Roscue2
Posted 10/22/2012 7:32 pm
The Ace 250 was my first ever machine, which my dad got for me. He has been doing it since the 1980s and when I decided to get into the hobby I let him figure out which md would be a good starter unit.
Speaking of good starter units, there are quite a few. There is the Garrett Ace 250, Fisher F2, Tesero Compadre, Whites Coinmaster, and just about all of the Bounty Hunter line up. Minelab's starter unit would be the Xterra 305, but it is $$ than the others. Also, the Compadre and some of the Bounty Hunters does not have a pinpoint button, while the others mentioned do. It is something to think of.
Getting back to my choice in Mds, I chose the Garrett At Pro for a few reasons:
1) It was next in line in the Garrett line up from the Ace 250, and being that I did not want to have to learn another brand, I decided it was best to try and stay with Garrett.
2) The At Pro fit my needs and wants. It is waterproof to 10 ft, opening up even more areas and conditions to hunt in than the Ace 250 did. It is also a more complicated machine with much more chattering, which isn't a bad thing when looking for deeper targets. With the At Pro I have been able to find deeper targets than with the Ace 250.
3) It was in my price range. My range was about $600, and there aren't many waterproof machines with the same capabilities in that range. In the Garrett line up specifically, the only machines that sell for around the same price are the GTP 1350, and GTI 1500, which appear to have been discontinued in the past few weeks. There are, of course, mds from other brands in the same price range, but none that I saw were waterproof like I wanted. That is not to say that the machines from the other brands are bad or anything.
As for helping people narrow their choices in picking a MD, it is important to know what you want to spend, what are you looking for, and any other specifications you want your MD to be able to do. This information makes it a lot easier to help someone narrow their choices.
Most Mds will give an idea of what the metal is, but no Md can ever be 100% right all the time. Many Mds also have a depth meter. In fact, the Ace 250, F2, Minelab 305, and some of the Bounty Hunters have a depth meter.
Speaking of good starter units, there are quite a few. There is the Garrett Ace 250, Fisher F2, Tesero Compadre, Whites Coinmaster, and just about all of the Bounty Hunter line up. Minelab's starter unit would be the Xterra 305, but it is $$ than the others. Also, the Compadre and some of the Bounty Hunters does not have a pinpoint button, while the others mentioned do. It is something to think of.
Getting back to my choice in Mds, I chose the Garrett At Pro for a few reasons:
1) It was next in line in the Garrett line up from the Ace 250, and being that I did not want to have to learn another brand, I decided it was best to try and stay with Garrett.
2) The At Pro fit my needs and wants. It is waterproof to 10 ft, opening up even more areas and conditions to hunt in than the Ace 250 did. It is also a more complicated machine with much more chattering, which isn't a bad thing when looking for deeper targets. With the At Pro I have been able to find deeper targets than with the Ace 250.
3) It was in my price range. My range was about $600, and there aren't many waterproof machines with the same capabilities in that range. In the Garrett line up specifically, the only machines that sell for around the same price are the GTP 1350, and GTI 1500, which appear to have been discontinued in the past few weeks. There are, of course, mds from other brands in the same price range, but none that I saw were waterproof like I wanted. That is not to say that the machines from the other brands are bad or anything.
As for helping people narrow their choices in picking a MD, it is important to know what you want to spend, what are you looking for, and any other specifications you want your MD to be able to do. This information makes it a lot easier to help someone narrow their choices.
Most Mds will give an idea of what the metal is, but no Md can ever be 100% right all the time. Many Mds also have a depth meter. In fact, the Ace 250, F2, Minelab 305, and some of the Bounty Hunters have a depth meter.
