DFX or EXPLORER II

[hollowpointred]

there have been similar polls for other machines so i thought i would gather up the opinions. what do you guys think?

 

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[neilo]

Explorer 2 for sure, other machine is too limited in the areas it can be used.Target id is not as good and discrimation patterns are too limited. Bury some coins in highly mineralised ground see which one goes deeper it wont be the dfx.
seeya Neilo

 

[Rich in Texas]

I was waiting for the first strike in response! I also knew it would be from a Minelab user
I use Whites and have for decades. I just prefer them. But unlike most, I will give some unbiased advice. Go to dealers for BOTH. Test them out, have them show you the features. Swing it yourself. Then buy the one that suits you best.

Rich

 

[rvbvetter]

These polls on which brand is the best, I'm afraid will someday start a Civil War in here. And years from now, they'll be digging up our buttons, as collector pieces.
If you seen some of my posts, then your probably aware that I own both of these detectors.
And somewhere in here, a time or two, I've posted which one, through my use of them, and in my opinion, is the better machine.
But that's not to say the loser is junk. It's most definitly not. They are both tremendous detectors. And if I could only have one, and not have a choice of which one I could keep. I would be fine with either one.
Long story short.
In my opinion, which ever one of the two you ultimately decide on. There is just no way you can lose. HH

 

[Visionquest]

As mentioned, both are as good as you can get and anyone would do fine with either after getting past the respective learning curves. I will always lean toward the explorer just based on the amount of target information it gives. Just my .02

-Mike

 

[JerV3]

The detector is only as good as the user swinging it.


HH Jer

 

[Sandman]

Both machines are great and the uses are the same. One isn't a water machine and the other a coin getter. But having used both I have to go with the Explorer II for depth and lighter weight. The DFX I believe has more options that you can set if you know what your doing.

Those that have read my post before know I believe you need different brands and types if you do all kinds of detecting. The main thing is where and whom you buy from. Saving money right away is not the most important option.

HH,
Sandman

 

[JerV3]

The explorer is twice as heavy as the dfx. Either you don't know weight or just falsifing. As well as I know the dfx I would run it against any other hunter out there. Dfx takes thousands of hrs to master. How many masters do you think are out there. Not many and not enough of them to honestly support the unit.

Everybody has a preference witch is cool to me. But I'll make corections to things that arean't said right.

HH Jer

 

[Born2Dtect]

I voted for the EXP II. But the truth is there is not one detector that is right for everyone or every situation. It comes down to personal choice. By the way, I think also that the XLT is a better machine than the DFX.

Ed Donovan

 

[erikk]

I have them both and the EX2 is my go to machine

 

[Mirage]

The ACE 250! Oh wait, that's not an option.

Seriously, I have the DFX and Explorer II. I let Nate have my DFX about a year ago and I have since used a few machines before settling on an EXP II. In real life hunting Nate and I do about equal. It really depends on the site. Some sites better suited for DFX some for Exp II. Both do well. The DFX hits on deep tabs and such like a good coin. Nate digs much more junk so that he "doesn't miss a good target".

At times we have each other check signals. Sometimes I cannot get a signal where Nate says " sounds good". Other times Nate cannot get a signal where I say - "iffy but promising".

Now, let me throw a monkeywrench in all this. In the last few months we have been hunting with Dan(Danimal -Cuyahoga Falls). He has had an ACE 250 since early spring. He hunts a lot(even goes out on his lunch hour daily) so he knows his machine. When he hunts with us he does as well as Nate and I. And in certain situations better. Where the ACE 250 does well we could do equally as well if we had smaller coils. Dan does good in heavy trash areas. His machine performs similar to the DFX. Gets similar depth. It also hit's good on deep pull tabs and some rusty iorn. It is a great relic machine and very light. Put a 5" coil on it and it is killer in heavy iorn/trashy area's. At $215. I have seriously considered getting one for some situations. I probably will first get a small coil for my Explorer though.

