Garrett Ace 250 ..Really...

[scotty544]

As I have seen many new members asking about a good starter detector, and many members on here commenting about there Ace 250, I have finally seen one up close and personal, I have to add my two cents. So I am detecting a guys yard when his neighbor comes over and introduces himself and watches me detect for awhile. He then says that he has a detector and invited me to come to his yard that he has hunted to death, he claimed. I went to his yard and started looking around with my V3i, he returns with the trusty 250 in hand. First impression was that it looked cheap, I mean toyish cheap. Then as I am looking he states that all he ever found was beer tabs. I found 10 coins in about 20 minutes, while he found nothing. He got so discouraged that he told me to keep on looking, but he knew he wasn't even in my class. He stayed and watched for a little longer then went back in the house. He even got me permission to hunt his mothers yard next door.

As far as what I could see, he couldn't make heads or tells out of the random bell tones that he was hearing. If I found a signal that I thought was a coin, I would call him over and let him scan it before I dug it. Only about 4 out of ten did he even get a response. Vice versa all of the signals he found, mine showed them as trash or were completely discrimed out as iron. That detector was annoying as hell to listen to. I wouldn't give $50 bucks for one of those much less $250. If you are over the age of 12 you will be doing yourself a disservice buying a 250. Mind you I am not bashing them just to be, I really respect Garrett as a brand, but don't fall for this trap. And if that's all that you can afford get a cheap Tesoro or Whites. Or better yet save your money another year and get a $500 plus machine. If I had started with one of these I can promise you that I would not be detecting today. You get what you pay for.

Ps- I love my Garrett Pro Pointer! Not brand bashing.\
Pss- I found 3 quarters, 3 dimes, 5 wheat, and 9 copper/zincs. Have not got to the backyard yet.

 

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[xr7ator]

So what your saying is that due to you seeing a guy using a 250, he must know how to use it and you know enough about the machine to believe he actually knew how to use it, right? He knew how to work the sensitivity and had it adjusted to hear the deeper coins you were hitting, right? He actually knew how to work the descrim options and was still getting hits on iron, right?
In the 80's, my first machine was a garrett master hunter 7. I heard all the BS about whites and finally bought one. I believe it is a 6000DI. I used it and used it and used it and came to the conclusion that it's auto ground balance feature sucked and the Garrett was a much better machine. After all, I had dug pennies a foot deep with the standard 7" coil.
Brand loyalty is brand loyalty and has nothing to do with how one learns and masters a machine. I have a friend with a v3i and it seems to be an absolute awesome machine. But, you have to pay for it. Garrett doesn't make a machine that expensive. The AT pro is the best selling detector. I wonder why if Garretts aren't any good?
I've never used an Ace series or a v3i. The v3i better be, what 5 or 6 times the machine, based on cost.
You get what yo pay for and your results will vary based on the amount of time you put into the machine andlearning what it is telling you. Also, some folks are not going to be as good as others in a particular hobby. It's just human nature.
BTW, my v3i buddy was doing the "deep silver" mode and was doing great! Then, I pulled a 14k mans wedding band outta the side of a hole, showed him and he was almost certian that it was his hole I found it in. He got the walker and I got the gold. Just food for thought.

 

[dustytrails123]

garrett users get all upset when you tell them there machine doesnt work worth a damn...its a known fact ace series are terrible machines and you get less then what you pay for

 

[dholland02]

Used one for 6 months biggest waste of money. A guy with a safari and etrac walked behind me and pulled silver that my ace wouldnt read. Needless to say I own a safari now and havnt looked back. I WOULDN'T recommend an ace model to anyone.

 

[scotty544]

What I am saying is, I was expecting a whole lot more than what I saw, he may not know crap about how to use it, but he was fiddeling with it and trying to adjust it. Like I stated, it was my first dealings with one, and I was not only NOT impressed, I was shocked at how inadequate it was. And the purpose of this post is to get people, who are thinking about getting one, to think TWICE!! Not to say that the at pro or gold may not be excellent. Mater of fact I would love to see one of the at's in action. As far as the ace 250 goes, I wouldn't buy one for a 12 year old kid. The sounds alone will drive you batty. ....DONG.........3 seconds later DONG.....well you get it...I hope!

 

[dustytrails123]

There really isnt much adjusting to it its pretty much a turn on and swing machine...besides the sens theres a kiddy menu for presets ....its nothing like a high end machine thats has an in depth menu even the at pro has the kiddy menu

 

[CoinHunterAZ]

It's funny because some of the Tesoro's look like a toy. I have one of the Sidewinder machines that has a little picture of a snake on the sides of the tiny box. Thing is, It ain't no toy! Tesoro detectors are no joke, they flat work. I will even go as far as to say that my 16+ year old Sidewinder will give my AT pro a run for the money for most of my hunting, especially in areas where there is relics.

