Re: MINELAB GPX5000 USERS. And "Want-to-be" users.
Here's the reply folks.
Hi Mike,
The GPX-4800/5000 advantage compared to the 4500 is a very straight forward matter of electronics and user features.
One impressive feature is the new coin and relic timing (CRT) which allows incredible depth of detection in low to slightly mineralized soils here in the States. In the CRT detectorist have very little to do other than a noise cancel/Auto Tune, ground balance and set the threshold tone to their preferred setting to match their hearing and go hunt.
With advancements in Minelab technologies we have been able to improve the electronics for much quieter operation. We also developed and increased the sensitivity to targets and we improved ground balance performance. The gang in Australia also improved the “Enhance” Soil timing on both the 4800 and 5000 this allows for a much quieter operation of the detectors and has resulted in improved depth, and sensitivity over the 4500.
I have done side by side comparisons with the entire line of machine and even though there are a few functions that the 4500 had such as the Sensitive Smooth timing and the patch mode that the 4800 does not feature; know that the GPX-4800 is not a replacement for the 4500 it is a machine designed for a budget minded detectorist looking for exceptional results in a value package.
The GPX-5000 is the true replacement for the 4500 and is for the person looking to own the very best gold detector with the added bonus of the CRT feature included.
Again the advancements in technology have allowed us to build a quieter more efficient detector. The addition of the “Fine Gold” and “Salt Gold timings are nothing short of a reinvention of PI detecting.
As a nugget hunter I have been amazed at the results of the GPX- 5000 in a lot of my “hunted out” patches. Simply put the 5000 in fine gold timing coupled with the smoother electronics is finding more gold than I ever thought possible in some of my areas.
As I shared with you previously in the emailed slide you can see how the new Fine Gold timing allows nugget hunting for a very wide size range of gold in mineralization that was just not attainable with the 4500 or any other detector that has been manufactured.
I have not had a lot of chance to use the salt gold timing as I am land bound but I am currently in California and am going to try to spend a day on a very salt mineralized spot of Salton Sea on a privately owned beach lot that I have hunted previously with SD/GP/GPX units and if this timing is what I expect after what I have experienced with the other 5000 timings then I have no doubt that there will be a run on long handled #2 shovels to start recovering targets in hi salt environments. Both the 4500 and 4800 have the salt coarse timing and I am willing to presume that the enhanced electronics of the 4800 will allow it to better perform in this environment than the 4500. As a side note if you are not familiar with the Salton Sea region of California the salinity of the water is much greater than that of the Pacific Ocean the last time I saw a report it was around 44 g/L and quite frankly if it works there it will work in any salt environment I have ever detected, including fort hunting the western shores of the Great Salt Lake.
To summarize all of this
GPX-4500
Is discontinued and once dealer stocks are depleted there will be no more of these detectors. This is a normal procedure of technology advancement.
GPX-4800
Is a excellent detector that is suited for the Coin Relic and Treasure hunting folks that are wanting a true full power Minelab Pulse without the complete expense or all of the Gold detecting features that may never be utilized by detectorist that do not have the opportunity to nugget hunt often.
It is also finding a good home for those that are coming out of other brands of PI nugget detectors that do not want the complete expense of a GPX-5000 and that have a number of Minelab coils for their current unit. It is not an upgrade for the GPX-4500 it is a standalone detector. Think of it more in the lines of the ultimate CRT detector with the added benefit of having gold timings.
I do not believe that the engineering team could have built the 4800 to do what it is capable of on just a CRT platform. There are features of Minelab’s PI gold machine incorporated into the 4800 that allows it to perform in the way that it does. But again it is not a replacement for the GPX-4500. With a lower price point we are seeing it sold quite well to budget minded detectorist, detectorist changing to the Minelab brand, Coin Relic and Treasure hunters only and to owners of older Minelab PI technologies that may have amassed a number of coils for their older detectors that are looking to upgrade their current SD/GP detector.
GPX-5000
This is the detector that is the upgrade for the GPX-4500. It features new and unique timings and enhanced electronics over the GPX-4500 and should be the considered detector if you are electronic gold prospector looking to have the very best gold machine available.
The 5000 offers the nugget hunter the most advanced technologies for working the worst ground anywhere in the world. I have used this detector in areas that were a challenge for the 4500 and found gold that was simply not visible to the 4500. And this is not always about depth. The enhancements in the 5000 have allowed me to re-hunt some of the most difficult soils and not only have great depth but it has allowed me to find small gold nuggets in areas that excessively hot soils challenged my GPX-4500.
With all of the advancements to the GPX- 5000 for nugget hunting the design team added the CRT feature to the GPX-5000 as an added bonus.
Mike there are a number of training classes scheduled over the next few months I would really like to see you attend one as soon as possible. There is a rather extensive unit on the GPX series of detectors that should help you better understand how and why these detectors are simply a part of Minelab continued commitment as the “World’s Best Metal Detection Technologies”
Very Best regards,
Your friend
Kevin Hoagland
??
considering bullets are $2-3 each it takes a lot to pay for a $1300 detector, let alone a $5000 detector.
