Noob with "which one?" question

[Yickityoptorus]

Noob with "which one?" question

Hi everybody. Nicetameetcha

Great forum..glad I found it.

I know that the first question to ask when choosing a metal detector is "what do you want to search for". I'm afraid that the answer is, I don't know yet I want to try a little of many things, so I'm looking for price ease of use and versatility (I'm not going to try to hide the fact that I don't want to spend much on my first detector because I am poor and cheap ). So I've been researching a while now and think I've got it narrowed down to two.

Tracker IV with an extra coil (probably the small coil).

or

Lonestar, due to it's added electronic features, namely autonotch, pinpoint, 6 target ID segments and 3 audio tones.

I don't hear much about the Lonestar, but if the features all work well..it seems that it would be a slightly better machine.

I would very much appreciate some input. Which would be the better/most versatile machine?

 

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[jb7487]

Re: Noob with "which one?" question

Well I've never tried a Lonestar but I can tell you that the Tracker IV is a really great little machine for the money. I don't think target ID and auto notch features would be too beneficial to me. The discrimination control on the Tracker IV is very easy to fine tune to tell you what you are about to dig. Just do a little testing and you'll quickly get the feel for what the tones are telling you. However, some people are very "display oriented" and would prefer to see than to listen. But I just don't think that 6 target ID segments are going to be enough to really give you a great idea of what is in the ground anyway. They are going to be very generic groupings like: iron, nickel/gold, bottlecap, penny, and silver. It's pretty easy to get that level of separation through audio tones alone without target ID.

When I did the research to buy the Tracker IV I found that pretty much all of the reviews were positive with just a couple that were easily explained as someone who didn't read the manual at all. The Lonestar doesn't appear to have any reviews on Amazon yet. I'm not sure what that tells us. Maybe it is just brand new. I can tell you that if you get the Tracker IV you will find that it is a great value and a very versitile machine. I got mine for less than $100 new on Amazon. There aren't any other detectors that I know of for that price that match it in performance and ease of use.

But maybe someone who has used the Lonestar can chime in.

 

[Yickityoptorus]

Re: Noob with "which one?" question

Thanks for the post. Like you, I've researched and found the majority of reviews on the TIV to be positive. I've pretty much made up my mind on it. But just as a final check, I thought I would play with the idea of stepping up just a half notch and seeing whats available. I do like the idea of having just a few more bells and whistles, but I'm probably better off (safer) going with the well reviewed unit.

 

[jb7487]

Re: Noob with "which one?" question

Well I can't blame you. The Lonestar really isn't that much more than the Tracker IV. They look very similar other than the updated electronics interface. Hopefully someone who has used the Lonestar will comment on the differences and whether or not they are worth the extra money.

 

[devros]

Re: Noob with "which one?" question

I own a tracker IV, really its a pioneer 101 which they are both the same. And as it has been said a million times before its a good machine for the money. I love this little machine, i have found all sorts of things with it, rings, silver and gold both, clad coins, silver coins, really deep iron items, shooting for coins is nice but it is not a depth monster, I think i only found a coin no more than 4 or 5 inches. I am going to upgrade to the 505 this week, but if you wanted my 2 cents i would get the tracker IV.