 

[dholland02]

What I am saying is, I was expecting a whole lot more than what I saw, he may not know crap about how to use it, but he was fiddeling with it and trying to adjust it. Like I stated, it was my first dealings with one, and I was not only NOT impressed, I was shocked at how inadequate it was. And the purpose of this post is to get people, who are thinking about getting one, to think TWICE!! Not to say that the at pro or gold may not be excellent. Mater of fact I would love to see one of the at's in action. As far as the ace 250 goes, I wouldn't buy one for a 12 year old kid. The sounds alone will drive you batty. ....DONG.........3 seconds later DONG.....well you get it...I hope!

Yea that bell tone is so annoying. Especially when u got headphones on.

 

[fella]

Yea that bell tone is so annoying. Especially when u got headphones on.

Yes, but users should be forced to use headphones as to not annoy the masses!

 

[nsdq]

i think i have done fairly well with the Ace 150 , i like the bell tone makes it easy for me due to the fat my hearing is shot, but to each there own

 

[jmoller99]

While I don't own an Ace 250, I've tried more than one (I do training sessions on how to use detectors for my GPAA club members), and I found it a good general purpose detector. Over my detector target garden (clad/nickle/copper/zinc/silver coins/trash targets), it worked fine. Most peoples problems relate to not spending enough time with their systems. Having a detector test garden is helpful because I can compare detectors features and functionality over the same known targets. It also helps me to get familiar with how to set up a detector I have never used before.

I think the Ace 250 is a worthwhile entry level detector and as good as some mid range detectors from other vendors. New operators often have things set up wrong (too much sensitivity/gain), or they have discriminated way too much out when they really should take the time to dig all the targets that are there until they learn what their machine is telling them. Too many people want instant gratification and make a bunch of poor choices because they have no idea what they are really doing. That's why so many detectors end up in closets covered with dust.

There are higher end detectors, but if you don't take the time (some people estimate 50 to 100 hours) to learn what they are telling you, your finds will still be pretty random. One of my favorite detectors is my Tesoro Compadre (one knob - on/off & discrimination settings, single tone, no meter of any sort and a speaker - with a head phone jack) - Meters and VDI readings are nice tools, but you don't have to have them to find good targets.

I don't bash anyones detector - The person operating it ultimately determines what that person will find.

I have 9 detectors - some are more specialized than others. None of them work exactly the same. You can't just hand me a new detector type and expect me to set it perfectly - that is why I have a detector target garden to work with. There is no reason that someone who has a detector shouldn't put one in for them to practice with. Just going out and detecting is one way to learn, but not how I do it anymore (I like finding good targets).

By the way. my garden is set-up as a grid on 18 inch centers. I pushed a wooden golf tee down over each target and I have a list of what is buried at each place (what/how deep/orentation/if there is more than one item in the hole).

 

[marh415]

As I have seen many new members asking about a good starter detector, and many members on here commenting about there Ace 250, I have finally seen one up close and personal, I have to add my two cents. So I am detecting a guys yard when his neighbor comes over and introduces himself and watches me detect for awhile. He then says that he has a detector and invited me to come to his yard that he has hunted to death, he claimed. I went to his yard and started looking around with my V3i, he returns with the trusty 250 in hand. First impression was that it looked cheap, I mean toyish cheap. Then as I am looking he states that all he ever found was beer tabs. I found 10 coins in about 20 minutes, while he found nothing. He got so discouraged that he told me to keep on looking, but he knew he wasn't even in my class. He stayed and watched for a little longer then went back in the house. He even got me permission to hunt his mothers yard next door.

As far as what I could see, he couldn't make heads or tells out of the random bell tones that he was hearing. If I found a signal that I thought was a coin, I would call him over and let him scan it before I dug it. Only about 4 out of ten did he even get a response. Vice versa all of the signals he found, mine showed them as trash or were completely discrimed out as iron. That detector was annoying as hell to listen to. I wouldn't give $50 bucks for one of those much less $250. If you are over the age of 12 you will be doing yourself a disservice buying a 250. Mind you I am not bashing them just to be, I really respect Garrett as a brand, but don't fall for this trap. And if that's all that you can afford get a cheap Tesoro or Whites. Or better yet save your money another year and get a $500 plus machine. If I had started with one of these I can promise you that I would not be detecting today. You get what you pay for.

Ps- I love my Garrett Pro Pointer! Not brand bashing.\
Pss- I found 3 quarters, 3 dimes, 5 wheat, and 9 copper/zincs. Have not got to the backyard yet.

Do you think it had anything to do with the fact that your swinging a $1000 plus machine? Besides the fact that he obviously didn't have a lot of experience! I would sure as hell hope a V3i, Etrac, Safari, F75 would far out perform an ACE 150-350 any day regardless of the users experience. Apples to Oranges gentlemen! I agree that some people may be better served saving for a better machine if they could afford it, however, they were designed to introduce people to the hobby with a machine (as Dusty described) "to turn on and swing" without dropping lots of cash for something they may not like or spend a lot of time swinging.

