GARRETT ACE 250 REVIEW

[hollowpointred]

the GARRETT ACE 250 is an entry level detector in the $200 price range with features you would expect to see on a higher priced detector. the first feature to speak of is the target id legend that indicates visually whether you have found iron,foil,a nickle, pulltabs, gold, bronze, pennies,dimes,quarters,half dollars and dollars. from my experience the target id feature works fairly well however it is not to be trusted entirely. it is most accurate on quarters, in my opinion, and less reliable in the penny/dime range where pieces of canslaw can be confused as coins. the machine also has three distinct tones. a low tone to signify iron a normal tone to indicate gold/pulltabs and nickles and a belltone to indicate silver and all other coins.the tones are very reliable.there are also five factory preset modes. all metal,jewelry,custom,relics,and coins.each mode offers a different level of discrimination. in the custom mode,you have the option of making your own custom discrimination pre set to suit your tastes.the machine discriminates very well for a detector in this price range.the machine also has a depth indicator that is very accurate.it reads up to 8 inches and most of the time i can trust what the depth is by this indicator.the machine pinpoints extremely well although it will take some time and practice to get it down.there are 8 sensitivity (depth) settings.at the highest setting i have experience excessive chatter, but that may be due to the soil conditions in this area. at lower settings the machine is very stable but there doesn't seem to be alot of difference in depth in the middle range say between 4 and 6 bars.the machine has a battery power indicator which comes in handy,and it is very light weight,which makes it easy on the arm during prolonged hunts. the machine comes with a 6.5" x 9" search coil that is water proof. some people have complained that the coil is not as rugged as they would like but i have not found it to be a problem. likewise i have heard complaints about the shaft having too much play in it making the detector feel "loose". again, i have not found it to be a problem. i will say however that most of my finds with this machine have been in the 4" and under range with just a few coins found at deeper depths.this makes me think that this machine is better suited to coinshooting at the park rather than looking for older deeper coins with it.
all in all i would say that the ACE 250 is an all around excellent machine for the money and is tailor made for a beginner or as a second detector. for those of you that are looking for extreme depth and top notch discrimination your money may be better spent elsewhere.(although if that is what you're after you probably wont find it in this price range!) dollar for dollar i would say that the ACE is just about an unbeatable value at this point in time.

 

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[lilsorel]

I have owner an Ace 250 since the spring. I concur with most of your review. The only thing I would add is on the depth. The very first piece of silver I pulled out in a local park, eas right at the side of the road and was a full 6" down. I have since pulled numerous other clad coins up from that depth, as well as larger iron relics from much deeper. I think part of it is the ground (content and moisture) and the speed a person hunts.
Also I would like to mention that the Ace 250 is a great competition machine. I used mine in a hunt this summer, and it was light, fast on pinpointing and accurate on coins at competition depths! I was 24 peices of silver and 5 tokens to the good on a one day hunt. PS

 

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

Hollow,

outstanding review. I'm sure many will appreciate and gain by your efforts.

Hope we can get more of our members to post reviews of machines; it helps everyone when it come to making that decision.

Good hunting, and keep us posted on any other quirks with the 250.

have a good un.............
SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS

 

[Mr. Morbid]

Thanks for the review... I'm thinking about buying the Ace 250 machine... I don't plan on uncovering the lost dutchman mine with it LOL hehehe... But it has all the features I'm looking for in a high priced detector on the beginner level...

 

[ClonedSIM]

Glad to see you're enjoying your Ace.

 

[hollowpointred]

one thing i should add to this review is that i have recently started hunting exclusivly in all metal mode with the ace and it seems to have increased the depth substantially. ive been finding targets in the 6 to 8 inches range now. just thought i would pass it along.

 

[cryptodave]

Thanks for the review! I was thinking about picking one of these up as a second machine, and I believe you have made my mind up!

 

[mstary1]

hi all.
My first ever real detector, My Ace 250 arrived today in the mail today and boy am I excited.
As a newbie, I'll post how I go , how the detector goes etc.
it was you guys here that decided my purchase on good advice.
cheers guys
Mark
Sydney Australia

 

[Mr. Morbid]

Well I finally purchased the Ace 250... It arrived last Thursday... Been out a few times in the yard, and my grandma's playing with it... I havent dug anything up yet... The features are pretty simple to use, I like the touch and go options, it even has a pinpointer button on the machine that you hold down to determine the exact location of the target in the ground...

