Place your vote!!!!!!!!!! DFX or GTI2500

[kermit]

Tnet,
I have read the reviews. I've watched the videos. It's about time to buy. Any last words before I drop a grand in clad.
If you know anything about one or both of these machines I would like any info. I am looking for a high end detector that will stay with me for the long hall. I'm keeping my ACE 250 a back up.

DFX or 2500 ?


Kermit

 

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[Emperor Findus Cladius]

I have owned both the DFX and Explorer II. I still have the DFX and will not get another machine. Nuff said.

 

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[kermit]

The Extra Coil. Most people have at least one. The EXcellerator coils which are DD in a round shape, not eliptical, to name one brand that is very popular.
? ? ?Decisions, decisions, decisions.?

So it's looking like I want a high end Machine with a high speed coil... I know the Excellerator coils work on the DFX but will the GTI still have the graphic imaging?

Mostly I wll be hunting open ground with light to Med Brush. Sand, playgrounds, yards, woods, fields, Basic kentucky hotspots

Do I need a small coil to hunt between the trash. Or a large coil that will cover more ground. The weight is not that big of a issue but I'm not getting any younger............

From Kellyco

Searchcoils supplied with all metal detectors are coils that manufacturers feel give the best all-around results. However, both larger and smaller size searchcoils are necessary to get the best performance from your metal detector.

EXcelerator Coil!"

The depth was more than impressive, at least 50% deeper than my standard 10" coil. Coin Depth more than doubled to 15" to 20". Surprising find of a small gold earring. Not a ring but a tiny earring at approx. 10" Deep. Pinpointing was accurate and targets that I.Dd were "right on". I would recommend these coils to anybody owning a White's DFX & MXT
Now Shipping the NEW Multiple Harmonic Wideband Double "DD" (Deeper - more sensitive) Searchcoils!!
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A $360 Value
Only $159.95 w/ DFX or MXT Detector Purchase
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ONLY $179.95 14 Inch EXcelerator Searchcoil
A $400 Value
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ONLY $189.95 18 Inch EXcelerator Searchcoil
A $450 Value
Only $199.95 w/ DFX or MXT Detector Purchase
SAVE $250.00
ONLY $199.95

Thanks for all the feed back........

 

[kermit]

One more Coil Pic


Kermit

 

[lonewolfe]

You're getting caught up in all the "hype & BS" dude!

If you like spending $$$ - carry on!

Did you see the "Hothead coils" for the GTI 2500??

I think they make a DD for them now too!

2 coils are good, 3 coils are better (example - a stock coil for multi purpose, a 5 in. for trashy areas, and a 12 to 14+ in.) is all you'll ever need, and will use depending on where you are/type of ground you're hunting, and what you're looking for)...

HH

Lonewolfe

 

[kermit]

I just found a DD coil on the web that garret makes. I don't know if it's imaging our not..........

 

[kermit]

Wolf

I don't like spending $$$ I just want the best bang for the buck. I'm not in a big hurry to buy and I don't mind listening to what others have to say. I look at it like this if I going to drop that much clad on a detector I'm going to check it out the best I can keeping in mind I don't know all that much about MDing and Detectors but I'm Learning...


Thanks for your input Wolf

SO what your saying is you like The GTI

 

[mattjd]

I have a GTI 1500 and the thing I like about that is that you'll know that you have a coin BEFORE you dig it. Also, the cool thing with the 1500 and 2500 is that a nickel will register as a nickel and it will say "B" size. Most pull tabs and big aluminum foil will register as a nickel also, but will also tell you that's it's "C" sized. So you dig alot less pull tabs than any other detector. The GTI Series are REALLY good at filtering out the trash targets and I mean REALLY GOOD. Also I really like the GTI's "BAR" discrimination. I've had my 1500 for 3 or 4 years now and it hasn't broken down once. Mine came with the stock coil and a 12.5 coil too.

Matt

 

[weldermark]

Kermit,I'm going to up grade and was leaning towards the DFX so i went to Whites.com and downloaded the owners manual,i don't know if every company does this but it's a start,I've been reading the DFX manual,and I'm not intimidated.


Best of luck



Mark

 

[lonewolfe]

SO what your saying is you like The GTI?

