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Best Detector Values Under $500


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On 5/25/2020 at 4:18 PM, phrunt said:

What I think is it means a whole lot of other detectors are overpriced and outdated and just won't sell anymore!  These are a bunch of impressive detectors for the price.  I'd happily use any one of them although I do prefer multi frequency detectors so that puts two ahead of the others, then I love coils so that puts one well head of the others.... but then again it's mostly got so many coil options due to how old the detector actually is.  Minelab's big mistake in my opinion is locking down on aftermarket coils, this is going to give the Apex an edge over the Vanquish even if it doesn't perform as well overall when the aftermarket manufacturers start pumping out Apex coils.  Having the right coil for the task can be just as important as having the right detector.

I don't understand what they're trying to prevent by locking down on aftermarket coils, it would be different if they had a big range of 10 or so coils and wanted us all to buy them, but they don't and they're not going to..... As the competitors catch up on detector technology perhaps they'll realise their mistake as coils maybe the thing that gets people to switch away from Minelab detectors.

this is correct!..regardless of the technology, it's always been the "smart play"
to have different sized coils for the detector, because of varying  site conditions


(h.h.!)

j.t. 

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On 5/25/2020 at 5:19 PM, phrunt said:

Minelab underestimated the competition with the Vanquish, they were targeting the Ace and had a detector that would destroy it in performance and specifications.  They even made it look like an Ace when in reality they didn't need to at all, they gave it that shape to be familiar to Ace users.  It's one tiny PCB inside a big housing 🙂

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This was an attack on the Ace, so were the initial marketing videos where he throws an Ace away 🙂

Garrett has hit back and gone one up on them coming out with on paper is potentially a better detector.  This is the sort of competition the detector industry needed, Nokta will be in on the fight too, and if anyone else wants to join in it keeps them relevant, if they don't they may gradually disappear.  These cheaper detectors are becoming good enough that people normally only in the high end market are interested in them.   Something as simple as having a big range of coils maybe enough to win the war when specifications level off to a point the top manufacturers are equal all having their multi frequency detectors.  If I was one of the manufacturers I would not want to miss out on multi frequency as the time will come that it is so normal across the manufacturers that have it anyone without it will be forgotten about.

latest "scuttlebutt" indicates whites has a hybrid (v.l.f-p.i) circuit in ''skunk works"
if this is true, then finally, whitey has "stirred to life!"  wakey!..wakey!..eggs,and bakey!

(h.h.!)

j.t.

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On 5/26/2020 at 9:02 AM, Chase Goldman said:

Jeff,

Thanks for taking the time to scrutinize the list.  Regarding iron audio, I just decided to make them all a tie.  Without knowing how Garrett is implementing it, I don't yet know if it will be superior or not.  The disc thing hinges on ML and Garrett differ in applying actual iron discrimination.  I still maintain, ML disc is just an audio notch, especially the way the mixed-ferrous tones are clipped when it is applied.  Disc on the Garrett and Deus/Orx is applied differently and can actually affect non-ferrous audio and visual target ID averaging depending on the disc level.  It's complicated but just decided to grade based on having some level of iron volume. (Yes/No = Tie).

As far as beach advantage - from what I can tell that is just all marketing.  It is what you get with Multi IQ and ML applied a MIQ profile that behaved well with beaches for all modes, so it is not an additional MultiIQ mode or an additional Search Mode based on the manual description.  In fact, the word beach is mentioned only once in the entire Vanquish manual and that is in relation to coin mode.  Absent any real factual information from ML, I am keeping the modes scores as is.

I am updating the spreadsheets and will repost once I have them recaptured in image form.  Incorporating your comments brings the numbers closer and basically puts Apex and Vanquish in a virtual tie, but they are all within a few points of each other, as I expected.  Which really just solidifies the original conclusion - the choice is up to the end user depending on which features they value most, no one of these detectors stands out as significantly better than the others.  No surprise.

Updated comparison spreadsheets as promised.  Too close to call on these 3 capable detectors...

 

SmartSelect_20200530-175224_OneDrive.jpg

SmartSelect_20200530-175247_OneDrive.jpg

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Nice chart , just 2 things. ..

First concerning the weights,  in the "real world" the Vanquish 540 + V12 coil weights 1,32kg , the Simplex 1,42kg . This would give 1 Apex ,  2 Equinox Vanquish , 3 Simplex+ 

And I would have added a "battery type' item , li ion or AA batteries , with of course a plus for the detectors powered by a li ion battery ( Simplex, Apex , Equinox ) and a minus for the Vanquish ...

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On 5/26/2020 at 3:20 AM, palzynski said:

A li/ion integrated battery would have been lighter , more reliable

The reliability is debatable.

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On 5/26/2020 at 3:22 AM, phrunt said:

Yes, it can.  The vanquish will power on with no batteries if you plug in it's usb port to a power source, you're onto something there 🙂

So the Vanquish will run off a USB wall wart, but not a power bank?

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1 hour ago, Steve Herschbach said:

It can't possibly know the difference.

I would agree, but apparently there's a difference between the power bank and the wall wart that the Vanquish can detect. I was wondering if it's current delivery capability. 

So maybe the wall wart can deliver 5W, but the power bank can only deliver 1W or something? If that's the case, it would have to be a really cheap power bank.

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11 hours ago, mh9162013 said:

I would agree, but apparently there's a difference between the power bank and the wall wart that the Vanquish can detect. I was wondering if it's current delivery capability. 

So maybe the wall wart can deliver 5W, but the power bank can only deliver 1W or something? If that's the case, it would have to be a really cheap power bank.

As it is not documented by ML I will forget about powering my Vanquish with a power bank for the moment 🙁 , I will carry on using lithium AA batteries even they are not rechargeable,  15 hours autonomy with the lithium is quite good  🙂 ...

Concerning the battery vs li ion reliability, actually since I use my Vanquish I had a few accidental power shutdowns due to little impacts , for example when putting the detector down on the ground before digging . I suppose that such micro impacts move the batteries a little bit just enough to stop the electronics. I have added a piece of foam between the batteries and the cover to block the batteries ( see pics below ) and it looks like it has solved the pb.  I would not have had this issue with a li ion battery I think ..

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DSC02412.JPG

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9 hours ago, palzynski said:

As it is not documented by ML I will forget about powering my Vanquish with a power bank for the moment 🙁 , I will carry on using lithium AA batteries even they are not rechargeable,  15 hours autonomy with the lithium is quite good  🙂 ...

Concerning the battery vs li ion reliability, actually since I use my Vanquish I had a few accidental power shutdowns due to little impacts , for example when putting the detector down on the ground before digging . I suppose that such micro impacts move the batteries a little bit just enough to stop the electronics. I have added a piece of foam between the batteries and the cover to block the batteries ( see pics below ) and it looks like it has solved the pb.  I would not have had this issue with a li ion battery I think ..

Your issues seem to relate to that particular battery's physical shape, not chemistry.

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