Minelab E-Trac or Whites V3i

[DirtyTrinkitDigger]

Minelab E-Trac or White's V3i

I am getting ready to purchase another detector and have been looking at the E-Trac and the V3i.
I am curious to find out from those that own or have owned both units, which they prefer and why. I know that 80% is knowledge of your machine, 10% is technique and 10% is the machine.

As a detectorist, I do not hunt any specific items such as coins, jewelry, relics etc. but I would like a machine that I can input specified programs tailored to my detecting needs and these two seem to fit the bill.

This is not to bash one machine or the other. I would just like some opinions.

 

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[cudamark]

I think there has been several threads of comparing those two. You may want to search here and in the "Brands" section for debate on that subject. I faced the same choice several months back and chose the E-trac. So far I'm very happy with it but since I don't have a V3i, I can't give you an honest comparison. My take on the opinions was that they were very close in performance but the E-trac was easier to learn and worked better under certain conditions (and the V3i was better under others)

 

[Dirt.Is.Good.4U]

Good luck on your search. No vote on either... just butting in to say the price tags are crazy! I would be doing my homework, too, dropping that kind of cash.

 

[Metal Detecting Stuff]

I haven't used the V31, but have extensive use on the E-trac and At Pro. The main difference is the iron mask feature that helps you work in areas with lots of iron. There is more of a learning curve on both of these machines due to the customization ability. I'm in your area, so if you would like to try an Etrac, I can meet you and let you see how it works. A friend of mine, markincypress, posts on the forums and uses the At Pro, v3i and the CTX3030. He can tell you the pros and cons of those three machines.

 

[BHNugget]

I ran the V3 (before the V3i was introduced) for two years before I finally got fed up with the coil issues they were having at the time and went back to the DFX for most of this year. After running and learning my brothers etrac, I bought my own late august of this year and havent looked back. I can honestly say that I have found more silver in 3 months with the etrac than I did two years with the V3. And this was going over the same hunt sites previously hunted with the V3.

 

[norbyx]

Well the V3 and the V3i are two different animals, that said, I have the V3i and I have to tell you this, IT IS A GREAT DETECTOR BUT.... you need to take your time to lear it, and it is not a short time. The v3i is probably the most customable detector in the market, you can adjust about every single function of the detector to your needs, if you start doing this after a short time you will most likely mess up the detector and loose performance instead of gaining.
My advise... if you get your V3i use it in the factory programs for a while, than put in some custom programs done by the known experts on other forums, that will give you a better performance, and LAST, do your own mods.


Good luck...

 

[BHNugget]

The V3i was Whites answer to constant complaints of the V3 being very unstable, when in fact new users were basically trying to run it too hot. As far as Im concerned the V3i is a Vision or V3 with watered down software to make it more user friendly.

 

[DirtyTrinkitDigger]

Thanks to all whom havw responded to my question, and Metal Detecting Stuff, I am still trying to get by your store. I will be back from El Paso next week and will make some time to get by there.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Both are good machines. Just take your time to learn whichever one you choose.

 

[sonofadigger]

didnt you just purchase the at pro? has it even gotten dirty yet

 

[DirtyTrinkitDigger]

Yes I did get the AT Pro and a Tesoro Tiger Shark but I got du'fevu and this addiction has me wanting more. I figure one more good detector should last me for a while. I am also looking at the CTX 3030. I have to get myself at least one Christmas gift. ;-)

 

[Dirt.Is.Good.4U]

Re: Minelab E-Trac or White's V3i

Wow... Somebody has an expensive habit.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[markincypress]

If you "even" have thoughts about a CTX3030 then get it instead of an Etrac. It has more features than an Etrac (okay so some of them you may not always use; like the GPS) but you wont be thinking "gee I wish I had bought..". As far as a V3i? Well.. I am still playing with it. Some features I like..others? I am not sure of since the soil around here (Houston Texas) is not as bad as in other parts. I can say that you need to have this machine set up properly to get the best performance from it (sensitivity; Tx boost, ground filters..well those are a few). Both will require you to spend A LOT of time learning and both manufacturers use "their own language" in describing features and settings. My AT Pro is my "cover the area quickly and see what targets are there". My CTX3030 is my "get the stuff others missed" and requires more patience and an almost "zombie like" (in my opinion only) level of concentration but it pays off if you take your time with it and really listen to each target.

