Garrett AT Pro or Tesoro Cortes???

[okdiggermark]

Alright, I'm pretty much decided that the next detector I'll own will be either a Garrett AT Pro or a Tesoro Cortés. And me being more of a Garrett man, I'm leaning HARD toward the AT. Have they worked all the bugs out (if I buy a fresh one, and I of course would) and how is everyone doing with theirs? Your experience (with EITHER an AT Pro OR a Cortés) would be appreciated!!!!! Thanks friends!

 

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[goodmore]

Well there is one way to find out. Get yourself one of those models. The wonderful thing about these forums is the ability to sell a detector that just doesn't work out. I have the AT Pro myself. I think it is a very nice detector. It is not the deepest. But I knew that going in. I love the ability to hunt in trashy areas with it. There are just as many masked targets out there as deep targets. With the 5 x 8 coil I found a wonderful combo. But everyone is different. I know Tesoro makes some nice detectors as well. Or buy an E-Trac. Everyone seems to end up there eventually.

 

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[s.c.shooter]

The more I use the AT,the more I'm impressed with it's capabilities!

 

[Keppy]

Or buy an E-Trac. Everyone seems to end up there eventually.

NOT a true statement .... There is a lot of us that don't end up with a E-trac and we don't want a E-Trac ...Now Don't go giving out wrong information

 

[okdiggermark]

Or buy an E-Trac. Everyone seems to end up there eventually.

NOT a true statement .... There is a lot of us that don't end up with a E-trac and we don't want a E-Trac ...Now Don't go giving out wrong information

I'm listening keppy!!!

 

[Ism]

I personally wouldnt even consider a Garrett over a Tesoro. Im not rich at all and like to know that when I go out that Tesoro has my back if i break something. Even if its my fault, theyll still fix it.

If you want bells, whistles and blinking lights, get a Garrett. Most people who dont care about that stuff dont buy Garretts.

Not rich? You have the wrong detector.....grin

OkDigger....Try the Cortes before you buy it, I wish I did. I'm not partial to metered detectors but I think that if you are going to have one, it should have better resolution than my Cortes had. And its not just me, many on the forum over the years have complained that the Cortes displays a 95 for anything from can slaw to a silver coin. My Cortes did and that was after a checkup and calibration. I'm not a bitter Tesoro customer, I own a Vaquero and its everything a detector should be. I can't speak to the AT, but you can probably guess which detector I'd drop money on....Warranty or no warranty, it doesn't matter how many times they fix it for free if it doesn't perform adequately.

 

[nsdq]

I'm not afraid of the AT PRO and as soon as my wife turns her back I'm buying one...(its her I'm afraid of)...lol

:









i agree with you

 

[SusanMN]

Owned a Cortes and its a great gold and relic hunter. It had a couple of things though that drove me crazy. First is that all coins ring up as "95". Didn't mind digging all those pennies but large chunks of iron also ring up as a 95 too. So lots of digging. Theoretically pinpointing mode has tone ID but I never figured it out. Also, no visual pinpointing made it a little harder than I liked to find my target.

Owned an AT pro for a day. Didn't like the weight, or it's sounds, hated the clunky headphones, so I sent it back.

 

[okdiggermark]

Owned a Cortes and its a great gold and relic hunter. It had a couple of things though that drove me crazy. First is that all coins ring up as "95". Didn't mind digging all those pennies but large chunks of iron also ring up as a 95 too. So lots of digging. Theoretically pinpointing mode has tone ID but I never figured it out. Also, no visual pinpointing made it a little harder than I liked to find my target.

Owned an AT pro for a day. Didn't like the weight, or it's sounds, hated the clunky headphones, so I sent it back.

Thank you Susan, I really appreciate the honest feedback. The more I research, the more I feel my next detector will be Minelab. Xterra 705 or an E-Trac (if I can only afford one).

 

[SusanMN]

Owned a Cortes and its a great gold and relic hunter. It had a couple of things though that drove me crazy. First is that all coins ring up as "95". Didn't mind digging all those pennies but large chunks of iron also ring up as a 95 too. So lots of digging. Theoretically pinpointing mode has tone ID but I never figured it out. Also, no visual pinpointing made it a little harder than I liked to find my target.

Owned an AT pro for a day. Didn't like the weight, or it's sounds, hated the clunky headphones, so I sent it back.

Thank you Susan, I really appreciate the honest feedback. The more I research, the more I feel my next detector will be Minelab. Xterra 705 or an E-Trac (if I can only afford one).

I'd love an e-trac - I think they are the best coin machine. Unfortunately the e-trac is more than a pound heavier than the Xterra - way too heavy for me.

