Ace 250 or Prizm II

[Fiction44T]

Hello All, I was born and raised in Tampa, but now I have moved to Wesley Chapel in Pasco County and am looking forward to start metal detecting as soon as I find out which is best for me. My wife for fathers day has given me $100.00 towards a Metal Detector and I will use $100.00 of my own money to buy a $200.00 Metal detector and I haven't picked one yet but I'm choosing between 2 of them. My current selection are either the Garrett Ace 250 or the White's Prizm II. Which of these are the best for me. I'm basically going to use it in the woods and occasionally going to take it at the beach when i go with my kids. I heard that some metal detectors don't do good in wet sand, I don't know if that's the case with either of these.

I posted this in General discussion and only got one response, please help me out with as much info as you can give, $200.00 is a lot for me and my wife and I would hate to make the wrong choice for such a great investment.

 

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[ktreffin]

Hey Fiction,

Welcome to TreasureNet..

I know nothing about the White's Prism II, however I am a new owner of an Ace 250. I must say that I love it. I have found a bunch of coins, a 10kt Gold Ring, and of course a bunch of trash also.

Getting to know the machine wasn't (isn't) difficult, however I find that I am still experimenting with it. I do most of my hunting around school playgrounds, yards, etc. However this past weekend I had it out to the beach for the first time. In my opinion it did fine on the beach. I was using it primarily on the dry sand, however, I did take it down to the water line and used it over the wet sand also. I didn't experience any problems with the wet sand, I had the Sens set at 3 bars, and was using the stock coil. No false signals or anything that led me to believe that it was unhappy.

I have kind of a narrow opinion, but I would say that you wouldn't go wrong in getting the Ace. I actually ran into another Ace owner who did have a problem with his 250 (turned out to be the coil), however he was VERY happy with the customer service that he got from Garrett. I have had no problems with mine, however I was glad to hear that if problems do arise, Garrett will make them right.

If you can talk the family into it, you might want to take a drive over to Orlando. KellyCoDetectors is located near there. They have a huge showroom, where you can lay your hands on each type of detector. That way you can "test drive" one before buying. Do a search for KellyCo and check them out.

I understand that you want to make sure you spend your money wisely. I am sure others will give you info about the Whites, however you have my vote for the Ace. Good luck and Happy Hunting.

Ken

 

[TonyinCT]

Although the Prizm II is a good detector the Ace250 is better. Neither do well in wet salt sand but the Ace is more than adequate everywhere else. If you need help with a purchase please let me know.

 

[miser]

I was in the market recently and looked at the Prism II and the Ace 250. I ended up buying a more expensive model of the White's than I intended because I wanted to do some beach hunting.

The Ace 250 is certainly more popular because A LOT of the forum members own one.

But I have to tell you that physically seeing and holding and using both at the shop and their test garden, the Prism II struck me as a better quality machine and I would have bought it over the Ace 250 if I was going to get a $200 detector (which I intend to do later).

But you should know that many of the users on this forum know and love their Ace 250, and they use one regularly, so check out the reviews in the metal detector section and see for yourself. It's an excellent resource.

Also, you may want to go to www.metaldetectorreviews.net and have a look there also. The Prism II seems to come out better reviewed than the 250, but there are also about 5 reviews on the 250 for every one of the Prism II.

Let us know what you decide!

 

[Mike in Fla.]

I prefer the 250. I have the prism 3 and have only used it once or twice, but I much prefer the Ace.


Mike

 

[JackInFlorida]

Hey,

No experience with the Prizm II, but we have had an ACE 250 for months and it works great. You can use it on the beach if you lower the sensitivity down some. The coil is waterproof, but the main box is not.

Jack