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Nokta/Makro SMF (My Prediction)

Yea,but neither are as good as the Garrett.. you either want quality or quantity.. what's the sense in having two starter machines instead of one midrange machine?

Define "good."

In my opinion, the AT Pro has several advantages over the 440 and Simplex and vice versa. But what might be an advantage to me could be a disadvantage to someone else.

I'm not trying to bash Garrett...I love the AT Max (from my limited use so far). But I'm realistic about how it compares (from a price perspective) to more modern machines.
 
Shifting gears just a tad...

I've read several claims that XP is working on a SMF machine. No word from XP, but the claim doesn't seem to be unreasonable. At the very least I would expect XP to be working on some sort of new machine/technology (based on the assumption that XP would like to maintain/grow market share).

IMO XP has taken somewhat of a band-aid approach to water hunting; although I have to admit that the ORX did very well in the wet salt sand when I've tried it. (I have not tried my Deus in the wet salt sand - but have no doubt that it would do as well).

If my take is somewhat accurate - and water hunting isn't a major target as far as XP is concerned, does SMF really benefit XP performance-wise (in the market that XP seems to target)?

If SMF does offer a marketable benefit to XP (other than water hunting, that is) is it possible that XP could offer new coils that can operate SMF - without creating a whole new machine?

If so, it seems that XP could throw a monkey wrench into the whole SMF market by offering a SMF coil (even at $400) that can be paired with the current remote/headphones. Buy the new coil and do the free update - voila, you've got a flagship SMF machine for $400 (assuming XP can do such a thing).

Personally, I would find such an option to be irresistible.

Some good questions.
Wonder if internals have the capacity needed to operate SMF.
And keep the single freq ops as well?

If Xp thought that far ahead with platform. They would be definitely crystal ball readers.
One would wonder though if just a coil could pull the above off, why haven’t we already seen it.
Xp seems has been playing around with accessories for Deus/ORX.

If Makro Nokta can have a worthy SMF hatched say by end of the year.
Again why has Xp not already done?

Just maybe the X35 coil was a result of them doing their SMF detector or coil - a by product so to speak.

One thing Xp imo runs the tightest ship in metal detecting land on keeping their new releases ultra secret. I can’t think of a single leak. Where future release a pic materialized or loose talk.

They may make another platform (with new Control) where say a new SMF and all the older LF and HF coils would work.
Or keep the grand in iron single freq intact along with SMF in one coil. Have different sizes though.

They almost have to go waterproof route, yet wireless looks like won’t work submerged.

Xp has brought a lot to the table for the industry as a whole.
They need something new though.
Their menu layout now on control is second rate. Use to be first rate.

Should be interesting to see which route they take.
They are not fools by any stretch.

One thing too, they haven’t made a detector that gives good ID at depth.
So this is something else to watch for.

I own stock in Xp.
Bought 3 complete Deus units.
Wireless pinpointer.
3 extra coils.

Don’t think I ever got a hat.
They should send me one for the roughly $6k I spent on their equipment.
 
Yea,but neither are as good as the Garrett.. you either want quality or quantity.. what's the sense in having two starter machines instead of one midrange machine?

As I said earlier, I have owned an AT Pro and owned an AT Gold for 6 years. Personally, I would have no problem picking a fully updated Simplex over the AT Pro. It’s a no brainer considering what the Simplex has to offer and what it costs. Simplex vs the AT Gold is a little tougher decision because of similar features. Simplex vs the APEX is also a tough decision.

I would rather have a Vanquish 440 or 540 vs the AT Pro and a whole bunch of other single frequency $300+ US made detectors.

All of the new Garrett ATs are way overpriced for what you get compared to the new prices for the Vanquish, Simplex and Equinox 600 and even the APEX.
 
TN, your right, guys should be able to share they're opinion about personal experiences with different electronics.
But man, it's getting deep. It's like some weird cult thing from the Far Side comics..Sorry but I gotta try to out some humor on this minefest thing going on before I slit my wrists.
I have a minelab, actually 2 of them. And I do like them, and I like my other brands too.But these post I read almost sound more like a starry eyed highschool crush than a grown mans perception. :laughing:
So,yea, I can almost bet the minelab bedsheets and possibly a nox logo cape isn't a stretch of my imagination.


