DFX Opinions

midas777gold

Full Member
May 29, 2006
122
6
It's simple to use. I've had one for 2 years now. Found tons of good stuff. But, it is fully programmable for different hunting conditions, etc. The preset disc programs sometimes give the wrong ID on deeply buried iron, reading it as a good signal - quarter, til you get within a few inches of the target. The battery life is excellent. One gripe is that the machine will turn OFF after 15 minutes if you don't squeeze the trigger or hit a button!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! White's said this is built into the machine and can't be turned off. There are times when I go for over that time limit without a signal and I realize the machine is off!!!!!!!!!
With it I have found coins dating back to 1722. Deepest being a 1829 dime at approx. 15 inches.
The machine is awesome!!!!! You can't go wrong here.
 

OP
OP
cheezinoot

cheezinoot

Full Member
Jun 11, 2006
138
3
Emmons,MN
Thanks Midas! But do you have to get into all the googlygook(modes) to find nice coins Or can you turn on and go to find nice coins! Thanks
 

Sandman

Gold Member
Aug 6, 2005
13,398
3,992
In Michigan now.
Detector(s) used
Excal 1000, Excal II, Sovereign GT, CZ-20, Tiger Shark, Tejon, GTI 1500, Surfmaster Pulse, CZ6a, DFX, AT PRO, Fisher 1235, Surf PI Pro, 1280-X, many more because I enjoy learning them. New Garrett Ca
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
You can just turn on and go. However you might not be using it to the best advantage for the area your hunting. The modes are there for different types of hunting. The Explorer II is also extremely good.
 

Blackjack77

Hero Member
Jun 16, 2006
599
14
Minnesota
I've heard the DFX is a good machine- it was that or the GTI 2500 for Me. Both looked good, but I choose the 2500. To Me it was a toss-up and garretts won.So far ,Ive liked My pick, but I know you can't go wrong with the DFX!!
Good luck to a fellow Minnesotan.
Bob Marley & MN- -Hmmm
HH
 

UnknownBounty

Full Member
May 26, 2006
109
3
Detector(s) used
Whites DFX
I don't believe its BS.. In right condiitions, the dfx can go farther than it says on the display, which is only 13 inches. If the dime is in the right position in the right soil, it would definatly give a signal. I'd say its a great machine, worth all the money, but don't expect to "pay off the machine" right away. This hobby is about fun, and finding wicked stuff. not getting rich. the wealth is the collection you will build over time.
 

bazinga

Silver Member
Oct 31, 2005
2,966
80
High Five!
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
UnknownBounty said:
I don't believe its BS.. In right condiitions, the dfx can go farther than it says on the display, which is only 13 inches. If the dime is in the right position in the right soil, it would definatly give a signal. I'd say its a great machine, worth all the money, but don't expect to "pay off the machine" right away. This hobby is about fun, and finding wicked stuff. not getting rich. the wealth is the collection you will build over time.

These right conditions are an 8" deep dime that is on the edge of the hole and he keeps digging to 15" and it falls to the bottom of the hole. Bingo, 15" dime.

Not gonna happen.
 

D

dfx_maui

Guest
cheezinoot said:
THinking about upgrading to the DFX.. Does it live up to all the hype? Is it really easy to use? Any help much appreciated! Thanks!

What hype? The DFX is a great metal detector if you like the features it has. Obviously others chose Minelab, Fisher, Garrett, etc. because they like the features that those machines provides. I like the DFX because it is made in the USA, there are many coils that I could use for different situations, and it has the presets and programability I want. It has a metal case and it has proven itself over the years for being a great metal detector. Even my local dealer made it a simple decision to purchase the DFX - free shipping, no taxes, and free advice.
 

OutBack Duo

Hero Member
Apr 21, 2005
924
38
Olathe, KS
Detector(s) used
Minelab SE PRO
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I love my DFX, I couldn't imagine even considering something different. I think it is the best all around detector. My deepest find so far was a 1899 quarter at about 10". There are a few great detectors out there, the best thing to do is to get one and spend the time to learn it and don't give up on it.

Good Luck and Happy hunting!
 

The Beep Goes On

Silver Member
Jan 11, 2006
3,403
207
Houston, TX
Detector(s) used
CTX3030, Excalibur II, V3i, TRX
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
One other thing...White's support is second to none. I have had a couple issues and they were taken care of immediately. You can always get someone on the phone. There are a lot of posts that show that they really go out of their way for their customers.

I'm a happy DFX owner...about 50 nice pieces of jewelry in the last 7 months including 10 gold rings and a bunch of silver. Mostly hunting parks and sports fields.

HH!
TBGO
 

skierbob

Hero Member
Jun 7, 2006
954
84
Southeastern PA
Detector(s) used
Minelab e-trac; Minelab Exp II; Troy Shadow X3; Garrett AT Pro.
I hate to say anything bad about Whites detectors. They served me well for 25 years or so. I have my own theory about the depth of finds with Whites detectors and it doesn't allow for finding anything at 15 inches, at least not until a few years from now. I bought a DFX at a good price ($925) at the FMDAC convention in Laughlin, NV a few years ago. I used it for a year and had reasonable success with it. It was great at the beach and I had better luck finding gold rings with it than I did with the XLT. My deepest find with the DFX was a Barber dime at 7 inches, and the depth indicater actually said 7 inches. This was my all time deepest coin found with a Whites Detector. I understand that some people have gotten deeper.

