MineLab Explorer XS vs MineLab Explorer SE/SE Pro

[panthermartin]

Hoping for some input.
I'm looking at a CraigsList add on a MineLab Explorer XS. I know it's an older model, but wondering what the differences would be vs the SE or SE Pro?
Thinking of trying to buy the XS if I could get a good price.
Thanks for any advise.

 

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[Iron Patch]

The differences are mainly just the coil and 1/8 headphone jack which you can convert to 1/4 by buying a Sunray adapter stand. (haven't checked for years if these are still available new) The big issues which should keep you away are that the camlocks at the housing often cracked making the shaft wobble, or even without cracks it would wobble, and Minelab will no longer repair an XS. Next is the coil, which I actually prefer and use one on my SE, but they do not tend to last and I expect a lot of pain to keep finding good ones since they were discontinued so many years ago. That said, the XS is a great detector and as far as finding stuff is every bit as good as the SE, but for all the reasons I stated above it would be a deal breaker for me unless I got to test it well, it was perfect, and extremely cheap. And even if all that checked out I would think of it as a 1 year detector and if I got more it would be a bonus. So with all that said, an SE is the way to go. An Explorer II would be better than an XS having the 1/4 jack and a few other little changes, but I think most of the major issues still might apply so not sure how good an idea that would be either. As much as I love both the XS and EX II, and damn do I have great memories with both those units, they're just not worth paying what a seller would want when you consider a SE would probably only be a few hundred more.