Yes Kermit, I like the GTI 2500 (as well as my CZ20).

I like them both for different reasons though. My son uses the 2500 while detecting with me, and I use it with the additional (sold separate) 2 box Blood Hound depth multiplier attached to it for deeper larger targets (like relics, cache's, and bottle dump locating).. Other than that, I use my CZ20 95% of the time (on land, and in the water)..

I have had many Garrett machines over the yrs. a few fishers, a whites surf master PI, as well as many others (20+ yrs, and probably in the range of 15 to 16 detectors total).. I've also recently (in the last 2 yrs) had the DFX, the MXT, and the Minelab ex-cal 1000

I sold the DFX because I personally don't like the machine (for reasons already described above in my 1st post to this) and for other reasons too. I sold the MXT because it's too basic, and doesn't allow the user to adjust much of anything on it..
I also don't like whites features/sounds, etc. on their machines compared to what I am use to.
I sold the ex-cal 1000 because I personally like the CZ20 much better for many reasons including, the design, the lifetime warrantee, the light weight when hip mounted, and the exceptional depth it gets along with ease of operation, etc.

I'm a lover of "simplicity, and raw power" in a detector,

I don't want/need all the bells & whistles that are nothing more than distractions, and over played "hype/BS"..

A good detectorist relies on nothing more than sound, and his instincts as to when to dig or not...

No one needs a "screen" full of "crap" showing them read outs of what the machine "perceives" the target to be! That is nothing more than a load of "crap", and a serious distraction causing time lost in detecting, and less targets being recovered.

I like a machine that delivers pure depth, and also some adjustment to the programs (if it has programs) without being time consuming & overwhelming to the point that you're adjusting the machine more than you are detecting (as the DFX was/is).. I also don't need a machine to show me what it thinks a target "might be" or might not be.. I dig based on what the target sounds like, and I move fast.. That's why I like the CZ20, and believe me, while Joe blow is looking at his screen 1/2 the time, and wondering whether or not to dig, I've already dug & recovered 5 or 6 targets to his 1, and in the end, when he/she comes back with 10 or 20 coins, and a few relics, etc. I'll come back with 3 or 4XS that many in the same amount of time because I'm not wasting my time looking at some damn screen trying to decide if I should dig or not!

But, what the hell do I know!?, and "to each his own"!

Good luck, and HH

Lonewolfe

 

[Floater]

Listen to the Tone, Pinpoint and Dig. The screen is for those that want to think. The tone is for those that want to dig. Good Luck and may the Tone be with you. Excal owner and soon to be CZ20 owner.

UHHggg Lonewolfe ya want to sell the CZ to me cheap so You can buy a new one? LOL

 

[Deadshot]

Here is my opinion for what it is worth.

I have about 2 solid years of detecting under my belt and have only ever used White's Machines. Recently (like two weeks ago) I purchased a DFX. It is a solid machine as most whites detectors are. I like that fact that the housing and most of the detector is made of metal. The other brands that use plastic for their housings seem a bit to fragile for me.

I never really understood the point of having a detector that told you how big a target was like the GTI2500 does. I can easily tell how big a target is with my DFX by using the pinpoint feature. And as far as target ID, the Tone ID on the DFX is all I need to decide if I want to dig or not. And if I have any questions on whether or not a target is something that is worth digging the Signagraph on the DFX is in my opinion about the best ID tool there is on the market right now.

To me the DFX just seems to be one of the most versatile machines out there. The ability to use two operating frequencies together or separately depending on the targets I am hunting and the conditions present is a huge advantage over the a single frequency machine. Not only is the dual frequency great but it is the way that whites has really made a machine that deals with that ability well, and made the feature very usable. I don't have any experience with the Explorer but I have a hard time believing that 28 frequencies can be accurately dealt with in the split seconds that the detector works. A lot of the features that Minelab sells the explore with are also included in the DFX but with much less advertising as they are not really what they are cracked up to be. For example I have heard a lot of praise for the Learn reject and accept feature that the Explorer has. I didn't even know that the DFX had this until I bought it. What this does, is if you find a trash target that you are digging a lot of (like one type of pulltab) you can teach your machine to reject that target. It sounds like a great idea right? Well it sort of is, and defiantly can be helpfull at times. But if you are digging pull tabs I would assume that you are also trying to dig rings. The draw back to rejecting the pulltab target besides also losing any good target that reads the same is that you also lose sensitivity to targets that read close that target because as a machine sweeps over a target it actually takes many readings and decides to accept or reject only after it has taken all those readings and decided that they exceed a preset ratio of good to bad readings. As the coil approaches the target it will get a much weaker reading that is mixed with the ground contamination that surrounds a target due to all the time that it has been in the ground. If much of this contamination falls into the area that the machine has been taught to reject there is the possibility that the good target can be viewed as a rejected target. (I hope that made sense, it is late and I am not going to read it again because it made sense in my head )