My biggest problem with the DFX was interference from any kind of overhead wires, even if they were 50 yards away. Stop lights, telephone wires, electrical wires raised havoc with the detector. It made hunting in the city tough. I finally complained to a Whites dealer from New York who was giving a talk on the DFX at a local dealor's shop. To his credit, he did get back to me and he gave me a couple programs to use to knock out the interference. However, these programs involved turning off one of the frequencies. This to me was like defeating the purpose of the whole dual frequency thing and I felt that I was missing things. My confidence in the detector was shot.

The good news is that I just sold the detector for $700. I've been using a Minelab Explorer for the past 4 years. There's no denying the great depth that the Explorer gets. It is a noisy machine also, but at least it has a noise cancelling function. My only problem with it is the heaviness of the machine.
 

Mirage

Silver Member
Sep 16, 2005
3,718
38
Cleveland, OH
bscofield6 said:
midas777gold said:
Deepest being a 1829 dime at approx. 15 inches.


BS all the way.... plain and simple.

:D :D Not afraid to state our opinion huh, Brian? :D You are correct. Most likely fell into the hole. I have the DFX and Exp II. The DFX is a great machine and if you get good at using it is about as good as the Exp II. I personnaly feel the Exp II is a "better" machine. The DFX has great features but needs more tweaking and is a little more "chattery"(more tones = more noise).

Oh yeah, back to the dime at 15" inches(ludicrious)....In my coin garden the Exp II will hit the 7 inch silver dime but the DFX will not even get the 6" dime. Now my son and I have dug dimes at up to 7" but that is tops here. I know in NY you can get deeper but I would say 10" is about max for a dime.

Bob
 

ClonedSIM

Silver Member
Jul 28, 2005
3,808
24
New Mexico
Detector(s) used
White's XLT
I use the XLT myself and really wouldn't want to go any other direction other than the Explorer or EX II.
The deepest recovery I've made with the XLT was a silver quarter at 10", but those were ideal conditions (i.e. soil condition, moisture, coin lying flat, etc.)
 

bazinga

Silver Member
Oct 31, 2005
2,966
80
High Five!
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Mirage said:
bscofield6 said:
midas777gold said:
Deepest being a 1829 dime at approx. 15 inches.


BS all the way.... plain and simple.

:D :D Not afraid to state our opinion huh, Brian? :D You are correct. Most likely fell into the hole. I have the DFX and Exp II. The DFX is a great machine and if you get good at using it is about as good as the Exp II. I personnaly feel the Exp II is a "better" machine. The DFX has great features but needs more tweaking and is a little more "chattery"(more tones = more noise).

Oh yeah, back to the dime at 15" inches(ludicrious)....In my coin garden the Exp II will hit the 7 inch silver dime but the DFX will not even get the 6" dime. Now my son and I have dug dimes at up to 7" but that is tops here. I know in NY you can get deeper but I would say 10" is about max for a dime.

Bob

Yeah, I'm certainly not afraid to state my opinion on the topic of depth, haha. But, I do bite my tongue quite a bit on this forum to keep myself from saying some things, haha.

I have no doubt that in ideal conditions a DFX could probably get a dime at 10" but at 15" there is just no way.
 

R

rvbvetter

Guest
I have the DFX a EXP II and a CZ3D as well as some others. Of the 3, my go to machines are the #1 EXP II #2 CZ3D
In the year I've had the DFX, I've found It to be not nearly as stable as the EXP or CZ 3D. In my findings, my EXP is deeper and far more stable. Electrical interference or not. And my CZ is just as deep as the DFX as well as more stable. And the CZ with it's 10" coil on, in my area anyway. Edges out the DFX in depth then too.
I've read the DFX manual front to back, back to front, left to right and have considered reading right to left.
But try as I might I just can't get the DFX to stabilize, unless I turn everything so far down that my detection depth goes out the window.
Now it's possible that my DFX wasn't calibrated right, at the factory. And I'm giving serious thought to sending it in to have it tested. Because no matter the circumstance, there's been many times it would not give me a solid smooth signal over a (what turned out to be good targets) (coins). Instead it gave broken signals.
So at times I've tested the signal Or target with the EXP and it gave a good high pitch signal. And the CZ3D would give a good PAP ! PAP ! signal. Then try the DFX again to still only get a broken signal.
In my opinion if your looking at a $1000 DFX I would go to the $1200 mark and get the EXP II.
And actually if you want to save some money. I would consider the CZ3D. It has great depth and a very destinctive sound over good targets that makes it easy to distinguish good from bad targets. And you can get the extra 10" coil too and still be way under the price of the DFX and EXPII.
But you better hurry on the CZ3D. I don't think their making any more. HH
 

GreenMeanie

Hero Member
Jun 3, 2006
714
309
TreasureTerrain.com
Detector(s) used
NOX 800
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Well I bought a DFX and had a threshold question which I thought was a problem at the time. I could never hold a steady threshold even with the coil not connected to the detector. So a couple other people tested theirs and said they could hold steady thresholds so I sent it back to whites. I got it back two days ago and they replaced it with a new one saying there was a defect :) . But I put a new battery in it and fired it up to have it do the same threshold cutout? LOL So they replaced my detector saying it was defective for a detector that does the same exact thing? So I assume this is the way the DFX runs now.
 

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