For a machine that has a ton of features for an entery level machine its the way to go... The features include depth indicator, target id, pinpoint, battery life indicator, and different modes which include, all metal, jewelery, coins, relics, and custom... It really is a sweet machine I'm glad I paid 199.00 for it... It sells for about 249.95 if you did a search online you can find it for as low as 199.00 and usually with freebies included...

 

[mstary1]

Well went to my local park, first time out with my ace 250. It's an amazing thrill going
out first time with a metal detector. I can see why this hobby is so addictive.
The Ace worked brilliantly, as a novice it was easy to use. Just takes time getting use to the signals.
I used coin mode for the few hours I searched and found three coins. I'll post in todays finds, but
one coin has 1863 dated on it. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

Still have more to learn in this hobby, especially pinpointing the signal. took me a while to find the coin/trash
guess that will come with time.

The Ace250 is awsome, I'm one happy newbie.

Mark.
Aus

 

[miester]

Just returned from vacation, it was a fishing trip but right out of the box my motor was a problem ,but I had the Ace along and like the motor the Ace was a problem. So I went back to the cabin and took it apart and reassembled, tried it, now its louder than ever, it even vibrates

 

[Monty]

I bought an ACE 250 as backup for my GTI 2500 and I must say I use the ACE nearly as much as the 2500!The only fault I have found with my ACE is tht it doesn't have a volume control.The factory set tone is much too loud unless you have adjustable earphones. I got a set of light weight "summertime" headphones with my ACE as a freebie. It also had no volume control and I couldn't use it! Went to Radio Shack and for less than $20.00 I got a set of light weight stereo headphones with a volume control. Very comfortable on hot days! I would also like to see a manual ground balance feature as the ACE is hard to use on wet sand or along the edge of the water. But I guess that's why I have my GTI 2500 isn't it? It should be a killer dry land competition machine as it is light and fast to swing, and with the new larger coil should prove unbeatable! Can hardly wait 'til thenext club hunt to test it out! You can't go wrong with an ACE 250 ! The only negative report I have ever read was from a newbie who wouldn't take time to learn how to use it. For some reaon he/she thought they should be finding only gold and silver and not pulltabs, blamed it on the machine! Excellent! Monty

 

[hollowpointred]

hey monty,what larger coil? ive heard of the smaller sniper coil,but not of something larger. you mean larger than the standard 6.5x9" coil?

 

[Monty]

Yep, Garrett has a new 10.5" coil coming out this fall. Also, Sunray Electronics is coming out with one but date hasn't been announced. Monty

 

[hollowpointred]

thats awesome! ! looks like im gonna have another coil to add to the arsenal! thanks for the heads up!!

 

[bill1959]

Three things: 1) I hate the belltone that you are stuck with; 2) the shaft can be made more sturdy by the addition of a few bolts. I did that and it is 100% better; and 3) I wish detector manufacturers would make volume controls standard items so that we don't have to buy special headphones with volume controls. Other than that - this is a great machine for the money.

 

[Monty]

Never have had a problem with the staff not being sturdy, but I am a short person and the shortening of the staff just makes it more sturdy. I agree 100% on the volume control! I would be afraid the bolts might interfere with my signal in some way, but if it don't, great! monty

 

[warsawdaddy]

My new 12" coil arrived yesterday.79.95 plus 5.00 UPS from MD of Minneapolis.Hdphones are not for me,too old I guess.I bought a small amplified spkr(11.00) at RS. it has a volumne control and it fits right in my shirt pocket.I can turn it down or way up and hear signals you might miss otherwise.It also uses a 9v batt.I use it on the 2500,250,CZ5.

 

[POPS]

I am new to treasure hunting and new to this sight. I havn't purchased my detector as yet. From what I am reading, I pretty much have decided on the Ace 250 as a good starter. I also see ads for the 250 pro. Can anyone tell me the difference between the 250 and the 250 Pro? I enjoy the sight and thanks in advance for the help. Pop

 

[hollowpointred]

i just was over at the gerrett site and i didnt see any info on the ace 250 pro. (although i didnt see anything on the new larger coils for the ace either.) maybe they havent updated their site in a while.i will keep an eye out for you. where did you see that ad pops?