Got a New Deteknix Xpointer; Finally retired my Cen-Tech.......

[Garrett424]

I decided it was finally time to upgrade to a "real" pinpointer so I did a bit of shopping around and read a bunch of reviews.

I contacted Keith at Fort Bedford Metal Detectors (Treasurenet supporting vendor) to see if he had anything used (because I have this thing about paying retail if I don't need to), which he did. It was a nice Makro fully submersible unit but I decided that as nice as it is, it still wasn't what I was looking for. Too many beeps and double clicking for my personal taste, but a great device nonetheless.

So I did a little research and although I was VERY close to just breaking down and getting the much heralded Garrett Pro Pointer, I decided on the Deteknix XPointer.
This is not submersible (but it will be after I add a few layers of shrink wrap) but I like it. It's water resistant and it WILL NOT false no matter how hard you try.

It lists for 89 bucks and IMO, it's a great deal at that price. Granted the fact that it's a PI unit means that battery life isn't nearly as good as the Garrett but I can live with that. I'll get a couple of rechargeable 9v batteries.

I'm gonna' try it out shortly but I've been air testing it today and it works well. It also comes with a holster, a bungee style lanyard so it can't get lost and 4 rubber skid caps. The controls are simple. I can't find anything negative to say about this thing as of right now.


I also want to state that dealing with Keith at Fort Bedford Metal Detectors in PA was a pleasure. He put up with and answered all of my PM's, questions and concerns, and never tried to up sell me at all. I will definitely be doing future business with him and his company and I highly recommend him.

And finally, today I have relegated my trusty, old faithful, Harbor Freight/Cen-Tech specials to backup status. They have served me well (most of the time between mods and a couple of repairs) but the time has come to get a "real" pinpointer. I figure I'm in for the long haul and might as well have something solid and reliable.


Happy Hunting to all.

 

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[Garrett424]

Well it's been just about 3 months and I figured I'd give yet another, more current update on the XPointer after using it for a while.
I have to say that although I've been pretty hard on it and have gotten it way wetter than you're supposed to numerous times, it's still working fabulously and I have zero complaints. I'm more than satisfied.

I can now safely, thoroughly and HIGHLY recommend this pinpointer as an excellent alternative to the hallowed Garrett Propointer for anyone reluctant to shell out that much cash. For 40 bucks less it seems to do just as well and according to more than a few users, may even be a little better in some areas. That of course is a matter of opinion but that's what I'm hearing.

The ultimate test will be how many YEARS it lasts. When that time comes I'll post another update.

 

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[tcornel]

The XPointer has many advantages with the inability to false being the primary one. I just wish it could detune finer. Even in its "closest" mode I find in a deeper hole that sometimes I cannot tell where the target is.

So in regular ground it stays in reserve as a backup to the propointer as I dig a lot of deeper targets with my 17" coil. But the falsing can drive my crazy. On the salt water beaches the propointer is put away and the xpointer comes out so I can locate
the target in the sand better.

That said I almost always carry the Pistol Probe in addition to either of the above 2. Open a plug and quickly determine where the target is......even if it is in a couple inches of dirt or a side wall. Many, many times I have pulled out the propointer first and can't find the target anywhere. The pistol probe will locate it quickly as it can reach maybe 4" depth. So I locate it first with the PP then use one of the others to retrieve the target. Perhaps if my skills in pinpointing with the 17" coil were better I would not need the PP.

 

[Garrett424]

The XPointer has many advantages with the inability to false being the primary one. I just wish it could detune finer. Even in its "closest" mode I find in a deeper hole that sometimes I cannot tell where the target is.

So in regular ground it stays in reserve as a backup to the propointer as I dig a lot of deeper targets with my 17" coil. But the falsing can drive my crazy. On the salt water beaches the propointer is put away and the xpointer comes out so I can locate
the target in the sand better.

