Hi, folks!
I consider myself an experienced novice, which I know sounds like an oxymoron. I have a White's Surf PI Pro that I bought new from White's about 17 years ago, and until recently, I've only used it on vacations at the beach once a year for 3 or 4 hours each time. It works great in wet and dry sand, and I found a child's gold ring with a small diamond chip, and lots of pocket change, keys, a pair of glasses, pull tabs, nails and wire, etc.
I recently hunted a property that is in a small clearing next to a mountain stream that is kind of remote, but I know people have congregated there for a couple centuries. There were lots of hits, but didn't take long for me to get tired of digging up junk pieces of iron. Yeah, Pulse Induction, no real discrimination. I'm interested in buying a new detector that has better discrimination so I can hunt more places, some of which have lots of trash, but also may hold some good finds hidden in all the trash.
The Garrett Ace Apex looks good, and the MF (haha, Multi-Frequency just in case anyone thought I meant something else) seems like something I'd like to learn to work with, but I'm not sure about all the hype, and the Nokta Simplex+ and Minelab Vanquish 540 also look like really good choices, although they don't seem to have as many MF options as the Apex. I want to keep it under $500. I'm looking for opinions from more experienced folks for an under-$500 detector that has better discrimination than a PI unit, but also can be used at the beach, and it looks like a market segment with a lot of good options, and better technology at lower prices. Quality and customer support are also important.
All opinions are invited and welcome, but please provide reasons for you opinions. I'm not looking for replies that just say this or that one sucks, but I haven't found much in the way of sources that provide good head-to-head comparisons in the $300-$500 price range that I can trust. Thanks!
I consider myself an experienced novice, which I know sounds like an oxymoron. I have a White's Surf PI Pro that I bought new from White's about 17 years ago, and until recently, I've only used it on vacations at the beach once a year for 3 or 4 hours each time. It works great in wet and dry sand, and I found a child's gold ring with a small diamond chip, and lots of pocket change, keys, a pair of glasses, pull tabs, nails and wire, etc.
I recently hunted a property that is in a small clearing next to a mountain stream that is kind of remote, but I know people have congregated there for a couple centuries. There were lots of hits, but didn't take long for me to get tired of digging up junk pieces of iron. Yeah, Pulse Induction, no real discrimination. I'm interested in buying a new detector that has better discrimination so I can hunt more places, some of which have lots of trash, but also may hold some good finds hidden in all the trash.
The Garrett Ace Apex looks good, and the MF (haha, Multi-Frequency just in case anyone thought I meant something else) seems like something I'd like to learn to work with, but I'm not sure about all the hype, and the Nokta Simplex+ and Minelab Vanquish 540 also look like really good choices, although they don't seem to have as many MF options as the Apex. I want to keep it under $500. I'm looking for opinions from more experienced folks for an under-$500 detector that has better discrimination than a PI unit, but also can be used at the beach, and it looks like a market segment with a lot of good options, and better technology at lower prices. Quality and customer support are also important.
All opinions are invited and welcome, but please provide reasons for you opinions. I'm not looking for replies that just say this or that one sucks, but I haven't found much in the way of sources that provide good head-to-head comparisons in the $300-$500 price range that I can trust. Thanks!