 

[okdiggermark]

Owned a Cortes and its a great gold and relic hunter. It had a couple of things though that drove me crazy. First is that all coins ring up as "95". Didn't mind digging all those pennies but large chunks of iron also ring up as a 95 too. So lots of digging. Theoretically pinpointing mode has tone ID but I never figured it out. Also, no visual pinpointing made it a little harder than I liked to find my target.

Owned an AT pro for a day. Didn't like the weight, or it's sounds, hated the clunky headphones, so I sent it back.

I saw that.....it's like 4.8 lbs with batteries. That's heavy, but I hear it's balanced well and by gosh, I'll find a way to swing the beast.

Thank you Susan, I really appreciate the honest feedback. The more I research, the more I feel my next detector will be Minelab. Xterra 705 or an E-Trac (if I can only afford one).

I'd love an e-trac - I think they are the best coin machine. Unfortunately the e-trac is more than a pound heavier than the Xterra - way too heavy for me.

 

[goldentruth]

Hello friend. I noticed the comment about the many used garett at pro's for sale. Personally sometimes it spooks me just like the "White's Bullseye" pin pointer which I have seen many and at lowered prices. (Kinda like the stocks, when a bad investment they drop and people run away and sell off.) Thanks to the high tech we have and great comments/experience from our "Think Tanks", I learned the buttons fail on many bullseye units and did not take the wear & tear on the field. I have seen posts and their exposure hoped they fixed their problems but the work great when operational. I am not trying to put down any companys, they are in business because the many products do work well. I was looking at the Minelab but the best is out of my spending range and one youtube said a famous trails (sold at Radio shack) & the cheepest Tesoro works as well as the low priced Minelab and you could buy 2 metal detectors for the same price as the one Minelab. (Check the youtube.)
Now I have not had a Tesoro Cortez, but let me say this. I have one of the first made original-production classic 1980's Tesoro Golden Sabre. I scored on ebay, 31 years old, still operational. I use it in all metal mode & discriminate & at the nickle setting.Sensitivty set at 3-4. I dig all targets so I do not miss nuggets, coins and artifacts. (I do get alot of junk wire & 100 year old "Square Nails" from the 1800's but that is part of the game.)Not being the original owner I phoned the Tesoro Company, they gave me settings-advice and offered to give it a quality control check-up! They even mailed me (FREE!) a battery holder (which was missing) and a new battery cover with the "quick pull" plastic pin/gromet. Excellent Customer service.
We all have our own tastes, I go on youtube and see people in the field. (Some I think salt their finds to make it look easy or they are lucky each time they go out but I check out their technique and I am happy for all who really do find it for real. Good luck friend.

GOLD is where you find it!

 

[goldentruth]

I have been on treasure net for several months now and i must commend you "diggermark", you always accept other peoples comments no matter what & I see you never rag on anyone, that is cool. You sound like a good treasure/MD Hunting buddy to have around and one you could trust. I love my vintage 80's Golden Tesoro ll with silent search and accept, discriminate or not on each or both. I run "accept all metals", I was told for the best depth with sensitivity at 3 to 4 (Recomended by the Tesoro Tech.)
Later when it is at a good price on Ebay, I plan to get the "LOBO Super Traq". By the way it is set up to pick up the small common grain nuggets, I think I will stop there, it may complete my collection even though my "Sabre" will be my back up or to share with one of my sons.
You are right about Tesoro... Over the phone I was suprised when Tesoro told me I was missing parts and they were sending me by mail those missing parts, I asked them how much do I owe them, they said: FREE!
Right there I'm Sold! I know of the top name MD Co. (Won't mention their name) I found many people who own older MD's, they just can't get the parts for due to their model(s) being discontinued! SAD.
Have the best finds in 2012, may it be the very best for you and all.

 

[okdiggermark]

I have been on treasure net for several months now and i must commend you "diggermark", you always accept other peoples comments no matter what & I see you never rag on anyone, that is cool. You sound like a good treasure/MD Hunting buddy to have around and one you could trust. I love my vintage 80's Golden Tesoro ll with silent search and accept, discriminate or not on each or both. I run "accept all metals", I was told for the best depth with sensitivity at 3 to 4 (Recomended by the Tesoro Tech.)
Later when it is at a good price on Ebay, I plan to get the "LOBO Super Traq". By the way it is set up to pick up the small common grain nuggets, I think I will stop there, it may complete my collection even though my "Sabre" will be my back up or to share with one of my sons.
You are right about Tesoro... Over the phone I was suprised when Tesoro told me I was missing parts and they were sending me by mail those missing parts, I asked them how much do I owe them, they said: FREE!
Right there I'm Sold! I know of the top name MD Co. (Won't mention their name) I found many people who own older MD's, they just can't get the parts for due to their model(s) being discontinued! SAD.
Have the best finds in 2012, may it be the very best for you and all.