 

[relikhunter]

Had a Quattro for awhile.Didn't like the constant nulling or having to hunt in all metal and having to sweep so slow,or waiting for the detector to reset.Mirage is right about digging deep pull tabs,could be gold rings in there.I'm sure the explorer id is more accurate.All in all i'm sure there both outstanding machines but for me it was the dfx hands down......rh

 

[Danimal]

I'd like to chime in on this one:

2006 was my first year detecting, but I approachd it with the same zeal I give to any hobby I take a liking to...like poker.."I'm all in"

The ACE250 was purchased because of it's cost and reputation. Some of the things I do with my ACE are kinda not-conventional (I hunt a LOT in pinpoint, which is the only TRUE non-motion all metal mode the ACE has) and have been able to get used to the way deep targets sound this way. I was so successful at finding nice silver this year that Garrett noticed my posts and liked the quality of my pictures that they requested permission to use high-resolution versions of the pictures in upcoming Garrett advertisments (which I gladly granted). Vaughn Garrett (Charles' son) and I discussed the fact that I am in the market to upgrade to a top of the line machine. He is aware that I am still trying to decide betwen either a DFX or EXII. He of course wants me to go to a GTI2500. Without discussing details here, it would be made EASY for me to go to the top of the line Garrett, although I STILL am leaning towards one of the other two.
Here's my problem:
The ACE250 PROVED to me that a single frequency VLF detector can punch DEEP into the ground. The GTI2500 has a mode that allows it to hunt in all metal non-motion, so basically it would be like an ACE on steroids.
Using a dual frequency machine (DFX) or multiple freq. machine (EXXS, EXII and EXSE) no doubt seem to provide better data and helping to decide what a target is, but I am not sold that they really go deeper when you really push the Garrett hard with discrim. off. When targets are in say the top 6" of soil, I really think the Garrett technology makes coin hunting easier (would also LOVE to try the imaging feature).

Decisions decisions....one thing's for sure, all of these machines do well in the right hands.

It's not the arrow it's the Indian!

 

[hollowpointred]

I'd like to chime in on this one:

2006 was my first year detecting, but I approachd it with the same zeal I give to any hobby I take a liking to...like poker.."I'm all in"

The ACE250 was purchased because of it's cost and reputation. Some of the things I do with my ACE are kinda not-conventional (I hunt a LOT in pinpoint, which is the only TRUE non-motion all metal mode the ACE has) and have been able to get used to the way deep targets sound this way. I was so successful at finding nice silver this year that Garrett noticed my posts and liked the quality of my pictures that they requested permission to use high-resolution versions of the pictures in upcoming Garrett advertisments (which I gladly granted). Vaughn Garrett (Charles' son) and I discussed the fact that I am in the market to upgrade to a top of the line machine. He is aware that I am still trying to decide betwen either a DFX or EXII. He of course wants me to go to a GTI2500. Without discussing details here, it would be made EASY for me to go to the top of the line Garrett, although I STILL am leaning towards one of the other two.
Here's my problem:
The ACE250 PROVED to me that a single frequency VLF detector can punch DEEP into the ground. The GTI2500 has a mode that allows it to hunt in all metal non-motion, so basically it would be like an ACE on steroids.
Using a dual frequency machine (DFX) or multiple freq. machine (EXXS, EXII and EXSE) no doubt seem to provide better data and helping to decide what a target is, but I am not sold that they really go deeper when you really push the Garrett hard with discrim. off. When targets are in say the top 6" of soil, I really think the Garrett technology makes coin hunting easier (would also LOVE to try the imaging feature).

Decisions decisions....one thing's for sure, all of these machines do well in the right hands.

It's not the arrow it's the Indian!

hey danimal! i own a Garrett 2500 and can say from experience that the Explorer Se smokes the 2500 in the depth department hands down. the Garrett machine doesn't even come close. yeah, the size feature is very cool, but again, it doesn't really work for targets deeper than say 6 inches. after that you just have to dig it to find out. the 2500 is pretty good on depth in the all metal mode, but most of the sites that i hunt are too trashy to take that approach. even if they weren't, i would have to say that the explorer gets similar depth in its factory discrimination mode it comes with from the factory, as the 2500 does in all metal. i have never used a DFX, so i cant really comment first hand on its performance, but between the 2500 and the explorer, shell out the extra couple hundred bucks and get the explorer. its well worth it!

 

[tabfinder]

....or....just get a Tesoro....