Which detector is the best around $220 ?

[RJH02]

I bought a $39.99 metal detector from Harbor Freight Tools to get me started and I think its time for an upgrade now. I have lurked on here for a few weeks and I believe I will buy one of these detectors for around $220. Which one would you buy? Thanks.

Ace 250

Fisher F2

Bounty Hunter Quick Draw II

 

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[Tricia]

White's Prizm II works fine for me. I think it's in that price range.

No matter what you end up with, have fun.

 

[Pepper2004]

If it where me I would be happy with either of the three. Fisher has been getting some pretty good reviews lately.

Like, Tricia said which ever you end up with have fun.

 

[rmptr]

We took out Little Yeller Feller to the beach today and it just would not handle the mineralized black sand and saltwater. And far too many rusty nails!

Not a clue where you plan to detect, but for $239 your money would be well spent on a Tesoro Silver umax with a LIFETIME warranty.

Now that's a gud deal, rite there. I don't care who ya r !

R M P T R

 

[daaaveman]

Silver uMax all the way. Love mine. Blows the doors off my Ace 250. I'm covering ground 10x faster and finding all the goodies in the ground. The Ace says to you "there might be something in this general area". The Tesoro sings to you "DIG HERE". Love it. Major upgrade from the Ace.

 

[RJH02]

I looked at the silver umax. I notice it and several others dont have an lcd display screen. How important is that to have? I will be using this in Charlottesville Va mainly, but also on the South Jersey beaches.

 

[Gribnitz]

If you live in VA, get the Silver. You will find nice relics there and if you are digging relics, you don't want to learn to rely on a VID screen to tell you what to dig. The silver is a machine you won't outgrow soon. It is great all around and has tons of coils available for it, plus a lifetime warranty.

 

[bavarianminister]

The Ace 250 is really hard to beat! The Tesoros are also great! Heck - buy both!

 

[daaaveman]

I looked at the silver umax. I notice it and several others dont have an lcd display screen. How important is that to have?

You don't need a display. You learn what you're over by sound. The Silver uMax will tell you exactly when to dig. You can identify what the target is by adjusting the discrimination knob. Not that you'll know exactly what it is, but you'll have as much of an idea as you would with a display.

Buy a Silver and start hunting. You won't be disappointed. In my opinion, it blows the doors off the Ace 250. I have both.

 

[MR----B]

I would go for that ace 250 or the F-2, either machine will do good for you, both have visualation, although if you want to go by tone only, then tesoro compadre, which seems cheap, but is a very good detector, plus a lifetime warranty, or the fisher 1212-x, both under $200.00. I hope that this helped you some.

 

[TimC (North Alabama)]

Go with the Tesoro Silver Umax, it's the best in the 200.00 range and has that all important lifetime warranty. It's simple and does the job it was designed to do without a hitch.

 

[robert roy]

Can't imagine what you got for $39.95. Yes, definitely upgrade!
The Ace would probably be your best bet for the money.
Robert R

 

[RJH02]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=43149


See, now it's $59.99, lol


I had to start somewhere,I have only been out a few times with it but it finds bottlecaps and pulltabs pretty good! I have been tuning with the sensitivity and discrimination settings in my backyard , so I hope to do better tommorow.

 

[Michigan Badger]

I'd also vote for the Silver uMax. It gets a decent depth with the stock coil and with the 12x10 coil it rates up with some in the $1000 range.

Tesoro put everything they had depth-wise into the Silver uMax. My personal opinion is it's Tesoro's deepest VLF detector when it's used with the 12x10 concentric coil. With that coil it's unbalanced and not as much fun to swing but it's a killer coin/ring/relic finder.

Badger

 

[hollowpointred]

ace 250 is nice, the fisher is also nice but they have recently changed ownership and there have been customer service horror stories lately about them. i would stay away because of that. bounty hunter is also owned by the same company as fisher, i would stay away. the tesoro silver umax is very nice but doesnt have a screen. if that doesnt bother you get the tesoro. if your heart is set on a screen get the garrett.

 

[undertaker]

I was ready to purchase a whites priszm for $500.00 until my son showed me all the nice stuff he found with his ace 250 he purchased for $212.00. I watched him work a area near my front steps and saw how easy it rang out coins and I was also impressed by its light weight. My son told me not to expect to much until you get to know what its telling you, but he also said it didnt take him long to start finding good relics and coins. Well I picked one up over the holidays and cant wait till spring to try it out. I guess I wont be able to rate it until Ive used it for sometime but I do know my son recommends a garrett. I still think you get what you pay for and big money detectors are always going to beat up on the lower end models. But its proven that nice stuff can be found with all brand of detectors.

 

[sniffer]

I know I couldn't wait a week with a new one and not use it, Try the south side if the hills

 

[SkiWhiz]

I would take 1 Silver uMax to 10 Ace 250's. You can't beat the Silver uMax, it is worth more than twice its cost - shh don't let Tesoro know this they might up the price. I yhaven't used the F2 but I owned the F4 & I liked the Silver uMax over the F4. Steve.

 

[EasyMoney]

Yes, I am partial to the Silver too. I do like the F-2 but the silver will find (tiny) stuff deeper and easier. I wouldn't give $100 for an Ace, no matter WHICH Ace it was.

My old Bounty Hunter out hunts the Aces and was cheaper when new, and only cost me $30 used.

BTW, right there in the chart that Garrett made for it's very own customers it says that the "Yellar Fellar" is not designed for beach hunting. Now who would have ever guessed?

Besides that it really sucks as a discriminator in black sand soil. Depth is really poor in it too. It just can't compensate for the high magnetite and hematite, but the F-2 and Silver do very well.

 

[RJH02]

Looks like the silver umax is well liked here , I think that's the one I'll order tommorow. Everyone seems to be selling it for $239 any suggestions on where to order it from. Thanks for the replies.