iron, including having the best shot at finding what might be some very fantastic targets around trashy areas in those public parks like basketball and volleyball courts and the areas around picnic pavilions, areas where I have found some startlingly great jewelry items using the F2
AND THAT PRETTY MUCH RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP SNIPER COIL, then the F2 multiple coil packages still deserve a good look.
Those are my opinions, colored by my experiences for sure, but hopefully stated with honest and logical facts about what really goes on in this hobby for many.
Lots of different hunters here, lots of different sites to hunt and there are all kinds of different targets types we all tend to aim for so there is no perfect unit for everyone and there never will be.
Just take all the information you can, weigh it all, consider the prices of all the different add-ons that make this hobby even more enjoyable for most of us like extra coils and pinpointers, and take into consideration exactly what kind of sites your cousin is likely to be hunting and what he is looking to find and then make a logical decision and in that I wish you the best of luck.
It is not easy to make decisions for ourselves, sometimes, even harder when trying to pick the best out for someone else, but no matter what whatever you pick for him will give him hours of enjoyment and some great thrills if he decides to make a commitment and learn that thing well that he walks behind and swing...no matter which one that ends up to be.
, Bruce just tell him a couple things How easy the Euro Tek Pro is to learn, that it will out perform a F2, which has been out forever, and the Euro Tek Pro, is newer technology, howboutit 
.
Teknetics, so to sum things up, newbees might like the f2 and the coil package deals, however I might add, you might see the same offers down the road with the ETP also, the only difference will be, if they upgrade, they will save staying in the Greek series, just received ,and put together the omega 8000, its nice, gotta go, Thanks Bart 
Earl
