New detector after 30 years

[Venner]

Last summer, I posted in the White's forum about the odd (and identical) issues I've encountered using my father's 1984 White's Coinmaster 6000/Di Series 3 and my then-recently-acquired Coinmaster 5900/Di Pro. Although I love those detectors, they've become too temperamental to use regularly; I've disassembled them, cleaned them, and checked the internals, and everything is in order. I've found a couple of dead-zones in which they work 'okay,' but pretty much anywhere in a 30 mile radius I've tried, they have the issues I show in the video: some sort of weird, widespread RF interference.

So I'm looking to pick up a new, bright, shiny modern detector but am having trouble trying to figure out (a) what would fit the budget and (b) still satisfy me, coming from the venerable but great Coinmaster series of the 80s.
I've read a lot of reviews and anecdotal posts on a lot of detectors at a lot of price points, but I could really use some suggestions.

I live in NE Ohio (heavy clay soil, glacial deposits) and generally detect for coins and relics in fields, woods, abandoned farms, etc, with the occasional freshwater beach. However, there is a chance that I may be taking a job in Europe for a while, which would yield some interesting detecting possibilities...

A big catch is that I will be purchasing new through Amazon (or a merchant who uses Amazon) since I have several hundred dollars in gift cards accumulated. (It basically justifies my purchase.)

Brand isn't important, nor is weight (coming from the 4-C-cell blue-box behemoths!) I'm a techie, so don't mind fancy controls or settings.

The Garrett AT Pro sits at about the top of my budget, but seems either loved or reviled on here. Some think it is a bargain and the best thing since sliced bread, others find it overhyped and overpriced. I haven't seen it reviewed against anything near as ancient as my current setup; how does it compare? Would I be happy? Alternatives? I welcome any and all suggestions.

Basically, what can I get for <$600 from Amazon that would be a worthy actual-upgrade from the old White's?

 

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[Fletch88]

You are paying for waterproofing that you may not need with the ATPro. I would look at the X-Terra 705 or 505. Coupled with a 6" Digger Coiltek coil it is amazing at picking goodies out of trash. I would try to go with the 705 because of prospecting mode and it has a backlight. The prospecting mode is good for relic and beach detecting. The audio of both machines is very good and they are very lightweight.

 

[MackDog]

The waterproofing on the AT PRO is included. So far it is by far the best detector I have ever used. I'm routinely finding coins from the 1890's here in Spokane. With it there is no thing as a hunted out park. Beware though it will spoil you, plus it takes a while to get the full hang of it. I've had mine for 16 month's now and I'm finally where I should be with it. If you get one go right to the pro mode and learn the sounds so you get the deepest coins. Good luck on your decision.

 

[jreverquest]

Venner,

I'm in the same boat as you my friend having 2 Garretts my first one being 23 years old however with today's technology I'm old school and out of date... With you possibly going to Europe your findings could be down right amazing from so many wars fought on all that soil to its rich history of people, period... I cant give you any help yet because Im looking too for information for my next detector however I will say that I have really been looking at the AT Pro or Gold series and the Fisher F70 model if you can put a few more bucks with it because it is said to be as good as the F75 which is a good deal over your budget and the F70 might be possible for you to afford... Its so hard to make a choice but sometimes you have to take a leap of faith lol and select what your gut is saying because Ive learned many years ago, the detector works and works good its the people who don't... Why do you think that robots are going to take over the earth (joke), but spend the time and test your detector by burying many types of metals and you will quickly learn the detector and its sounds, this is how I use to do it and every detector I touched worked good, now they make them where people can be lazy and not dig a lot of the hits however Im still old school and will continue to dig things others don't and yes this can be horrible at times but it has paid off... Again this is a lot from years ago and Im not up to speed YET on the new technology and cant wait to decide like yourself on my new detector... Keep us updated on what you feel your going with and when you get it please let us know how its going for you.... By the way I've heard more positives about the AT series by Garrett then negatives but remember this can be the people themselves being good at learning and not lazy etc so many machines can work if you too are open minded and work at this hobby...