That said I almost always carry the Pistol Probe in addition to either of the above 2. Open a plug and quickly determine where the target is......even if it is in a couple inches of dirt or a side wall. Many, many times I have pulled out the propointer first and can't find the target anywhere. The pistol probe will locate it quickly as it can reach maybe 4" depth. So I locate it first with the PP then use one of the others to retrieve the target. Perhaps if my skills in pinpointing with the 17" coil were better I would not need the PP.

Well, my detector is awesome as far as pinpointing goes but the XPointer still allows me to locate the target much more quickly once the plug is dug, which saves time and allows me to dig more targets overall. I NEVER hunt without it.

So I say carrying a pinpointer is definitely the way to go even if you can pinpoint well with your detector.

 

[Garrett424]

Well folks, it finally happened. I have some not so good news on the XPointer but it's followed by not so bad news..

Yesterday it just quit working out of the blue so I opened it up to check it out, only to find that the positive battery terminal is pushed down inside the housing so far that the battery can no longer make contact. As snug as that cap goes on and I can see how this could happen.

On the upside, I immediately reached into my bag of trash and found a nice thin piece of aluminum, bent it accordingly and stuck it in there. I replaced the battery and cap and it's working just as good as ever. It just needed a little jumper for now.

I could probably fix this thing myself but I don't wanna' void the warranty or anything, nor do I want to bend or break the terminal.
So, I called the company and was told to ship it out any time and they'll either repair or replace it immediately and try to get it back to me in 5 days or less.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed but I'm not upset. It still works VERY well. I think I must have gotten one of the older ones because I've read that this was a common problem that's been fixed. Well, it wasn't fixed on mine I'm sorry to say and if it was, I'm not exactly impressed. For now I'll just assume (and HOPE) that mine is indeed an older one.

As much as I've been talking this thing up I had to be honest and quickly post about this. I'm trying to give a fair, honest, open, ongoing review on this piece of equipment so others can make an informed decision when the time to buy a pinpointer comes.

So, even though this has happened I still like the thing thus far. The warranty service remains to be seen. If it works out as promised I'll be cool with that. I will of course give a detailed post about the outcome when that time comes.

Since I still have plenty of time on my warranty and it still works just fine, I may just wait until it's too cold to hunt before I send it in.
That's about it.
The saga continues.........

 

[Baja]

Any chance you can post a side by side comparison with the Deteknix and your Garrett?

 

[Garrett424]

Any chance you can post a side by side comparison with the Deteknix and your Garrett?

I never got the Garrett. After reading many reviews and watching videos I chose the XPointer. It just seems to work better than the Propointer overall and NEVER falses.

I still don't regret it. Hopefully I never will.

 

[Garrett424]

*****UPDATE******


So it hasn't really gotten very cold yet this year (THANK YOU EL NINO) so I still haven't sent my XPointer in for the warranty service.
I still have the little piece of aluminum inside it and it's still working as good as it ever did.

I really had no idea that I'd still be out hunting a little treasure in January. Who knew??

 

[Garrett424]

So I'm finally getting around to sending my XPointer in for warranty service. I have about 2 1/2 weeks left on my warranty so I need to do this right away.
I HOPE that there are no problems. It ships tomorrow afternoon and I'll post about my experience when the time comes.
I'm hoping for a pleasant experience and keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Just received mine today - I'd picked it up for my cousin from Azon for I think it was $68.00 delivered.

I put in a new battery, turned it on, worked fine for about half a minute and it shut down. Turned it on again, same deal. Put in another new 9v, wouldn't turn on. Put the first 9v battery back in and turned it on, worked fine for about a half a minute and it shut down.

Before I get PO'd, I'll go out tomorrow and get another brand new 9v and see how it does.

The manual "provided" does not say that it auto shuts down. This may end up being a return.

 

[Minelab Matt]

I've owned Xpointer for 2 years or so and it's by far the best pinpointer i've ever owned.

Easily WAY better than Garret. IMHO.

Matt.