Thank you Golden T. I appreciate that! As far as sensitivity (depth on mine), I usually run mine up until it just is barely the needles edge of unstable. I'd still be considering Tesoro really hard, but I want a TID machine....not to ONLY go off of, but one more piece of the puzzle pre-dig, and Tesoro only has two TID machines....Cortes & Deleon, and I've heard of other people than Susan that have said ALL COINS read "95." I've got to be able to trust my machine. I like my beep and dig Garrett.....it's a great older detector.....I just want more depth....and from what I've seemed to discover, E-Trac has great depth. I know ML's service is slow as molasses in February.....I've just got to try em! Thank you for your response GT, and may treasure be in your future hunt fields also for 2012.

 

[goldentruth]

I can understand where you are at.
I like the minelab name and a lot of the research work they do as well as the deepest depth.
I have to be honest, I do think the prices are set too high for the top 3 best.
I would like to get a lower cost model but I would hate to wait a long time for repairs and would not like to get stuck if parts are no longer available.
When my Dad was alive he told me: Don't take chances.
I'm sayin if I lay out a pretty penny, I don't want to have what can't later be fixed but they are the best.
Good luck friend. 8)

 

[okdiggermark]

I can understand where you are at.
I like the minelab name and a lot of the research work they do as well as the deepest depth.
I have to be honest, I do think the prices are set too high for the top 3 best.
I would like to get a lower cost model but I would hate to wait a long time for repairs and would not like to get stuck if parts are no longer available.
When my Dad was alive he told me: Don't take chances.
I'm sayin if I lay out a pretty penny, I don't want to have what can't later be fixed but they are the best.
Good luck friend. 8)

If you lay down a pretty penny, I'll find it with my detector! LOL

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

Mark!

Minelab has new people in the service department now. Very much improved there. They are excellent now!

Give me a call on that E-Trac! I have special deals for Tnet guys!

 

[smcdmc]

I recently got back into this hobby and the detector I was using was an older Garrett. It pinpointed great and had ok depth but I was really wanting to upgrade. After looking at a ton of different reviews I ended up buying a used Cortes. It is a much better detector than the Garrett, but then again it was an older model so I'm sure the AT Pro would have been much better as well. So if you are upgrading from an older model I'm pretty sure you would be happy with either. As far as the complaints of all coins reading a 95, I don't find that true. Sure most of them will, but aren't we going to dig all the coins anyway? Indian heads, gold coins, nickels, etc don't read 95. One of the reasons Tesoro gave for most coins reading 95 is so that more room would be left for the machine to categorize things like pulltabs, nickels, etc. I have not found this to be a problem at all. No, it is not going to tell you with 100% certainty and a color picture to boot, what is under the coil. But it is going to give you a lot more info that a beep and dig type of machine. It also reads depth and can pinpoint just as well as my older Garrett did. As far as the big chunky haloed out piece of iron reading a 95, well there are a lot of machines that will give you bad info under those circumstances. However, you will get a different response with the Cortes even though the id may say 95 it will also have a few bars under the iron reading. I don't see any of these people mentioning that, so maybe they haven't used it enough to learn the machine before they decided it wasn't for them. Individual coins will mostly read 95 but will show on a different spot on the bar graph id, so you can still be pretty sure whether it is penny, dime, quarter, etc. Ok, enough rambling. lol I guess you can tell I'm happy with my Cortes, but as with most detectors what one person loves another hates. So, flip a coin.

Shane

 

[okdiggermark]

@Shane: That's good info! It's good to hear from a few people that have actually had one. It seems you have to look long and hard for Cortes owners, and yeah, I'm sure it's a great machine! Most of us dig by the beep/chirp/howl/squeak/blip/grunt with or without TID anyway! LOL

 

[smcdmc]

@Shane: That's good info! It's good to hear from a few people that have actually had one. It seems you have to look long and hard for Cortes owners, and yeah, I'm sure it's a great machine! Most of us dig by the beep/chirp/howl/squeak/blip/grunt with or without TID anyway! LOL

I found mine for around $400 and have seen a few others between 400-500 used. I'm to cheap to buy new. lol

 

[luvsdux]

I can't speak for the Garrett, but I have both the Cortez and the DeLeon. Picked both of them up used and haven't had a problem with either. That said, If I were in your shoes I'd look hard at the differences in the bells and whistles on each machine versus the price. The biggest downside in my mind on the two Tesoro detectors concerns ground balancing. The Cortez only ground balances in the all metal mode, the discrimination mode is factory preset. The DeLeon is factory preset in both modes. Most of my detecting is in mild soil and both machines work very well here. The Cortez display is a bit small and can be a bit hard to read. On the plus side, they're both coin magnets in my soil and are a delight to swing as the weight is pretty light. I understand the Garrett is submersible to shallow depths which would be a big plus around creeks and beaches.

Of course you could always buy one of each, after all, anything worth having is worth having two of. Good luck in whatever you decide.
luvsdux