Affordable Pinpointer

[GetDiggin]

Hello All,
So I made a post in Advice for my new detector, because I'm just getting back into the hobby after 5 years. My Dad and I have both been Detecting for about 15-20 years now, so not new to the hobby but alot can change over 5 years. I ended up getting a Minelab X-Terra Pro for this season to see how my health holds up and we will go from there. That being said, I need to try and find all my other equipment, I know I have a Garrett Propointer and a Garrett Carrott around here somewhere, but if I can't find it I'm going to grab something for under. $100 until I can find my Garrett Carrott again.

What do you guys suggest for a true pinpointer that is under $100? I was thinking about grabbing the Quest Xpointer Max which you can get new for around $100 but I still wanted to ask the community and see if there is a better option for under $100. I see that Bart had the Minelab Pro-Find 15 for like $65 so I was also thinking about maybe that as well, but if you guys could let me know what ya'll think.

Thanks,
GetDiggin' aka Rich

 

[HungryGhost]

In that price range I would just spend the extra $20 and get the Garrett carrot. It’s indestructible

 

[Rattlehead]

Yeah, I agree. For that price I'd just spend a little more and get another Carrot. Much better than the Pro-Find series in my opinion. You can sometimes find used ones in the classifieds section for $75-$85.

 

[cellrdwellr]

I agree with the above, but I'd likely do my best to find the two I already own before purchasing another.

 

[markinmichigan]

Carrot for sure. Buy once cry once.

Mark in Michigan

 

[Digging Prayers]

Quest Xpointer Land. $39.95 free shipping on ebay. If you need the link, hit me up. I just looked it up.
I swore by the Dr Otek for $35. Both units get a lot of hate but I've owned, used and loved them both. Everyone has their own preference.

The XPointer is the better of the two for me. It is almost instant on or off by the press of the button. The otek has about a 1 or two second delay booting up and about two seconds shut down time. Its not bad but can be irritating. I just press the button and start for my holster. By the time it gets there, I hold it there for less than a second and its off. Just a half hair delay befor I can let it go. Both punch deep. Much better than the MI4 when I compared it against the otek. I sent the MI6 back. The Otek and Xpointer punch the same depth. Both are almost 1/3 the price of the MI4. The otek has some hidden features I've found, the ground balaalnce feature is not in the manual but helps tremendously. My Go to and preferred is the Xpointer.

I tried the quest Xpointer max but also sent it back. It felt a bit bulky to me and I did not like the hard to use and hard to find/get to power or settings buttons.

 

[Martin_V3i]

I sold my Carrot to a buddy after getting the Fisher F-Pulse. Solid and it get much better depth. All of my Garretts pointers, and I've owned many, just don't keep depth. The Carrott and F-Pulse are closely priced.

 

[GetDiggin]

I am actually thinking about grabbing a Quest Xpointer Max, but I also see one called the Quest Xpointer II. Do you guys know if those are both the same just with different names? They look exactly the same. I kind of like the fact that you can get discrimination in a Pinpointer. I was really looking forward to that option next season when I get my XP Deus back, I heard that the MI6 links directly to your Deus to give you a bunch of added features including the discrimination. So if anyone know if the Xpointer Max and Xpointer 2 are the same, please let me know :-)
Thanks,
GetDiggin- aka Rich

 

[CountyWorker]

I sold my Carrot to a buddy after getting the Fisher F-Pulse. Solid and it get much better depth. All of my Garretts pointers, and I've owned many, just don't keep depth. The Carrott and F-Pulse are closely priced.

This ^. My Carrot got shelved after I bought an F-Pulse, because the F-Pulse is a measurably better pointer. It’s not even close.

Spend the twenty bucks over your hundred and get the F-Pulse.

F-Pulse for $120

 

[Digging Prayers]

I am actually thinking about grabbing a Quest Xpointer Max, but I also see one called the Quest Xpointer II. Do you guys know if those are both the same just with different names? They look exactly the same. I kind of like the fact that you can get discrimination in a Pinpointer. I was really looking forward to that option next season when I get my XP Deus back, I heard that the MI6 links directly to your Deus to give you a bunch of added features including the discrimination. So if anyone know if the Xpointer Max and Xpointer 2 are the same, please let me know :-)
Thanks,
GetDiggin- aka Rich

The II and Max are the same unit EXCEPT the max has the magic holster. Both discriminate, and have rechargeable batteries. The max with the magic holster allows you to keep the unit powered on but when you put it in the holster, it goes into standby/off/hibernation or something. You pull it out of the holster and its instantly on, no searching for the button. Many don't like these two units because its sensitivity is at the point and does not run all the way up and down the shaft.
I personally found the Xpointer II not to be sensitive enough. I had to get close to a quarter before it would start detecting, even on high settings. Maybe I just had a bad unit. The Xpointer 1 or "land", has no discrimination, uses 9v, gives great depth and detects all the way up and down the shaft and punches deep. I can easily tell, before I dig, if I have a coin within a couple inches from the surface with it.

 

[Rattlehead]

One thing to keep in mind when shopping for pinpointers is ease of use. I've owned a bunch of them, and the main reason I keep going back to the Garrett has nothing to do with performance (though it does perform very well), but more to do with the shape and the nice big flat button that's so easy to find by feel. Some of the other pinpointers I've tried had small hard buttons that were flush to the body. I had to spend extra time to stop and look for the button. It may seem like nitpicking, but if you're like me, it actually makes a huge difference in day to day use.

