Need help...best detector?

[Gridwalker306]

Happy new year folks! I have been reading a lot about the AT Pro. It sounds like a great machine, and I apologize if the following questions are redundant.

I got my first detector back in May, the GTaX550, and used it A LOT until it got too cold to hunt around the end of October. I feel like I was a quick learner, and I think I need to get a higher end machine. I will always keep and use my GTaX550, I like it a lot, that's for sure.

I QUIT SMOKING cigarettes 11 days ago, and it is very hard, but I am doing it for my health, and for my wife and little girl. As an added bonus, my wife told me if I stay quit I can get a new detector in the Spring. Cigarettes here are nearly $14 per pack, and I smoke about a pack per day. My saved "smoking money" should add up quick. This is the first time I have not smoked for more than 48 hrs in 18 years! I must be more addicted to metal detecting:hot:! It's really hard, but It's totally worth it, especially getting a new detector!

That brings me to my dilemma, what detector to get? I like to hunt homesteads, yards and generally grassy prairie areas. I hunt primarily for coins, but also like to find jewelry and cool relics. I am very interested in the AT Pro, it sounds like an awesome detector, especially for the price. HOWEVER, if we forget about the price, what detector would be the ultimate one for me and what I like to hunt? I am thinking about the Minelab E-trac, or the GTI 2500...and of course the AT Pro.

What do you think

 

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[Sandman]

I have been at this hobby for many years and it seems I enjoy learning the new machines as much as I do finding things. I have many detectors and just got the AT Pro which I will use in fresh and salt water if I get near the coast again (probably not.)

I would pass on the E-trac as it is harder to learn and some report that it is heavy. Many like the thought of a screen that tells you what it might be in the ground, but more times than not you will leave a lot of good targets in the ground. My favorite detector for land use right not is the Tejon even though I still have my Sov GT and DFX. I mainly hunt in the water now days and the AT Pro will get a good workout in all the lakes around here.

The important thing is to research all the detectors you can and get the one that you thing fits you best. Stick to the major brands and try to buy from a dealer near you so you can handle them before you buy. Prices will be the same anywhere you shop and a dealer can help in many ways. if you buy mail order, don't expect the local dealer for any help. Carrying the detector home with you is better than letting UPS toss the box around.

 

[CWnut]

$14 a pack!!!!!!!! I was buying three packs a day when i quit. We were fighting a fire in a warehouse stacked full of cases of motor oil. I came out and was leaning against the truck coughing, throwing up, and trying to light a cigarette. I decided it was time to quit. I threw my pack of cigarettes away and haven't smoked since. That was in 1988 if my memory serves me right......So hang in there. In 48-72 hours you'll feel your lungs open up again...It's worth it in the end

 

[Gridwalker306]

Thanks for the replies guys. After much research I think I am going to go with the AT Pro. I like Garrett, and this machine sounds pretty awesome.

 

[Iron Patch]

A Garrett over an E-trac.... No way. I'm a former Garrett user and so is my digging bud, and this one is not close.

 

[Ronfrommichigan]

If you're happy with the 550 maybe a move to the GTI 1350?Still light weight and a lot of user's like this detector.Good Luck Ron

 

[donj]

I use a gtp1350 it's what i call a turn on and go machine, auto ground balance but its got enough tech. stuff to do most detecting jobs. factory preset modes plus custome mode too. not real expencive either. Kindof a dumbed down gti2500

 

[CrazySlasher]

I have been at this hobby for many years and it seems I enjoy learning the new machines as much as I do finding things. I have many detectors and just got the AT Pro which I will use in fresh and salt water if I get near the coast again (probably not.)

I would pass on the E-trac as it is harder to learn and some report that it is heavy. Many like the thought of a screen that tells you what it might be in the ground, but more times than not you will leave a lot of good targets in the ground. My favorite detector for land use right not is the Tejon even though I still have my Sov GT and DFX. I mainly hunt in the water now days and the AT Pro will get a good workout in all the lakes around here.

The important thing is to research all the detectors you can and get the one that you thing fits you best. Stick to the major brands and try to buy from a dealer near you so you can handle them before you buy. Prices will be the same anywhere you shop and a dealer can help in many ways. if you buy mail order, don't expect the local dealer for any help. Carrying the detector home with you is better than letting UPS toss the box around.

The E-Trac is NOT hard to learn. I don't know how you can use it properly and leave targets in the ground. You should never rely on the numbers any machine gives you.

I say E-Trac or V3i.

 

[Digger82]

My vote goes to Xp deus. 8)

 

[S.S.Tupperware]

14 a pack holy ship... I do 2 a day and I need to Quit... congrats on 11 days, the world is your oyster...

 

[CrazySlasher]

14 a pack holy ship... I do 2 a day and I need to Quit... congrats on 11 days, the world is your oyster...

I live in MA where it's very expensive to be a smoker. Between my girlfriend and I, we go through 2 packs a day. That was costing us around 16 dollar a day. We started rolling are own and now it's about 2.60 a day between the two of us.

 

[madmacabre]

14 a pack holy ship... I do 2 a day and I need to Quit... congrats on 11 days, the world is your oyster...

I live in MA where it's very expensive to be a smoker. Between my girlfriend and I, we go through 2 packs a day. That was costing us around 16 dollar a day. We started rolling are own and now it's about 2.60 a day between the two of us.

How about just stop smoking? lol

 

[CrazySlasher]

14 a pack holy ship... I do 2 a day and I need to Quit... congrats on 11 days, the world is your oyster...

I live in MA where it's very expensive to be a smoker. Between my girlfriend and I, we go through 2 packs a day. That was costing us around 16 dollar a day. We started rolling are own and now it's about 2.60 a day between the two of us.

How about just stop smoking? lol

Because I enjoy it.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

14 a pack holy ship... I do 2 a day and I need to Quit... congrats on 11 days, the world is your oyster...

I live in MA where it's very expensive to be a smoker. Between my girlfriend and I, we go through 2 packs a day. That was costing us around 16 dollar a day. We started rolling are own and now it's about 2.60 a day between the two of us.

How about just stop smoking? lol

Because I enjoy it.

My stepfather enjoyed smoking too, right up until the day he died at the age of 49 of Emphysema...... The last 5 years of his life he could not sleep laying down...... Even though he was a stepfather, to me he was my father and I really loved him, but I also resent him for not giving up smoking so he could have stay around longer....I hated watching him die day by day..... I was 18 when he passed.