saanich, just now read your thread, and if your somewhat new to detecting, your question is a good and honest one. So here goes. I own a X-Terra 70, pretty much the same as the 705 except no backlight. When I bought the X-Terra I did so because of the option of changing Freq's, they being 3, 7.5 I believe and 18.75. To do so you of course must change the coil itself. Now if your a good distance from your car, you would need to be hunting for something specific, say silver, using the 3Khz coil of choice, otherwise to carry two extra coils would be something of an inconvenience, and, the 705 does have a prospecting mode as well. I as others I'm sure have bought four additional coil's for the 70, small and large 3Khz. and the same for the 18.75 coils, since the 705 comes with the 7.5 stock coil only, the others would be options at additional cost, and not cheap ones. Now...the EQ 6 or 800, it operates in Multi IQ, (5 Freq's) together, much better for ground conditions and detecting in general I feel, and gives you the option of switching to a single Freq. if wanted, being 5, 10 and 15 on the 600, or 5, 10, 15, 20 & 40 on the 800, without changing anything, and, it is waterproof to 10', if you should go into a creek, pond etc., slips and falls do happen, and you don't want to fry your detector, and nothing but good reports about the EQ's on salt water beaches. The 800 also has a prospecting mode as well. I have taken the batteries out of the X-Terra, and it will be hanging on the wall with others that have been retired. I believe the 705 will be discontinued in the near future because of the EQ's. If your choice would be between the 705 and say the EQ 600, for the price point, I would go with the 600. You would have so much more detector. You of course want the most bang for the buck, and these EQ's may just be it. Hope this helps a little to your question.
