I agree with what you said
Can you tell me about the 900 like what upgrades over the 800 did mine lab implement other than the obvious LOL, like I said in an earlier reply I have ordered the Manticore but was also giving some thoughts to the 900, my problem is i will not know how the Manticore will be for detecting gold nuggets, and the reason I am also thinking about getting the 900 for that purpose, I do know that Steve H likes the 800 for a VLF nugget detector, but I just cannot bring myself to purchase a 800 simply because of the build issues that some says do not exist Thanks for at least admitting the 800 does have build issues
oldkoot good evening. So the build quality, the shaft, the armcuff the coil ears and the pod angle, they got it right. Under the hood-19 to 99 VDI scale. Which was my main gripe. However after hunting with a -9 to 40 VDI for so long it will take some getting used to. And I think it will be an evolution of learning for users and Minelab through updates. The 800 even with it drawbacks still became one of if not the best selling detectors ever. It came after complaints of other units being too heavy, to expensive, and not waterproof. The CTX was supposed to be but did do too well in the initial stages. So Minelab answered and gave us the Equinox. A lightweight, supposedly waterproof affordable detector with a brand new technology. The build quality suffered but Multi-IQ was here to stay. No wonder XP and Nokta jumped on the technology. Multi-IQ is a great platform. And now they introduce Multi-IQ +, the Manticore, I have one on order but after seeing a few videos, well lets just say I want to see more on smoking out the iron.
I have a pretty good system for smoking out the iron with the 800 and it has yet to fail. In my test garden this afternoon the 900 sounded off good on 3 targets that sounded great and turned out to be bent rusty iron nails. The 800 told me no dig, and this was in an area that I thought only coins I buried were.
So in my test garden I don't have targets marked. I prefer to have to hunt for them, although I know the general area I still need to hit the target. My problem with test gardens is once a target is known, its just a matter of working the signal till you get what you want to hear. The test area, prone to moisture, I buried coins at 6inches over 4 years ago, they made have sunk a little more.
So with both the 800 & the 900 w/ 6 in coil in Field2 Rec. 4 and Ib 0 Sens. 22. I started with the 800. Marked what I thought were my targets. A clad dime, an Ihp. a wheat and a memorial. The 800 did ok, nothing definite but had I 'd been on an old site I would have dug. In all fairness I dig mark these signals with a bottle cap. Now the 900, swinging like I would while hunting I got over the marked targets and got a oh hell yeah I'm diggin this one signal.
The 800 and 900 both struggled with the Ihp. A worn 1883. In this dept. and the rest I think the 900 did better. And unlike my original assessment on VDIs the 900 locked on to a value of 3 or less but still pretty high #s for a penny or a clad dime.
The vibration on the hand grip, not sure if you can do this with other models and definitely not with the 700 is you can set it to one, or all, or any of the regions you desire. And its intensity is based on signal strength.
Another feature, one I never even thought about is the back lit keypad. Sure makes things easier to see at dusk.
Any buyers remorse ? None. I think the 900 will become the standard that many will try to live up to. Like the Legend with 800, getting it done for less I think the 900 could put a dent in the Mantcore's sales. Whats the saying, Minelab (what were you thinking ? ). Sorry for the long winded comment, I get carried away sometimes. Happy Holiday's Mark