JR (JReverquest@hotmail.com)

 

[Venner]

After hours and hours of reading through forum posts and investigating more into the AT Pro/Gold, the Xterra 505/705, the F70/75, and a few others, I ended up really liking what I read/saw on the Minelab X-Terra 705 that Fletch88 mentioned (and which I hadn't really been too aware of beforehand -- thank you sir!) I did some purchase-juggling and ended up making a good deal yesterday for a used 705 I found online (should be here next week) and instead used my Amazon credit to pick up an extra coil and about a month's worth of food/grocery/home goods. The UPS carrier is going to hate me.

The wealth of knowledge shared by some of the forum members with the unit, coupled with the nifty ability to change frequency (and generally retain TID info) is what eventually sold me on the 705. The one I have coming has a 10x5 DD HF coil, and I opted for a Coiltek 6" DD LF "Digger" as a second coil from Amazon -- after a huge amount of waffling over all the options. At some point I'd like to pick up a third, a MF or LF 15" coil for wide open areas, but this should do me very well for quite some time without completely blowing the budget.

Since I'm waiting to hear on the new exciting job, I've only been taking short-term contract work lately to keep myself available. That means living austerely for a while (minus this one big splurge!), but also leaves me with more free time than usual to get outside and have some fun this summer. Can't wait for the gear to arrive.

 

[jreverquest]

After hours and hours of reading through forum posts and investigating more into the AT Pro/Gold, the Xterra 505/705, the F70/75, and a few others, I ended up really liking what I read/saw on the Minelab X-Terra 705 that Fletch88 mentioned (and which I hadn't really been too aware of beforehand -- thank you sir!) I did some purchase-juggling and ended up making a good deal yesterday for a used 705 I found online (should be here next week) and instead used my Amazon credit to pick up an extra coil and about a month's worth of food/grocery/home goods. The UPS carrier is going to hate me.

The wealth of knowledge shared by some of the forum members with the unit, coupled with the nifty ability to change frequency (and generally retain TID info) is what eventually sold me on the 705. The one I have coming has a 10x5 DD HF coil, and I opted for a Coiltek 6" DD LF "Digger" as a second coil from Amazon -- after a huge amount of waffling over all the options. At some point I'd like to pick up a third, a MF or LF 15" coil for wide open areas, but this should do me very well for quite some time without completely blowing the budget.

Since I'm waiting to hear on the new exciting job, I've only been taking short-term contract work lately to keep myself available. That means living austerely for a while (minus this one big splurge!), but also leaves me with more free time than usual to get outside and have some fun this summer. Can't wait for the gear to arrive.

Sounds like you are either a consultant or doing something with computers lol as my brother is a high priced programmer who specializes in the hand scanners used by just about every company out there and he currently works for lance who owns a ton of snack food vending type brands and does contract work on the side and makes buku bucks and I came from law enforcement getting my buku butt kicked until the criminals finally won and now Im disabled... Why couldn't I have just followed my bigger brother, and whats funny is that anytime he had problems with someone he would call his little brother well, Im the little brother at 5'10" 250lbs and I just got out of the hospital after 2 months due to double pneumonia... but anyway sounds like you know what you want and your just like me except you pulled the trigger and Im still deciding... please tell us what you think about it after you get it as now Im looking at all those new fisher detectors coming out if its not too far off that is, if it is I'll go with something now and get a better one later... talk to ya soon and keep us informed even if you go across the pond!!!! good war finds are being found everywhere and watch out for unexploded ordinance they are worth a lot in Afghanistan (bad joke I know) I love our brave soldiers and talk to a lot of them as they worked with me at the sheriffs department. I have nothing but respect for these brave men and women and she males (again another bad joke I know) please forgive me, fighting depression with jokes honestly...

JR (jreverquest@hotmail.com)