Minelab 600 vs Garett AT PRO which one should I go with

[Chase7628]

I have a chance to get either model and wondering what your thoughts are on the machines and what the biggest advantage of one over the other is?

Minelab 600 vs Garrett AT PRO


Thanks in advance for the help

 

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[BLK HOLE]

Should you get a Ford or a Chevy....I love my PRO and I am sure that the NOX lovers will say the same about their machine. I thought about getting a NOX but decided to just spend more time learning what I have which in the end is probably the most important thing you can do after you make your selection. If you have a local detecting club or local dealer, go check them out, swing them, listen to them then make your choice. I can tell you that you can't go wrong with either one!

 

[smokeythecat]

If you go in the salt water get the 600. Otherwise, due to reliability I'd get the Garrett. On dry land it's pretty much a toss up. The 600 was designed to compete with the AT's.

 

[rjeffw]

Smokey is right on. I had the AT, loved it. What makes the AT good, is how easy it is to use. The Nox is not a easy machine. It would be nice if the At were better at the ocean, but the Nox does beat it badly there.

 

[Tpmetal]

my opinion would be 600. we do get red clay and mineralized soil here in parts of western ny. the 600 multi will open up those sites better than the at. I noticed the difference in many sites using the 800 vs the single frequency detectors I and others have used there in the past.

 

[cudamark]

Without a doubt, the Equinox. I don't know of one thing that the AT Pro will do better than the Nox. The Nox is like having 8 machines in one. It's way more adjustable (if you want/need it to be) or a simple turn on and go machine. In salt water, no contest, the Nox will run circles around the AT series. (that includes the AT Gold and At Max). The only thing I see better about the AT Pro is the slightly cheaper price. Just my opinion, and I'm sure you will get others. Talk to people who have used both (like me) before you make a decision.

 

[smokeythecat]

Or better yet, test drive a machine at a dealer. Only you can make the decision.

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

If it’s your first machine, get the Pro. If you have some experience metal detecting get the 600. Have fun!

 

[pulltabfelix]

I also agree with Smokey. I went for 3 years on the AT pro and then to the Nox 800. If I had spent the time really learning the AT Pro (and more about the science and art of metal detecting) as I did the 800 (about 1 year) I think I would have been better off. the close spread of the VDI on the nox is frustrating. It crams too much at the upper end where as on the AT Pro things are more spread out. Example in the 20 - 25 range on the Nox it could be quite a few different coins.

But once you do learn the 600 or 800, they have more capability than the AT Pro in my opinion based on using both. No I won't go back to the AT Pro, but have fond memories of it being a simpler but quite effective machine. The Nox will do very trashy areas but out relic hunting or on good permissions with not much trash, it will be a close horse race between the two.

 

[rjeffw]

pulltabfelix that is my biggest complaint with the Nox also. With my AT, a nail was very much a separate signal from other more viable targets.

 

[smokeythecat]

The upgrade to either an AT Pro or Max and the 600 or 800 is the XP Deus. It outshines any detector made. Sometimes you can pick up a used one for the price of a new 800. The don't break, either. I had an AT Pro that broke its coil and the Equinoxes have been plagued with gremlins, which is very disappointing coming from a big name manufacturer.

 

[Trapper John]

I chose my AT Pro as an intro detector because it is waterproof to 3 meters. It rains a lot where I am located. To be perfectly honest the 600 was unknown to me at the time so it missed my comparison list. In the final analysis I would want to swing both of them and see for myself what the pros and cons are for me. It's a bit like buying a sound system: after basic specs are compared what sounds good to one person may be intolerable to another. The key is to first decide what your budget permits, read and ask, as you have, and try out your "short list."

Finally, a key factor will be where and what you decide to hunt for. In a sense, you can play a game such as golf with a driver, putter, and irons 3, 5, 7, and 9. These 6 clubs will let you get into the game, but don't plan on winning the Masters Tournament with them. Too me the same can be said for detecting. You want to be neither over nor under gunned. You do need to keep your learning curve in proportion with your expectations regardless.

Having proved definitively that a 5 iron will not float, I know of that which I speak.

 

[cudamark]

The upgrade to either an AT Pro or Max and the 600 or 800 is the XP Deus. It outshines any detector made. Sometimes you can pick up a used one for the price of a new 800. The don't break, either. I had an AT Pro that broke its coil and the Equinoxes have been plagued with gremlins, which is very disappointing coming from a big name manufacturer.

