Whites Coinmaster Pro VS Garrett Ace 250

[Mezrein503]

Alright, I want this a clean fight, no biting, no nail nashing, no hitting below the belt! Now, go to your corners, and come out swinging!


Sorry, had to do that. Anyway, these two are about the same price range, at a quick glance have about the same features, and look to be able to do what I want to do when it comes to metal detecting.

So which would work better for me with the following conditions in mind:
Hunting in Western Oregon
Beach hunting in dry and wet sand
Parks, playgrounds, schools, rivers, creeks, and lakes.
Hunting for jewelery, rare coins, and clad.

I cant spend more than 300, and really like the idea of the LCD to "assist" me in getting my targets. I know that more experienced hunters do it by sound and sound alone, but I am far from experienced at the moment, and havent been having good luck going on sound alone. Sadly the bounty hunter I have only has two sounds, high and low, and then broken for when it doesnt know what to do, or for when the target isnt sitting just so, or for when any number of other things make it panic. The hunter is good starter, but when I move up (God I hope soon) I want to move to something that can really shine for me. Once I get super comfortable with both sound and lcd interfaces, then I'll move to the more power, purely sound machines, but for now, thats my perferences,

Thanks all! HH!

[Adrian SS]

Not a huge difference between them, both will be not so flash in wet salt conditions. the Ace has more notches. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

[Mezrein503]

What do you mean by the Ace has more notches?

[Smudge]

Think about getting the Tesoro Silver uMax (About $230). No LCD screen, which in my expereince can be unreliable as can the depth meter. The tone of the uMax machine will tell you what to dig and what to skip.

In my opinion, it works better in the wet sand than either of the machines you have mentioned. Set the sensitivity at 4 for the wet sand and you'll hit targets 5-8" deep.

Also, the uMax is incredibly light weight and has a lifetime warranty. The other's don't.

[Mezrein503]

Thanks for the ideas, I have questions now. I noticed that the Tesoro only has disc and all metal mode, so is there no mode to filter out iron?

[Smudge]

Thanks for the ideas, I have questions now. I noticed that the Tesoro only has disc and all metal mode, so is there no mode to filter out iron?

You can eliminate the iron easily on the disc mode.

[GibH]

Don't forget to have a look at the Teknetics Delta in your price range as well.

[Sandman]

Both the White's and Garrett will disc out Iron. Only a Minelab which costs lots more will report on a coin or ring very close to a nail which it ignores. As for the Notches mentioned, they aren't really notches but sections on the screen to help id the target. It isn't accurate either but fools some people into thinking it helps. It is hard to get experience when you only get to play with one detector at a time as they each take time to learn. There is no best one, we just have to adjust to what we have.

[John (Ma)]

The Tesoro silver umax can ignore iron with your discrimination setting. Of course some iron and "BIG" iron can give a good reading which takes practice to identify which is the same for most detectors. The silver is a great bang for the buck no nonsense detector.

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

There is no best one, we just have to adjust to what we have.

Good statement Sandman.

The ace 250 is the most popular detector by far, I've sold a lot of them and never has there been any complaints, definitely reliable. If you think you might upgrade again soon you might want to go this route. It would be easy to sell used later.

The Silver uMax is a good machine too, as pointed out by two posters, but does not fit your criteria. NO DISPLAY. For the record it 's disc works good, very good depth, and excellent pinpointing.

One option not mentioned in the same price range is Fisher's F2. Since I have no experience with the new White's, I can't comment on it. I would go with the Fisher. Of the lower priced machines with display it's the only one that has numerical target ID, as well as 3 distinct tones, has good depth, and excellent pinpointing. If there are any drawbacks to this machine it would be that it is a tad on the ugly side.

In the end it is your money, what ever you decide, I hope you are happy with your decision.

Rick

[rws51]

Buy the Tesoro Silver µmax and don't look back. You don't need a lcd to find coins, actually it will cause you to lose a lot of good targets by relying on the meter. Compare the quality side by side if you can....the others can't come close to the Tesoro, plus it has a lifetime warranty.

[liftloop]

What ever scratches the itch..... life time warranty or a good detector... get the white's

[Sandman]

After the little warranty runs out you are stuck with $$$ for a fix or like many do just buy an new detector. Tesoro will fix a detector for LIFE even for a none orginal owner. But you just have to learn the detector you bought till you decide you want to try something else. Sometimes you choose wisely.........

[liftloop]

Yea but white's will have it back in a flash and it's not that expensive ether. you mite be waiting for Tesoro That's what I've been reading.. I still would like to try a Tesoro. especially if they have analogue model ..

[GibH]

Yea but white's will have it back in a flash and it's not that expensive ether. you mite be waiting for Tesoro That's what I've been reading.. I still would like to try a Tesoro. especially if they have analogue model ..

The only Tesoro anyone has had to wait on are the water detectors. That will be a thing of the past now they are hardwiring the coils.

[Elbandido]

On another Forum i got Flamed by Ace users for making this comparison. They act like its a E trac !
But your going to use it in Oregon and our ground in the northwest stinks.
Lots of iron mineralization !
Past low to mid range garretts i have used did not get good depth here.
If you can swing a manual ground balance detector for a few bucks more do it.
I love Tesoros and my experience tells me they do better here as far as pre set ground balance
Detectors go. But i too would like to try the coin master pro.

[George (MN)]

I had the White's new Coinmaster & Prizm IV, they go nuts in my soil, the ID jumping around so much it's useless beyond maybe 2". Ace 250 generally IDs correctly to 4" in my soil. Also, had the Delta 4000, it was good for finding shallow coins, didn't get any beyond 2" in 4 hours of testing (no adjust for soil).

The Tesoro U/max, besides not having visual or tone ID, also lacks the non-motion pinpoint I prefer. But it still gets very high marks in user satisfaction. I have not owned one.

A $300 budget limits current model choices. Many more models available used for $300 or less. Some of the Bounty Hunters I've picked up for about $100 or less have been as good as the Ace 250.

I definitely would not want to claim I know which detector is best for you and your soil. Best wishes, George (MN)

[LuckyLarry]

Again, Sandman (and ElBandido too) got it right.

If you want something that doesn't break down often or drive you crazy with gauges and knobs, screens, and question marks, and weighs the least, get the uMax.

If you like to hear BOING! BOING! BOING! and you want one with a readout screen, get the *%#&$^ Ace.

If you want one that discriminates almost as well as the Tesoro, doesn't drive you half-mad with all the BOING, BOINGs, and does better than the Ace at discrimination, get the F2.

In fact, the little cheap Tesoro Compadre will find tiny 2-3 gr gold nuggets but the Ace and F2 won't in 10 light years, and in my nasty soil here in Oregon it will sometimes detect deeper than the ACE too, even though it runs with less gain.

Just my 2 cents worth,

LuckyLarry (AKA EasyMoney)