Garrett At Pro

Thanks everyone!

Sweet! thanks for the info jerseyben

Hi chzman.
The AT Pro is ok and will defo give you some finds, however, I also gave this machine a field test for a local store and personally was not over impressed. The Garrett machines get a good press as they are cheap and used by many novices and some mid level users. There are better machines on the market at around the price mark of the AT pro.
this is a quote from a specialist detector forum and to be fair is the common thoughts on this machine from all the metdets I know.

"Garrett AT Pro - Not Impressed
[I know that this is generally considered the most beloved detector which is why I couldn't wait to use it.]

So I've put about 10 hours on the AT Pro (I know that's not a lot), but so far I'm not impressed with anything it does that the cheaper detectors don't (if that makes sense).

Maybe I just need a little more time on it or need to adjust some of the settings.

The search coil being larger than the one on my White's which I had previously used, makes digging a nightmare. Each object rings in, in an area that is about a square foot. The pin pointer (on the detector) is useless when there are multiple objects in one area. With the AT Pro I'm digging holes three times the size and spending 5 to 10 x more time searching for the object.

The thing is all over the place with the sensitivity set higher, but the sensitivity seems to directly affect the search depth. You can't take advantage of the deeper search depth (over 6 inches) if you don't have the sensitivity up, but if you keep it up there seems to be too many false positives. I get coin range signals that go away. I get coin range signals when the detector is sitting still. There seems to be so many random signals that go away with this thing as well.

Speaking of depth, I laid a quarter on the surface of the ground and took the detector directly over it. It rang in at 2 inches (which is what it should do)...but then at 4 and 6 inches with the exact same motion going over the same spot. So basically the depth indicator means nothing.

Now on to the numeric metal values. The same coin could ring in (and does) at 7 different values or more. So what's the point? Is a specific number from 70-99 really going to keep you from digging? The numeric values seem useless when there is so much inconsistency and such a wide range of values the exact same coin can ring."

Ok, so this guy is not fully clued on how to use the machine but at the side of something like a CScope 6MXI, the Garrett is like a kiddies toy.
Garrett has a good name and an excellent advertising manager, but thats pretty much the end of it.
I could go on for quite a while and go into depth, recovery time, comfort, coil size and use etc but I will leave it here. I am among some of the ones here that have spent a lifetime in this hobby and have used more machines than I can remember, if the AT pro was any good I would own one.... guess what.... I dont.

The only Garrett that I was told that I should consider is the AT Pro new for the price range I am looking at. I would love to get a used F75 for 500. or even a fisher F70 for 400. used, but there are not that many out there. The AT pro is being consumed like crazy, the price went up 50 bucks on ebay and retail outlets on the average. 600. is out of my price range. In all fairness, the AT Pro has more bang for the buck and is not an entry level machine, it will get the job done until I can afford a CTX or one of those other top notch detectors a few years from now.

Thats my point, I am not at the price range yet, lol an Etrac cost allot more than AT Pro

excellent point, thank you.

I don't know how you could possibly say the AT Pro is an entry level machine...

Happy hunting chzman, look forward to seeing your finds
If your dead set on the AT pro anyway, try this link, shows useful stuff for that machine.
http://www.garrett.com/hobbysite/hb..._videos.aspx