 

[Peter67]

I also have 2 Xpointers for almost 2 years. With one of them i had a issue after 5 months but this was with no charge repaired by the guarantie. For the rest I can say that i"m realy happy by the results of this pinpointer. It does what it has to do for less money than the Garrett and personaly i find this one bettter then the Garrett.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I ran to the store and picked up some new 9v batteries. Put one in the new Xpointer, and now it works - where the one that came with it would turn on and then immediately turn off. I put a scope on that battery and it was reading 7.4 volts on a 9v battery. So, the new battery solved that problem.

I put a ruler on an empty cardboard box, stood a Sacajawea dollar up at the 0" mark and compared signal from my Carrot and the Xpointer.

The carrot detected the dollar at 1 7/8". The Xpointer detected the dollar at 2 1/8". New batteries in both.

The only negative about the Xpointer was that I'd ordered it over a month ago and just received it day before yesterday. Long lead time, but at $68 versus the $120 for the Carrot - not a problem!!!

Again, I'd found it on Amazon at that price.

 

[Rawhide]

Vintage Centech Pin Pointer for sale or trade. Manual sens switch so you can adjust on the fly. Uses just one 9volt battery. Light and durable. Led light so you can see in those deep holes. This classical design stands out and easy to hold.

Always good to hear about a new purchase, glad you like it. Heres a lil help on helping sell old unsed equipment.

 

[LI Tom]

I've had my X-pointer for almost 3 years,as good as my old Garrett for half the price.Only issue is if I get it to close to my CTX when on it will cause the CTX to get unstable.

 

[EastCoastmetal]

The X-pointer wader came as a package deal for free with my AT pro (along with other things,Garret hat,Garret side pouch,coil cover, plus a $70 discount on the whole thing) seems to work good but that power button is very hard to push, I guess its the thick rubber or what ever its made of. Or maybe its just the arthritis in my thumbs lol.

Going to have to make some kinda of Mod over the switch to make it easier to push on and off I guess.

 

[Garrett424]

Well I received an email from Deteknix.
They received my XPointer and said I should have it back in 4-5 days (from last Friday) either repaired or replaced. Either way I'm fine with that.

I also talked to the guy who does the actual warranty work by phone and he seemed pretty cool.
Hopefully all goes well and I'll be pinpointing again in a few days.

I thought about hunting today but that meant using my old modified Cen-Tech so after a little consideration I decided to just take a pass today. I've been into some other things lately but plan to get out there hunting in the near future.

And I'll update the warranty service once I get it back in my hands. I don't expect any problems based on my experience so far...

 

[Rawhide]

Good to hear. I like my old black garret pin pointer, i use it the most. But have to say the minelab profind is also a pin pointer. The whites TRX is also a deep pin pointer.

 

[wygold]

I've only used 1 so far so I can't say anything about the other brands. The only thing I should have done was to get the Garrett Pro 2 Pinpointer instead of the Garrett Pro Pinpointer. I wasn't thinking that I would need the Pro 2 when using underwater. luckily I haven't had to expose my Pro Pinpointer in water deeper than were the LED light is. I would like to try out the Minelab Pinpointer at some point in time.

 

[Garrett424]

So I received my BRAND NEW replacement XPointer today.
My original was the camo version with the metal ring to attach it to a lanyard. This new one is orange and has a place to attach the lanyard directly to the cap. It's molded right into the plastic.
This is a good improvement IMO. With the ring, it was sometimes a little tricky to get the cap all the way on. I won't even have to think about that anymore.


Overall, I have to say that I am highly impressed and well pleased with my warranty service. I read a few reviews online that gave me a little concern but now I know that those concerns were completely unfounded.

Bottom line; Deteknix rocks and so does their amazing XPointer. I will STILL HIGHLY RECOMMEND this product to anyone looking for a good, solid and reliable pinpointer that performs flawlessly with a great, two year warranty and great service at an unbeatable price.
No complaints whatsoever....

 

[JASONSPAZ1]

I have the Deteknix X Pointer Pro.
It is incredibly great. Easy to understand mode switching brighter light, great proportional audio, rugged, and it has a Li-po rechargeable internal battery that charges via usb.
117.00 and so worth it