White's Surf PI or Minelab Excalibur II ?

[Diver]

Hi,
I have been metal detecting for many years. I've owned most of the big names and only purchased the highest priced detectors. Now I am at a standstill. I am looking at the White's Surf PI and the Minelab Excalibur II. Many have told me the White's PI wins hands down. I just spoke to Kellyco and the rep told me they are both great detectors but she thought the Minelab was a better machine only because of the 17 freq. Many have told me that White's customer service beats Minelab hands down which I think is one of the most important qualities when choosing a company to deal with. I have personally read some horror stories online about the Minelab customer service. Can anyone please give me some honest and true answers and what they think I should purchase. I will be using the detector in mostly salt water. I will use the detector for some fresh water hunting but mostly salty water. I also may use the detector on the beach. Thank you very much for your time and help. Jen

[upena]

You can't go wrong with either one and you will find it is like asking the question - chevy or ford?

The biggest issue right now is Minelabs are mostly on back-order

[S.S.Tupperware]

The PI , people are sending in ML's and it's a couple months for repair and I have seen posts that it cost them 3-400 for repair, whites 2 weeks or so and neighbor paid 70. his just went in for a tune up and new seals, his is the old surf pi... I love my DF..

[firstbigestmost]

Get both! Then you will be ready for anything.

[BORGATABILL]

Customer service means alot (whites)

[BORGATABILL]

However there is a MinelabExcaliburII that is cleaning up the beaches well around here. If i had the extra cash id think i might get one. Goodluck in your decision. Im using an older Whites Sirfmaster Pi and it finds stuff.

[surfnturf]

Both are great machines. I have a 1995 Surfmaster P.I. Plus and a 2007 MineLab Excalibur, and to tell you the truth I personally feel the Surfmaster is the better machine. It is more sensitive, and much deeper than the Excalibur, and easier to swing in the water, especially for 5-6 hours at a time!
As mentioned by the other folks, you also need to look at customer service. I sent my Surfmaster to White's for a check-up and new seal in Feb. and talked to Todd at White's within 5 days of sending it out. They did their thing for $75.00 and sent it back within 10 days.
Now, I sent the Excalibur to MineLab in March, and heard nothing for 2 weeks. When I called, all I got was a recording asking me to leave a name and number so someone can get back to me. Well, they didn't until I raised h**l. Then a live person came on the line from customer service, (mind you, this was almost four weeks after sending it in), and she told me they would have it a few weeks and send it back, with no more than a $150.00 charge. Here it is the middle of May, I do not have it back, the customer service rep will not return my emails, and I have no idea what is being done, if anything, to my machine. So, if I did not have the Surfmaster, (and White's fantastic customer service), I would not be able to water hunt Ft. myers Beach, (where I live), or some of the other hot, beaches that are so close to me! Having said all this, this is just my experience with the two companies, and the two machines. Good luck with your decision!

[Cfmct]

It really depends on your beach... up here in connecticut we don't have the amount of drops people in the south have so a PI is the way to go to get down to depths a VLF can't reach... a PI is not for everyone though you need patience to learn the subtle differences in the tone.. my hunting partners and I have done pretty well there.. we don't dig anymore trash than a VLF user does..

If you are going to hunt in the water then a PI would be the way I would go as there is less trash in the water and some heavy gold items are out of reach of the VLF water machines... I like the Excal... I own its non-waterproof version the GT... I save it for areas that are infested with iron but if its fairly clean I will choose the PI over the GT anyday because I want the depth I can get with a PI... both machines have a small learning curve but in my opinion both are very easy to use...


Bottom line you will do very good choosing either detector a PI or the Excal...

[Bobbie]

You are asking a question....do I eat an apple or an orange? These are 2 very different machines. One is a dig all until you master the machine and the other is a machine that nulls out iron. Like Craig says.......it depends on where you hunt. As far as customer service goes, you have to realize that a lot of these idiots send in their machine with no notes as to what is wrong with it, those are tossed aside until they can get to them and the ones with explanations of the problem are fixed first. Minelab was recently bought out by another company and there are growing pains involved with good employees out of a job. New policies in place irritating customers. Until the new company decides what they are doing with Minelab there are bound to be problems. As far as the quality of the Excal.........it is an excellent machine and only as good as the person holding it. We own two of them and would not trade them for anything else.

[surfnturf]

Originally Posted by Bobbie

You are asking a question....do I eat an apple or an orange? These are 2 very different machines. One is a dig all until you master the machine and the other is a machine that nulls out iron. Like Craig says.......it depends on where you hunt. As far as customer service goes, you have to realize that a lot of these idiots send in their machine with no notes as to what is wrong with it, those are tossed aside until they can get to them and the ones with explanations of the problem are fixed first. Minelab was recently bought out by another company and there are growing pains involved with good employees out of a job. New policies in place irritating customers. Until the new company decides what they are doing with Minelab there are bound to be problems. As far as the quality of the Excal.........it is an excellent machine and only as good as the person holding it. We own two of them and would not trade them for anything else.

Yes I am sure some operators will send a machine to be repaired without any notes, fully expecting the factory to be competent enough with thier own product to find the problem. However, any normal person with an I.Q above a gerbil will include explicit notes as to the problem with that particular machine, and hope to have it back in a reasonable time frame. To excuse a company that has a very poor record of customer service due to some poor souls that are less than gifted intellectually being able to pinpoint the exact problem with thier machine seems a bit like buying a house with the intent to pay the mortgage when one wins the lottery.
The White's P.I. machines do have a learning curve, as do most machines that are priced above $9.99. If you have an I.Q. slightly above a trained chimp dancing for dimes, you can learn the P.I and benefit from it. Although the MineLab is much easier for some to operate, and not ever trade to something new.

[Compass]

I considered the Excal but went with the DF for the following reasons:
-more reasonably priced
-2 year vs. 1 year warranty
-better depth(I believe)
-have heard of more problems with the Excal
I still think that the Excal is a great machine but I really like my DF. HH!