I found the comment "It's getting deep" quite humorous, coming from one of the people in the bottom of the hole with a shovel. No doubt it's a Garrett shovel. :laughing:
 
But if a potential consumer is unaware that Minelab or Nokta/Makro metal detectors even exist, or are under impression those are cut-rate companies, then the price difference becomes irrelevant (or close to it).

Back in 2008/2009 when I was first looking into this hobby, I didn't even know Minelab existed, let alone offered high-quality metal detectors that I might consider buying. All I knew of was: Tesoro, White's, Garrett and Fisher.

Yeah,
There are loads of folks that have come over since 2008/2009 timeframe to the supposed dark side.
Yeah this is how Minelab was referred. The dark side.
Notice the lights are off at White’s and Tesoro.

And go back and read what was said about Deus when it first debuted.
Same old crowd demeaned it. They didn’t even have to use it to supposedly effectively rate it. Flimsy outfit was said by a lot.
Lights are still on at Xp, last time I checked.
 
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Here’s a funny video.
Minelab’s Video too - the Vanquish and seems another brand detector.

Bet Calabash would get a kick out of this one.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ykt9YJPW2IA

That video reeks with all kinds of LAME and desperation. "Multi IQ is always on", well yea because the Vanquish has no other settings. The manual illustration was even worse. Apex has 25 pages, Vanquish has 20 pages. Nox 800 which we all agree can do more than either has 68 pages.

Trying to use NBA players in a detector analogy was a huge fail. Statistically, Jordan is not the greatest scorer, nor was he the most clutch shooter.
 
If folks will go back and look at my post history.
You’ll see where I basically say White’s was doomed.
And notice what happened.
They’re gone.

So, folks can read and believe what they want.

Same ole same ole, you keep making those.
Wonder what will happen?


I think I have a very good feel for who owns what in the market share dept.
We have to be looking outside of USA as well.
Those folks spend money too on detectors.

One can get tunnel vision real easy.

Be curious to know how many AT series Garrett’s sold in UK last 3 years?
Vs the 3 years before.
That Deus stole some of the market share too. ORX too. Makro Nokta too.

If you're inferring Garrett will close, I have a question. Why are they growing and hiring more engineers etc ? Whites was notorious for letting people go. Tesoro remained small and refused think outside the box, yet Garrett keeps expanding. One of these is not like the others.

That Deus stole some of the market share too. ORX too. Makro Nokta too. Not just from Garrett but each other as well. You can slam Garrett all you want but they keep adding. Not every person who detects has more than one detector. In fact, most don't. Woodbutcher is correct. Forum members don't represent the detector buying public.
 
If you're inferring Garrett will close, I have a question. Why are they growing and hiring more engineers etc ? Whites was notorious for letting people go. Tesoro remained small and refused think outside the box, yet Garrett keeps expanding. One of these is not like the others.

That Deus stole some of the market share too. ORX too. Makro Nokta too. Not just from Garrett but each other as well. You can slam Garrett all you want but they keep adding. Not every person who detects has more than one detector. In fact, most don't. Woodbutcher is correct. Forum members don't represent the detector buying public.

This
 
I never inferred anything about Garrett.
Basically talking about industry as a whole.

Time will tell what happens to any of the manufacturers.
 
Yeah that was a real dealer giving us real percentages.
Yesteryear vs current (when he posted).

Oh, Woody.
You seem to be forgetting something.
How about the little ole Vanquish?
Yeah another part of the WALL built by Minelab. Hard to get under or over that wall, right?'

Wall got lower and taller it seems.

vanquish is one hell of a value for the scratch! been a "sleeper"
right out of the gate! correct pedigree!

(h.h.!)
j.t.
 
I own stock in Xp.
Bought 3 complete Deus units.
Wireless pinpointer.
3 extra coils.

Don’t think I ever got a hat.
They should send me one for the roughly $6k I spent on their equipment.

