Garrett Announces New Sport Metal Detector Coming Soon

[mh9162013]

7 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

The "rent a detector" argument makes sense on the surface but in reality, I find it to not be a realistic drawback, especially if you consider the disposable technology model (unfortunate but true) of modern technology evolutiom.  By the time the battery dies, a better mousetrap usually appears.

I hear ya. My opposition to built-in batteries is in the extreme minority. And in many cases, isn't a big deal for reasons you mentioned. And to be honest, I doubt Minelab and XP are actually trying to "pull a John Deere."

However, the more people that engage in a behavior, regardless of motivation, the easier it is to normalize and accept. This makes it easier to do later on and by others. This applies to other things in life, from sexual abuse to political power moves to contract terms for consumer products.

[Chase Goldman]

1 hour ago, mh9162013 said:

I hear ya. My opposition to built-in batteries is in the extreme minority. And in many cases, isn't a big deal for reasons you mentioned. And to be honest, I doubt Minelab and XP are actually trying to "pull a John Deere."

However, the more people that engage in a behavior, regardless of motivation, the easier it is to normalize and accept. This makes it easier to do later on and by others. This applies to other things in life, from sexual abuse to political power moves to contract terms for consumer products.

I hear you too and I do think disposable electronics is not not necessarily a good thing in the bigger scheme of things.  It is bad for the environment in the long run and plays in to incentivizing or forcing the consumer driven culture to constantly upgrade to the next best thing even when unnecessary or of minimal actual benefit (cell phone industry is a great example of this waste).  You make some great points regarding battery form factors and power density vs. weight.  You've put a lot of thought into it and I respect that.  Thanks for discussing your point of view.

At the end of the day, I just hope Garret has put enough thought into the Apex and its battery design.

[mh9162013]

22 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

I just hope Garret has put enough thought into the Apex and its battery design.

I would assume they have. I'll be impressed if it's easily user replaceable, like the battery on the Equinox.

And yes, batteries are kind of my thing. Sometimes I almost wonder if metal detectors are just an excuse to play with batteries.

[kac]

That is one of the things I really like about my AT Pro is the battery system I have a RNB litho for it that gives me an easy 40 hour run time and I can change it out in the field if needed. I don't know how if the battery is replaceable in the Kruzer. The control box has screws going around it's perimeter which is at least a good sign. ML should have had a battery pack at least for their Nox and even tuck it under the arm brace to better balance it and make it user replaceable. To me that was a bit of a downside when looking at the machine.

Looks like Garrett is chasing the click n go market and upgrading the Ace line with this new machine but we just don't know until it is actually out and with a price tag. I do give them credit in working on new machines. Looks like FT might be asleep at the wheel this year. Haven't seen anything new from them in a while.

[mh9162013]

29 minutes ago, kac said:

really like about my AT Pro is the battery system

That's one of the draws the AT Pro/Max have for me: the ability to use various types of AA batteries: Nickel-based, alkaline and special packs, like you described.

I'd just use Eneloops or other LSD AA cells, though. No need to spend that money on the special lithium pack when I can use the AA cells in other applications if I so choose.

I can see the special lithium pack (RNB) being beneficial if I were water detecting like 8+ hours a day for several days and wanted to avoid having to open the battery compartment in the middle of a hunt (I normally hunt only a few hours at a time, so recharging cells every night would not be an issue for me). But then again, I'd probably use primary lithium AA cells for a water hunt like that (assuming the AT series of detectors can take the extra voltage of about 0.1 to 0.2 volts per cell).

[kac]

RNB on the AT Pro will get you close to 40 hours run time. I think bit less on the Max as the Max eats up batteries. but even on that I would guess at least 20+. On my Tejon I use rechargeable lithium AA's from BlackUbe and that machine runs incredible. Like night and day as the Tejon with standard alkaline the performance fades after just a few hours. The lithium will give me top performance for couple days out. They are standard voltage as alkaline AA's unlike the NiCad which are less.

[mh9162013]

8 minutes ago, phrunt said:

Their next video will have the US national anthem playing in the background.

[maxxkatt]

Let's hope the Garrett announcement is a really good detector that sells really well. Why? To keep things competitive in our hobby. This  competition is what gives us quality metal detectors at decent prices. I have used the Ace 250, The AT Pro, the Nox 800, Simplex+ and now waiting on my Vanquish 540. The CTX 3030 was always out of my price range (well my wife would not speak to me for a year had I bought a CTX).

Having great detectors at a modest price help all of us. Even more reason to keep your favorite sites a top secret.

[Mike Hillis]

Garrett rocked the detecting world with the ACE release and they rocked it again with the AT release.    They may well be getting ready to do it again.

HH
Mike

[Chase Goldman]

1 hour ago, Mike Hillis said:

Garrett rocked the detecting world with the ACE release and they rocked it again with the AT release.    They may well be getting ready to do it again.

HH
Mike

So that means they last rocked the world in 2010.  I guess they are due.