I have seen and held all 3, They are entry level detectors.....
Its seems somewhat thought out.... entry level?, maybe on T net, but $3 or 4 hundred dollars is a lot of money, a whole lot of money....
A really awesome blue tooth equipped 60 amp touch screen car stereo with a myriad of additional built in miracle technology is available for $175 all day long.......
So when you get a target hit the icon does not give you a idea of what you have ... And now that you got a hit you have to scroll through all the target icons and try to guess what the target is that you have ?.. Seems like a lot of time involved to ID a target.. And what would you blue tooth on the detector for ? It is already on my phone ..
And again they are that cheap because hundreds of thousands of them are sold every year... $500 million after market stereo sales in 2012...
Do you happen to have the figures for total metal detector sales?
If I were you.....I'd not commit to that plunge for a first machine before there are more real world reviews of it, which won't come until after it's release.I am liking the 60 and thinking of getting it for my first machine and getting my kids into the hobby...
If I were you.....I'd not commit to that plunge for a first machine before there are more real world reviews of it, which won't come until after it's release.
Seems some are missing the fact that these are entry level detectors and are expecting a lot . When you look at entry level they appear to be way ahead of the curve.
The only company out there pushing the metal detecting technology envelope has been Minelab.
Way ahead of the curve? Do you mean in regards to it's portability? We don't know much about its performance or smartphone integration.
I'd say XP does a good job pushing the envelope, as there is nothing else like it on the market. And who knows what new functionality the 4.0 software will bring. That aside, I wasn't trying to say that it was going to be a dud, but rather that it is always best to save judgement until the consumers get their hands on it and can weigh in.
I will give some credit to XP, but you can hardly call what they do as "pushing the envelope" in metal detecting technology. They have done more than most, but they rely on old technology. When Minelab realized that VHF Technology was taken about as far as it could be taken, they brought out Pulse Induction which revolutionized metal detecting. When they pushed that as far as they could (GPX5000), they spent an extra couple of years designing and building the all-new ZVT Technology, and now that seems to be ringing the bells in the goldfields.
I do agree with you 100% that reserving judgement until impartial reviews are in is a safe bet, but who wants to be safe? HAHAHA
Mike
You're right. There are always haters, but there is no arguing with success. You can slap wireless headphones, bluetooth, chrome rims, and a bong on a detector, but that is not pushing any envelopes. When the way detectors fundamentally work is changed you can call that pushing the envelope.
.....and I'm not a Minelab Fanboy. I have played with several manufacturers, but have always liked Minelab best. I have a White's GM4b and a couple of Fisher two-boxes and a Fisher FX3 Ferro Probe. I buy what works for me.
Mike
I cant figure out what niche the new Minelabs are supposed to appeal to. I like the folding ability to a compact size, without assembly or disassembly. But it has a strong toy like appearance, which used to be the standard insult for bright green and yellow Garrett's. It does not seem to break any ground otherwise.
Minelab made its rep on its multi frequency aspect and exploiting the virtues of it. Then they come out with the X-Terra line, which seemed to be plain old single freq detectors that cost more because they had the Minelab name. Now, beeping toys?
Maybe they will expand on the new concept, but it leaves me cold. I like the easy foldability. It allows you to drop it in your backpack and take it out to the sticks and deploy it more easily. But a detector in that niche should have water resistance ability and the ability of quickly changing coils. Minelab only seems to have gone halfway.