I have a xp hat you can have, I offered them up with no takers . Will you wear the at pro hat? Lol . If you want these I'll send them tho,let me know
 

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I have a xp hat you can have, I offered them up with no takers . Will you wear the at pro hat? Lol . If you want these I'll send them tho,let me know

Yeah, I’ll wear At Pro hat squirrel hunting. That way they’ll feel sorry for me maybe and give me easier shots. :lol::lol::lol::lol:
 
I'm just so happy I purchased the Minelab Vanquish 540 pro pack over the Garrett Apex. I've seen many videos showing the Vanquish spanking the Apex. I'm not downing the Apex but from what I read and from videos the Vanquish has it all over the Apex.
 
Thread title, “What does the future hold - detector wise.
Since Makro Nokta are mentioned here I think its proper to post here in this thread.
https://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,181253

Interesting thread.

I'd especially like to know those things that Tom can't speak of. There must be some exciting projects in the works for Tom to be so much more upbeat [than several of the other posters in that thread] about the future of detecting.

My own outlook [future of detecting] is mostly positive. Perhaps naively so.

I think new technologies will come, and at some point future detectorists will be discussing the old days when simultaneous multi-frequency machines were all the rage. They'll reminisce about the easy pickings back in 2021, and some will openly chide the few remaining holdouts who insist that the old SMF machines are special.

I think desired targets will change somewhat, and some of today's trash will be considered the good stuff in years to come.

I think the safe bets will be ML and NM, but there will be unexpected surprises elsewhere that will be a major factor. I won't discount any of the current manufacturers (of metal detectors) because the next great advancement could come from any of them - or a completely new player.
 
Not surprisingly, the Nox has an excellent reputation here in the UK...The only other machine that really competes with it is the Deus...

One area where the Deus clearly performs better than the Nox is on freshly ploughed light soil that has a lot of air in it...As a very happy Nox owner, I was a little skeptical of this claim initially, but now believe them.

It's not a big issue for me as I hunt mostly pasture, but I know it's a factor for some folks...

I switched to the Nox from a NM Racer 2 and hated it at first lol, but now after three years love it...

I am not sure where ML will go with any future performance improvements on the 800, as a significantly improved 800 would probably be the death knell of the CTX 3030....

As for any future SMF machines from NM, I wish them luck...I certainly consider one, and as already noted, competition can only be good for us consumers.

I suspect the biggest issue NM have is not the technology as such, but rather the ML (and others) patents concerning SMF....
 
First, let me just say that I'm a relative novice to the detecting world. I started with a Fisher F22 in September of 2018. By Spring of 2020, I was hooked enough to know that I needed to step up my game and look for the old stuff, no longer content with hunting clad and mostly bling jewelry.

I did plenty of research last Spring leading up to the purchase of my mid-level detector in June of last year. At the time, I was not a member of this forum, but probably read a few threads from here in my research. My research also consisted of watching many, many youtube detecting videos, reading reviews on websites such as Amazon, and reviews on other forums or detectorists websites/facebook pages etc.

I very quickly narrowed my choices down to the Deus, Equinox 800/600, or Anfibio/Simplex. The AT Pro and Max just seemed like old tech to me based on my research. After all of my research I decided on the 600. Being in the Midwest, I just felt I didn't need the added gold features with the 800. The 600 was also approximately $300-400 less than the Deus. I was also torn between the two NM machines vs. the 600 but ultimately liked the less chattery 600 based on all the youtube videos I'd seen between the 3 of them.

A little over a year in and I'm quite satisfied with my purchase. I can't say its a better machine than any of the others since I've never swung them, I can only say that I'm still learning, but the machine seems to be doing exactly what I wanted it to do, pull older stuff from much deeper than the Fisher F22. I'm definitely still learning.

Also, I've recently acquired a hunting buddy who's been at this for 40 years. I figure I can learn a thing or two from him. He came across me out hunting and saw I was swinging the 600. He swings an 800, has swung them all, and swears by the Nox as the greatest machine ever.

Finally, as a relative newbie, I truly appreciate threads like this. They are very informative and thought-provoking. I appreciate the banter back and forth without it becoming personal. The few times this thread has headed off the rails, members have reigned it in and gotten back on track while staying away from personal. That's what I appreciate about this Forum, the professionalism and a chance to learn from seasoned professionals who have loads of knowledge and experience and are willing to share.

Thank you!
 
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