 

[Diga]

I sold my Carrot to a buddy after getting the Fisher F-Pulse. Solid and it get much better depth. All of my Garretts pointers, and I've owned many, just don't keep depth. The Carrott and F-Pulse are closely priced.

This ^. My Carrot got shelved after I bought an F-Pulse, because the F-Pulse is a measurably better pointer. It’s not even close.

Spend the twenty bucks over your hundred and get the F-Pulse.

F-Pulse for $120

After using a PI pinpointer, I'll never use a VLF pinpointer again.

The VLF's often don't go deep enough to see if the target is in my grass plug, much deeper in the hole, or off to the edge of a hole. That means wasted time and more of a mess. It's also especially true in my water hunting with a giant size clay plug.

 

[Xxray]

Getting much more than 2" range for say a quarter is counter productive, insofar as you want to know when you are close to a small metal object - If it sounds off 4" away it is useless, I already know in what vicinity it is. Those who need that much range should refine their pinpointing skills and save yourself some scratched up coins.

 

[CountyWorker]

Getting much more than 2" range for say a quarter is counter productive, insofar as you want to know when you are close to a small metal object - If it sounds off 4" away it is useless, I already know in what vicinity it is. Those who need that much range should refine their pinpointing skills and save yourself some scratched up coins.

 

[Xxray]

View attachment 596212

I said ,,,



Getting much more than 2" range for say a quarter is counter productive, insofar as you want to know when you are close to a small metal object - If it sounds off 4" away it is useless, I already know in what vicinity it is. Those who need that much range should refine their pinpointing skills and save yourself some scratched up coins.

 

[CountyWorker]

I said ,,,



Getting much more than 2" range for say a quarter is counter productive, insofar as you want to know when you are close to a small metal object - If it sounds off 4" away it is useless, I already know in what vicinity it is. Those who need that much range should refine their pinpointing skills and save yourself some scratched up coins.

It’s about as bad of a take as I’ve read here recently and it sounds even worse the second time.

I remember the old timers saying that a pinpointer wasn’t necessary, mainly because they were too cheap to buy one. Then after they bought one they miraculously forgot that they said they were unnecessary. Then they said that their Bullseye was all they needed, because anything over an inch isn’t necessary. Is it 2” now and everybody carrying a Carrot, F-Pulse, Accupoint, MI-6, Pro-Find 40, etc., etc., just doesn’t know how to pinpoint as good as you and needs to “refine their pinpointing skills”?

>25+ years detecting and the F-Pulse will make you want to throw your 2” pointer in the trash.

 

[Cherry Picker]

I've been using the Garrett Pro-Pointer for about 15 years. I've tried many others, and some were deeper, but they just did click like the Carrot. The F-Pulse looks to be about an 1" deeper, but bigger and awkward looking. Like I said, I've had deeper, but the Carrott just seems to do what I need it to do, and do it well.

I will say with the Deus and 9" HF coil I'm finding I don't need a pointer like I used to.

 

[iDetectorX]

Just to be clear, the mi6 has no discrimination and doesn’t adopt disc from the Deus either.

I heard that the MI6 links directly to your Deus to give you a bunch of added features including the discrimination.

 

[iDetectorX]

It’s about as bad of a take as I’ve read here recently and it sounds even worse the second time.

I remember the old timers saying that a pinpointer wasn’t necessary, mainly because they were too cheap to buy one. Then after they bought one they miraculously forgot that they said they were unnecessary. Then they said that their Bullseye was all they needed, because anything over an inch isn’t necessary. Is it 2” now and everybody carrying a Carrot, F-Pulse, Accupoint, MI-6, Pro-Find 40, etc., etc., just doesn’t know how to pinpoint as good as you and needs to “refine their pinpointing skills”?

>25+ years detecting and the F-Pulse will make you want to throw your 2” pointer in the trash.

I agree. The extra depth doesn’t hurt at all. If you want it, it’s there. If you don’t you can scale back on sensitivity. There’s also proportional response as you get closer.

 

[CountyWorker]

I've been using the Garrett Pro-Pointer for about 15 years. I've tried many others, and some were deeper, but they just did click like the Carrot. The F-Pulse looks to be about an 1" deeper, but bigger and awkward looking. Like I said, I've had deeper, but the Carrott just seems to do what I need it to do, and do it well.

I will say with the Deus and 9" HF coil I'm finding I don't need a pointer like I used to.

My F-Pulses are ~2 1/2” deeper than my Carrots and I haven’t had the depth loss over time like I have experienced with the Carrots. I also prefer the ergonomics of the F-Pulse.

My sandy loam soil allows PI to work its magic well. I don’t even have to use the pinpoint feature on my detector for the overwhelming majority of targets that I dig. While others are “refining their pinpointing” , I’ve done a quick wiggle, took a knee, pinpointed with the F-Pulse and retrieved the target.

I even bought a spare F-Pulse, because the wife had a speaker problem with her F-Pulse(slight loss of volume) and wasn’t happy about having to go back to using a Carrot until Fisher sent her a replacement. So, I had to use the Carrot until the replacement arrived, while she used my F-Pulse. Now we have three F-Pulses, so we don’t have to be without one if we have a problem.