 

[damiani1]

I myself have a garrett ace 250 and I think its pure trash myself.... I am selling it to buy a fisher f2 or even a tesoro. About 5+ times today when I was detecting a find would first ring in as a .10 or .25, once I would start digging it would then become a foil/pop tab signal. And after that it was correct but whats the point if you have to waste time digging for a "coin" if it turns into a foil/pop tab.......

I have used this thing for an easy 75+ hours and thought it was decent at the beginning but I am finding it to have a lot of ghost signals and false readings

 

[cntrydncr1]

Do you think it had anything to do with the fact that your swinging $1000 plus machine? Besides the fact that he obviously didn't have a lot of experience! I would sure as hell hope a V3i, Etrac, Safari, F75 would far out perform an ACE 150-350 any day regardless of the users experience. Apples to Oranges gentlemen! I agree that some people may be better served saving for a better machine if they could afford it, however, they were designed to introduce people to the hobby with a machine (as Dusty described) "to turn on and swing" without dropping lots of cash for something they may not like or spend a lot of time swinging.

totally agree. I had an ACE 250 for 2 years and found lots of good things with it because I used it a lot and knew the machine and how to pinpoint with it. As with any machine it comes down to practice!! Then I moved up..yes I think my Etrac is a better machine and it darn well better be for what I paid for it!! Probably have found equal amounts of gold with each machine because now I am more discerning in what I dig so I'm sure i"m missing gold with the etrac.

 

[Chris R]

I had a 250, biggest piece of trash I ever swung. I thought about burying it in the same hole as the last pull tab it found. Tesoro Rules!

 

[damiani1]

^^^^ I am going to either get a tesoro silver umax or a fisher f2 more so leaning toward the tesoro right now though

 

[mercury1]

I am new to detecting and bought the 250 based on the advise of a friend who owns one and is happy with it and my desire to not spend too much till I'm certain I will use it a lot. I have to agree with the op about the cheap appearance/feel of the machine and the bell tone is quite annoying. I'm still learning the machine but its very clear at this point that an upgrade is going to occur sometime soon. I've dug a lot of trash, some clad, one wheat penny and some nails. My friend uses his on the beach and finds mostly coins and he's happy with that. My experience so far makes me feel like, while I am finding stuff, I'm not confident if I got over gold or silver 6+ inches down I would find it. I have done some garden testing and it seems ok down to 4 inches but going deeper, it's less reliable. Ill continue using it and learning but I think I need to just spend the money, get an Etrac and never look back.

 

[dustytrails123]

I know the 250 doesnt come with the dd coil like the 350 so im not sure how deep you will find coins ...the 350 pretty confident to about 6 inches maybe 7 on a good day but never have i had a target id at 8 inches that i would want to dig

 

[Normsel]

Well I have a 250 and a ATP and both are good. I found over $250 in clad plus 2 rings and a piece of melted gold for a total of another $115 and a grand total of $365 with my 250 in 6 weeks.

Like any detector if you learn it well you can find lots of stuff. Yea I dug lots of tabs but i dig them because one tab was a $40 ring. My ATP does a much better job gut anyone that calls a 250 junk don't know how to use one and that's why they have to spend $500 -$1200 for a machine they can use.

Any of the very skilled detectorists on here will tell you it's all about learning your machine.

I hunted with a guy that had a $1500 Minelab E trac and we both hunted over each others paths to make sure we didn't miss anything. He didn't miss anything and i didn't either. So to me it's about knowing what your hear with your machine. Oh they guy had been detecting 15 yrs and i been doing it 1 yr.

 

[Jeremy S]

I started out with a 250 just because it was inexpensive and a good way to try out this hobby. Like any detector, the longer I used it, the better my finds started to get. I finally upgraded to an AT Pro and have no complaints. The AT Pro easily blows the 250 out of the water, but I'm sure a Minelab or Whites machines that costs 2x the price of my At Pro would be better machines. Tough to justify spending $1000+ when I can only detect a few days a week and am in the process of buying a house... but I would like to upgrade again someday and try out a different brand.

I took a friend detecting last week and let him use my AT Pro while I used my 250, the first time in probably 8 months. Going backwards, the 250 seemed like such a basic machine, but I was still finding more and better items than my friend simply because I was digging just about everything from the foil range up and could pinpoint very well. I'm going to hang onto my 250 just for a friend to borrow if they want to try detecting.

As for depth with the 250, I recall finding a clad quarter at around 8 inches in a park last year. It had been in the ground for a long time too. It was pretty common to find dimes and pennies down to 8 inches if the ground was soft and not too dry. The 250 will see deeper (8+ inches) objects like coins, but the deeper they get, the signal bounces around more like you would expect with a piece of foil or pull tab, and the signal is lower on the scale like more in the aluminum/iron range. So a dime at 8 inches won't get a good ID on the 250, but may be in the nickle range and jump around some, so not a repeatable signal.

A detector will only be as good as the guy using it. I bet if the neighbor had been using your detector, he still wouldn't have found anything.