After reading the Manual twice I was able to take the DFX out and understand what every option did for me. The DFX is only as complicated as you let it be. After only two weeks of hunting with my DFX I already have a few custom programs that I use. When I hit the field I am only required to make a couple basic adjustments to make my detector run stable. And I only have to make those adjustments because I am really trying to push my DFX as far as I can.

Any of the High end detectors on the market nowdays are going to make you just as happy as the rest. What you need to decide is what kind of Hunting you are going to be doing and what king of features are really important to you. I hope at least a little of what I said made sense. Most of it probably didn't because I know for a fact that what I see in my head is usually different than what I end up writing.

Anyways, take it for what it is worth (not to much really :P ) and enjoy what ever you end up with

Deadshot

 

[kermit]

Deadshot,

Great info and guess what I got it. I had to read it twice but I got it



Great input thanks


Kermit

 

[lonewolfe]

Listen to the Tone, Pinpoint and Dig. The screen is for those that want to think. The tone is for those that want to dig. Good Luck and may the Tone be with you. Excal owner and soon to be CZ20 owner.

UHHggg Lonewolfe ya want to sell the CZ to me cheap so You can buy a new one? LOL

LOL!

That's a possibility Floater,

what would/do you consider "cheap"!?

_________________________________________________

Deadshot

I never really understood the point of having a detector that told you how big a target was like the GTI2500 does. I can easily tell how big a target is with my DFX by using the pinpoint feature. And as far as target ID, the Tone ID on the DFX is all I need to decide if I want to dig or not. And if I have any questions on whether or not a target is something that is worth digging the Signagraph on the DFX is in my opinion about the best ID tool there is on the market right now.

The advantage of the imaging & size indication on the GTI 2500 is that it's set up for 5 different size of target ID'ing/factors.. It's kind of like the signagraph on the DFX/XLT's but, where the size of A, B, C, D, or E indicates size of target & helps the user to make an educated guess on the possibility of what the target may be..

The DFX & XLT's Signagraph feature works with the VDI number system & a bar graph which allows the user to make an educated guess at what the target may or may not be, and it's a nice/cool feature on those 2 machines (that was one of the features I did like on the DFX).

However, on the GTI 2500 the

A size targets are in relation to small bullets, small rings, small coins, small medals, etc. etc.
B size targets are in relation to most coins, rings, tokens, tags, small relics, small toys, etc. (the most accepted, and dug target size)...
C size targets are in relation to Large coins (silver dollar size) large tokens, larger toys, larger relics, etc.
D size targets are in relation to soda can sized objects, and
E size targets are in relation to much larger targets (like a hub-cap or old tools, big hunks of iron objects, etc. etc.).

When you use the size imaging along with the dual/bi level tone ID, the machine is a killer on finding/digging lots of good targets with minimal error, and with better than avg. results!

Also, as I said before, the machine is accepting of the 2 Box Blood Hound Depth Multiplier for cache hunting, and large relic hunting, bottle dump locating, etc. at depths of 3 ft up to 20 ft. and there are not too many machines on the market that accept this type of unit,,,

Whites sells one on a machine they make BUT,,, it's not a separate piece as it is on/for the 2500 & isn't made for their top of the line machines (DFX or XLT) so, you'd have to buy another detector from them for $650.00+ just to have this unit to do these types of hunting/jobs (UNlike) Garrett's top of the line machine (the GTI 2500) to where you only need to buy "it and only it" plus the 2 box unit for an xtra $130.00 to have this feature! (It also fits on one of Garrett's other higher end machines)!