Once you get back in town get with MDS (Metal Detecting Stuff) and you can "take a test drive".

 

[DirtyTrinkitDigger]

Re: Minelab E-Trac or White's V3i

Thanks markincypress. I can't wait to get into a club where I can get more insight on things. I am in the Jersey Village area and don't know which I should join. Anyway, I will take that test drive when I get back into Houston.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Frankn]

What it boils down to is that sometimes, the hand that holds the detector is more important than the actual detector. Frank

 

[mntnflyr4fun]

I started detecting 5 years ago with an MXT, moved up to a V3i and now own an Etrac....
Not having any hunting partners to learn from, and hunting in an area that has been seriously hunted since the 70's, I struggled to get the MXT to give up more than pennies, so I figured I needed the latest horsepower (V3i) to get more consistent with jewelry and hopefully some silver....I ran the V3i for a little over a year before I gave it up....what a beast...in retrospect, I may have been my own worst enemy but there are so many features and so little documentation that I could never get consistent results..I wanted to hunt, not tweak my machine...I could easily stand over a buried coin and tweak it trying to find the sweet spot and bammm the coin would just disappear....my experience with the V3i was short lived and I moved on to the Etrac....on day one within the first hour hunting the same ground I had been over for at least 100 hours with both the MXT and V3i I had my first silver in my hand....a week later, same park, 2nd silver..a couple weeks later, same park a V nickle..not to mention that I was starting to find rings.....I still didn't even know how to run the machine and I had surpassed a couple years of detecting with the other units . Since then I have found the Etrac to be a coin HOG....it zeros in on coins like nothing I had ever used, pulls coins out from underneath pull tabs, nails etc....unbelievable....The etrac can be hunted by ear, its that good at discriminating and it hits good targets hard....I live in an area with high mineralization and have dug pencil lead sized square nail heads 7" or more down....it finds small stuff deep.....As a coin shooter I think it would be hard to surpass....I am sold on the etrac for ease of use and performance without question...however...I am now looking for a detector to do some nugget shooting with, but am not able to spend much time in gold bearing areas so I am looking for a dual purpose machine and I am very close to going back to a MXT Pro for its superior ground tracking capability and reasonably strong disc. capability....I am convinced that today I could run a V3i as well, but it doesn't have the "chops" for the gold fields which keeps me from giving it another whirl.....I know people running the V3i that do very well on silver, but they have dedicated themselves to learning the machine setup for their areas, and you cannot beat Whites service, its first rate, but if you want to turn on a machine and hit the parks etc. for coins and jewelry I think that the Etrac is where to start....all of them great machines in the right hands

 

[christo000]

never tried an etrac i do want to though i do however own a v3i awesome machine u can customize anything really that pops in ur head its really an amazing machine

 

[beerguy]

never tried an etrac i do want to though i do however own a v3i awesome machine u can customize anything really that pops in ur head its really an amazing machine

I was wondering where you were, Christo! I expected you to post right away, you must have been in the field digging.

Mntnflyr, you have me looking at an etrac again. I just picked up an MXT pro, it seems a good complement to my XLT.

The more I use the MXT, the more I appreciate my XLT, tho. I consider the MXT the backup.

 

[christo000]

I was wondering where you were, Christo! I expected you to post right away, you must have been in the field digging.

Mntnflyr, you have me looking at an etrac again. I just picked up an MXT pro, it seems a good complement to my XLT.

The more I use the MXT, the more I appreciate my XLT, tho. I consider the MXT the backup.

Lol usually I reply quick I mainly use the app for this site & cuz of that posts go to my phone, funny though I was actually getting ready to hit the park up with the v3i & the deus compare a little

 

[beerguy]

Lol usually I reply quick I mainly use the app for this site & cuz of that posts go to my phone, funny though I was actually getting ready to hit the park up with the v3i & the deus compare a little

I wondered how you did so much MDing AND lurking on this site!

Keep me posted on the comparison, I am very interested in that. Probably deserves it's own thread, instead of us hijacking this one!