Dirtslinger
Jr. Member
- Apr 6, 2013
- 92
- 94
- Detector(s) used
- Teknetics Delta 4000, Gamma 6000 w/NEL SS, Nokta Impact, Garrett Treasure Ace 300, Minelab Equinox 800, White's Coinmaster 4/DB
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Not much else to do, so I did a side-by-side comparison of my pinpointers nothing really surprising, but then again I’m the one using them. Hopefully someone can get some useful information from this. I did my best to mark up the margins for where they begin to pick a clad cent and used the same one for all the tests, the same location, and all new batteries. I think everything should be equal on this. They are all tools, use them accordingly, and they all have advantages.
The Garrett pro-pointer doesn’t even need an introduction really. No adjustments to note, just the button and point it at the hole. Done with it? Click it again, it’s off. Even I can’t mess it up. I’ve got tape over the speaker hole, just to help quiet it down. It’s plenty loud, proportional audio/vibrate. My only fault with one is I had a serial # sticker come loose from the inside of one and it made me think it was junked up and dead. It had been falsing quite a bit, and it wasn’t consistent at all why, when and where it would do it. As it turns out, the sticker was between the contact and the battery. Lucky it didn’t bend it, but it’s my second pointer, so if you have an older one, watch that sticker.
The Minelab Pro-Find 25.
This one was my first “real” pinpointer. Picked it up second hand after I bought a “real” detector. It’s a little more complicated than a Garret. Now we have three buttons. One power, one plus, one minus. Still really easy to use. Power on, point at stuff and power off. You can adjust sensitivity with the plus/minus buttons once it’s on, but I left it one click from max. It will do audio or vibrate. If you hold down - while powering on, it will shut off the audio. Holding down the + will turn it back on if you do it while powering on. Blinking led means low battery.
The White’s Bullseye TRX.
Easily the most different of the group. Back to one button, but it is multi-purpose. It’s pretty much business as usual turning it on. One push of the button powers it on, you can use it just like normal. When you’re done with it, you hold the button down and it will power off. As soon as you hear it, just let off the button. It’s just about a 3/4 second button push. Holding it down longer runs it into setup mode, continuing to hold it will send it to the audio/vibrate mode. All settings are saved automatically. Now for what makes it different.
The Tip-only detection field, 9 volt battery or 2 AA batteries using the included adapter. Whites recommends Lithium batteries in the AA holder. I haven’t used any yet, because I must have some minority stock holdings in 9 volts. The detection field speaks for itself. Not the two dots in the photo down it’s shaft, I wasn’t aware they would show up, but the fact that they are there is why you should tilt it when you hit a signal in the hole. I get that people won’t like the difference with this pointer, it is different. Not laying it down to scan an area is a habit I caught myself trying. I’ve got mine in factory settings and it’s faster with me scanning the area under my coil thanks to added depth. This, imho, is the key piece of the puzzle. So much faster than pinpointing with the Nox and then checking with the pointer. It doesn’t always hit it, but at least then I know it’s smaller than a dime, deeper than a zincoln (3”)or that I missed it.
Lastly, I have my original, 10 buck pointer. Still works, still has a wonky button and it’s still got it’s paper towel in the battery compartment. No judging here, it works as well as the day I bought it. The field is unlike the rest. Adjustable sensitivity is a potentiometer on the case.
All of these pointers run on 9 volts, all come with holsters and the only one I’ve had any issues with was the Garrett and that was just a weird deal. They all have proportional audio/vibrate except the Cen-Tech, it’s audio only. So, I’d say everybody makes a reliable piece, that said, I wouldn’t trust the Cen-Tech on a club hunt or with a kid. The construction feels flimsy and the button being a momentary is a pain. Don’t forget, it’s ten bucks. It does it’s job and it gets used in my wood shop. It told me I was going to enjoy metal detecting and that my detector wasn’t going to be a laundry hanger like the treadmill.
The only one with a lanyard loop is the TRX, but there’s a kit for the pro-pointer you can get for ten bucks on Amazon.
Thanks for looking, I hope it helps see the differences.
The Garrett pro-pointer doesn’t even need an introduction really. No adjustments to note, just the button and point it at the hole. Done with it? Click it again, it’s off. Even I can’t mess it up. I’ve got tape over the speaker hole, just to help quiet it down. It’s plenty loud, proportional audio/vibrate. My only fault with one is I had a serial # sticker come loose from the inside of one and it made me think it was junked up and dead. It had been falsing quite a bit, and it wasn’t consistent at all why, when and where it would do it. As it turns out, the sticker was between the contact and the battery. Lucky it didn’t bend it, but it’s my second pointer, so if you have an older one, watch that sticker.
The Minelab Pro-Find 25.
This one was my first “real” pinpointer. Picked it up second hand after I bought a “real” detector. It’s a little more complicated than a Garret. Now we have three buttons. One power, one plus, one minus. Still really easy to use. Power on, point at stuff and power off. You can adjust sensitivity with the plus/minus buttons once it’s on, but I left it one click from max. It will do audio or vibrate. If you hold down - while powering on, it will shut off the audio. Holding down the + will turn it back on if you do it while powering on. Blinking led means low battery.
The White’s Bullseye TRX.
Easily the most different of the group. Back to one button, but it is multi-purpose. It’s pretty much business as usual turning it on. One push of the button powers it on, you can use it just like normal. When you’re done with it, you hold the button down and it will power off. As soon as you hear it, just let off the button. It’s just about a 3/4 second button push. Holding it down longer runs it into setup mode, continuing to hold it will send it to the audio/vibrate mode. All settings are saved automatically. Now for what makes it different.
The Tip-only detection field, 9 volt battery or 2 AA batteries using the included adapter. Whites recommends Lithium batteries in the AA holder. I haven’t used any yet, because I must have some minority stock holdings in 9 volts. The detection field speaks for itself. Not the two dots in the photo down it’s shaft, I wasn’t aware they would show up, but the fact that they are there is why you should tilt it when you hit a signal in the hole. I get that people won’t like the difference with this pointer, it is different. Not laying it down to scan an area is a habit I caught myself trying. I’ve got mine in factory settings and it’s faster with me scanning the area under my coil thanks to added depth. This, imho, is the key piece of the puzzle. So much faster than pinpointing with the Nox and then checking with the pointer. It doesn’t always hit it, but at least then I know it’s smaller than a dime, deeper than a zincoln (3”)or that I missed it.
Lastly, I have my original, 10 buck pointer. Still works, still has a wonky button and it’s still got it’s paper towel in the battery compartment. No judging here, it works as well as the day I bought it. The field is unlike the rest. Adjustable sensitivity is a potentiometer on the case.
All of these pointers run on 9 volts, all come with holsters and the only one I’ve had any issues with was the Garrett and that was just a weird deal. They all have proportional audio/vibrate except the Cen-Tech, it’s audio only. So, I’d say everybody makes a reliable piece, that said, I wouldn’t trust the Cen-Tech on a club hunt or with a kid. The construction feels flimsy and the button being a momentary is a pain. Don’t forget, it’s ten bucks. It does it’s job and it gets used in my wood shop. It told me I was going to enjoy metal detecting and that my detector wasn’t going to be a laundry hanger like the treadmill.
The only one with a lanyard loop is the TRX, but there’s a kit for the pro-pointer you can get for ten bucks on Amazon.
Thanks for looking, I hope it helps see the differences.