Although the Deus is a fine relic and coin machine, it isn't waterproof and not a good salt water beach detector. In that aspect, it does not outshine any other detector. It is excellent in heavy iron though, if that is a priority.

 

[smokeythecat]

Since I don't water hunt, being waterproof is irrelevant. In NY where the OP is, a dry land machine would be my choice.

 

[cudamark]

Most people do however, in one respect or another. Even if you never go to the ocean, or hunt lakes or rivers, you'll probably have to cross a creek sometime, or you simply get caught in a downpour some distance from shelter. Being waterproof should be a basic feature with all good detectors these days. That hokey water kit that XP will sell you for the Deus is laughable.

 

[xr7ator]

As the famous Deion Sanders said when he went to the Dallas Cowboys; "BOTH!" LOL
A nice used AT Pro can be had for around $350. I paid $700 for my EQ800.

I have both machines and haven't put in enough time on the EQ. I can tell you that battery charge will be more work with the EQ600. Put batteries in the AT Pro and forget about it for many many hunts. Keep up on charges with the EQ600 after every use.

 

[rjeffw]

Most people do however, in one respect or another. Even if you never go to the ocean, or hunt lakes or rivers, you'll probably have to cross a creek sometime, or you simply get caught in a downpour some distance from shelter. Being waterproof should be a basic feature with all good detectors these days. That hokey water kit that XP will sell you for the Deus is laughable.

If the Deus is that expensive I agree, I can't believe it is not waterproof from the factory.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Eq multifreq is way to go, waterproof and multifreq, my hunting partner sold his Deus after buying and using his EQ 800 a few months, Multi freq will also beat single freq all day long.

 

[digger27]

I live in the SE, red clay mineralized soil, intense trash and unbelievable amounts of iron.
Most hunting is challenging here, depth is an issue but nothing near the masking problems we have to overcome...everywhere.

Around here I have friends that used AT Pros, Fishers, Tesoros, Minelabs, T2's, many different Whites units and a Deus...plus more.
One was a Whites guy for decades and he did very well but he got a a Nox just to hunt salt water beaches but when he got used to it hunting his own lawn and other public sites near him he realized how much better and easier the Nox deals with our devil dirt.
He hasn't powered up any of his White units since.

Another had a pro and loved it but bought a Nox.
When I saw what it was capable of I got one but he used it for awhile and did pretty good but he sold it because he just loved the Pro, the sounds and behavior and thought he would up his game and get an AT Max.
He didn't like that one, it worked similarly to the Pro but not exactly and he didn't like the way it worked so be went back to the Pro.
Then he noticed how many masked targets I, and others, are finding around here so he rebought another 800 and all the coils and that's what he hunts with now.

Another had been doing this for 30 years and has them all, Minelabs, top line F75, T2, Whites and more.
He got curious when he was on a trip to Fla and stopped in to see Phil Meyers and called me while standing in front of him and asked if he should get one and I listed all the reasons he should.
He said Phil was listening in on our conversation and just smiled every time I listed a reason why, and there were many.
5 minutes later he owned one and I suspect he is using it more than any others like the rest of us.
None of this is a coincidence, all of us saw an advantage and ability the Nox has that our others didn't, both in depth and the uncanny ability to find severly masked targets...HERE!

If I still lived in Kansas and hunted in that almost perfect soil I probably wouldn't have thought of getting a Nox because everything I owned and used worked so well there but here...we needed more.

Is it perfect, no, I love hunting more with my F70 more because it doesn't have the compacted disc range the Nox has but the Nox is just finding me more...the Nox is finding us all much, much more.
This thing is not just reopening a few of our depleted sites, it is opening up ALL of our sites.
But that is here in a very weird place to do this hobby.

My opinion, in good dirt most everything does well but if you have special and copius amounts of issues and challenges like I do ya gotta go with what really works.

 

[smokeythecat]

Treasure_hunter, I've had the 600, 800 and Deus. I sold the two Minelabs. They did not live up to the hype and the Deus was easier to use and found more. Nothing wrong with the Minelabs, but the "multifrequency" sometimes seemed to muddy the waters, not make them clearer. Three frequencies with harmonics didn't cut it with me, and I find a lot of nice stuff.