Saves you a LOT of $ ($500.00+ over another one of White's marketing/sales scams- I mean schemes)!

One day you guys may catch on/open your eyes!

But then again, as you said, any of the top of the line machine/s will do the user "justice" and, it all comes down to personal preference, and what you like/need in a machine!

And if you ask -- why would anyone want the 2 box unit or a detector that is set up with one in the 1st place?? Well, if you want to find "$$ cache's (like mason jars full of coins) and or bottle dumps", most will be at depths out of range of most all detectors, and coils so, your chances increase 1000% with this type of unit/detector that uses one.

And,

there's a LOT of money in bottles compared to most coins, etc. found with detectors... On avg. you can sell bottles from $1 to $10 to $50 up to $500+ each but, the avg. coin you find?? Even a silver dime is only worth an avg. of .50 cents (and how many do you find ea yr)!? You can find one old bottle dump that will produce enough bottles (even an avg. dump) that will bring you a return of what your detector & equipment cost in the 1st place! Now, find 10 of those per yr! Get the picture!?

Been doing this a LONG time, and have paid for many a detector & equipment over the yrs + a LOT of other things!

Treasure hunting my friends! How far do you want to take it, and what do you wanna get out of it!?

Good luck, and HH

Lonewolfe

​

 

[ashdigger]

Kermit; I started metal detecting in 1967 at that time we built them...anyway.. I went thru about 8-10 Garrett's good machines still own two I had the 2500 it was a good machine sold it for a new DFX. The DFX is a harder machine to learn but its a better machine. Since prior to 9/11 Garrett has been concentrating on security machines for airports and buildings, now after 9/11 they cannot keep up, they are the leader in the security field. However during that time they have not focused as much on the hobby side as whites has, Whites have been making good advancements. Both are very quality machines. Look on E-Bay and watch how many 2500's are for sale compared to the DFX. Good Luck

 

[John CA]

After much research between the Explorer II, DFX, CZ70 and GTI2500. I decided on buying a DFX. So I will say DFX.

 

[Born2Dtect]

I would vote DFX. Consider the Explorer II. If you are wary of the learning curve or complexity as I was, Think About the Minelab Quattro MP. Easier to learn. Great depth, I am smaller objects in deeper locations. Like silver links form a necklace, 3" deeper than I usually find things. It cost about 350-400 dollars less than the Explorer II but still has 29 frequencies. What ever you get , learn it well and dig 'em up!

Ed Donovan

 

[Va Steve]

DFX 8)

 

[tallpaul]

if its pinpointing your after more than anything eles,, and you want good depth, and noise cancell and ground balance control,, with easy set-up, aned want to save some serious cash, then go for the minelab x terra 50 thats what i use, and hey read my posts ive found good finds with this machine and only had it two weeks, its new on the market, still getting field test done, but what a machine, it really is quick to set up and get on with what were out there to do and thats detect, lonewolf is spot on, dont waste time in the field detect like crazy, and get the finds,. sure the dfx and the explorer find and find deep, but they do have a long learning curve, especially the explorer, i dont know about garret,. but everybody is diffo, some like this some like that,, you gotta choose what you feel drawn too the most,, ive said this be4 if you make the wrong choice well change the machine, its all about learning, take your time,. HH paul.

 

[eric in ks]

The most important feature of your new detector is what is between your headphones.

 

[Oddfello]

Well if your still looking for input...

I was in much the same boat as you about six months ago. I cam to this board and others posting about the three main choices you see here: GTI 2500, DFX, or Explorer II.
Got much advice and opinion as you are and in the end decided on the DFX. Though I'm sure the others are very good machines I am very happy with my purchase. I have had a pretty good summer and fall and still have time for a few more trips to an old park site I have been hunting. The DFX had a bit of a curve to it but there are excellent pre-programmed options for the beginner. It will take me some time to master it yet but that hasn't kept me from doing ok in the field.

At the time of my purchase I also picked up a 5" and 14" Excellerator coil and have had a pretty good time with those as well. My first silver (quarter) was at 8" using the 5" coil and a custom "deep seeker" program. I thought that was pretty cool. All the machines you mentioned have a very good rep. I can only speak for the DFX and I'm very happy with it.