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Whites V3i Vs The XP Deus


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Looking at Uber expensive detectors. As we all know White's is on the way out and the V3i will not be available long. This may be the last chance to get hands on a factory new unit. In light of that it has crossed my mind to get one as a historical investment. Now with all that out of the way, we know it is heavy and that it loves batteries but can use Ni-MH batteries in the pack. Weight, nothing we can do about that. My mind is more about the longevity of the V3i, is it a very durable detector?  I know all about the multitude of settings, and that is one thing that draws me to it. A Tinkerer's dream, more like a computer than a detector. Bottom line, is it worth the price?

XP Deus. Had an ORX a while and loved the weight and ease of use. Hated the wireless headphones and they dug into my ear but I tell ya when it is hot weather that would sure be better on you. The ORX was somewhat crippled compared in settings, only giving 3 tone audio. It also had higher frequencies than the X35 coils do. The model I am looking at is the one with WS4 headphones and 9" round X35 coil.

Between those 2, which is worth the bucks??

Thanks

Rob

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No problem with V3i longevity.

In a nutshell, the Deus is tops for extracting non-ferrous from ferrous. However, it’s target id accuracy is so-so at best, and so it’s not a favorite with groomed park hunters for that reason. The V3i, as a multifrequency machine, is better at target id, not near as good in dense ferrous as the Deus. So basically it depends on desired types of detecting.

Leaving the cool settings aside, for me the V3i is a top notch jewelry machine. I rarely use mine for anything else.

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Most of the hunting I do is at schools and trashy places. I'm primarily a coin hunter. It's the older house sites that throw me for a loop. I will be keeping my Equinox 800 regardless. Thinking of selling my Teknetics T2 LTD with the 5" round coil, Cors Shrew and Cors Scout Coil.

How much better/worse is the Deus vs the ORX? I liked the ORX and it was really kind to my shoulder (that is still goofed up due to car accident last year and multiple idiot teen dirtbike/3 wheeler accidents.)

What fascinates me about the Deus is the light weight, multitude of settings and ability to adjust the tones in a way the ORX never could.

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Rob -

I've been using a Deus for over 5 years.  2 years ago I got the Equinox.  They are a killer combo.  Picked up a used Orx control pod/headphones last year and really like the Orx despite its limitations and have made some great relic finds over the last several months with it.  Regarding ORX vs. Deus, under most conditions the ORX and Deus will give equivalent raw performance.  That being said, the Deus' primary advantages over Orx are as follows:

  1.   You already pointed this out, but it is to me basically the #1 shortcoming of the Orx and that is that you are locked into 3 tones.  Furthermore, you are locked into fixed tone breakpoints.  Deus allows you have basically 6 tone options - 2, 3, 4, and 5 tones, plus "Full" tones, and finally pitch audio.  Plus you can vary the tone breakpoints as you see fit.  My favorite relic hunting setup is using Pitch tone combined with iron audio.  That basically gives me a two-tone setup - ferrous grunt and variable intensity pitch so that I can quickly pick non-ferrous out of bed of nails type iron junk situations.  Great for cellar holes and other iron infested site situations.
  2. Also, underneath all of that, you are locked into target ID normalization across all frequencies.  ID normalization has its advantages - it prevents high conductor target IDs from getting all bunched up into the 90's at high frequencies.  But being able to switch off ID normalization, like you can do with Deus allows you to see how ID changes with frequency during target interrogation and that can clue you in to whether you might be swinging over a falsing/wraparound ferrous target.  A ferrous target ID will change little with frequency manipulation whereas a high conductors, especially, will change ID signIficantly with frequency.
  3. You have a wider range of recovery speed settings (0 to 5) on Deus vs. Orx (1 - 3) and access to the silencer setting and can set it independent of or in conjunction with the reactivity setting.  You have no direct control over silencer on the Orx - it is baked-in "under the hood" depending on which coin mode you are using.  You can also vary the volume of iron audio on Deus whereas on Orx, it is fixed.
  4. You have 8 custom program slots available to you on Deus vs. just 2 on the Orx and the Deus allows you to scroll forwards and backwards through the various custom programs using the +/- keys.  This enables you to set up similar programs adjacent to each other with slightly different key settings (such as frequency or tone) to enable you to quickly and easily interrogate a target.

All that being said there are three things that I really like about Orx vs. Deus - the grab and go simplicity of the setup - sometimes it is good that you are constrained from overtweaking your machine.  The ground grab feature for setting GB is superior on the Orx even though Orx lacks the automatic ground tracking ability of the Deus, the ground grab feature makes resetting your GB easy.  I also like the display layout of the Orx better than Deus with the pop-up target ID window and iron probability graph.

The big question is whether the above "advantages" of Deus over Orx are worth the present new price delta between Orx and Deus, which is around $700.  I say nope!  But if you can find someone trying to dump a Deus, with either the HF or the x35 9" or 11" coil, for cheap (i.e., for around $600 to $750 and I have seen these show up on various forum classified ads) then I say grab one.  Especially since you have no fear doing battery surgery on the coils and on the control unit /headphones (which is relatively easy compared to the coil), if necessary.  I would avoid getting one with an old LF coil.  HTH

Never owned a V3i - tried one out working as a metal detector tech advisor at an archeological site and the menus drove me nuts.  Love my MXT and will keep that permanently in my collection as my homage to Whites demise - I have an affinity for analog knobs and switches and loved how you could manipulate the MXT to make it sing.  It was and is a classic.

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Thank you for the information, much appreciated. I've been looking at videos most of the day. Amazing how fast time goes by when you do that. I've seen some good and some bad concerning the Deus. Like you mentioned there are a lot of settings. And if you make too many changes well that could really goof things up. 

Perhaps the most discouraging thing I seen  was a few comparisons of buried targets where the Deus and EQ800 were tested along with the Simplex. Simplex was hitting things neither the EQ800 or Deus could hit. That was quite troubling to me.. hahaha

Thank you again for the words of wisdom from a long time Deus owner.

You did mention the MXT. I sort of wanted to also have a whites machine in the stable just for history sake. None of the whites units are really low priced, at least the ones that are worth having. Just how does the older MXT stack up against the Equinox and Deus? I'm curious about that. Deep down inside I'm just a tinkering mad scientist, always have been.

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As someone on here told me before I got the Equinox "Keep the ORX". I've often heard the ORX and Equinox compliment each other. I do miss the ORX. So after thinking this over I went forward with the ORX, except this time with the X35 11" coil not the HF 9" coil. It really is the only detector I've used since the car wreck last year that didn't hurt my neck and shoulder. Equinox I can do but usually no longer than 2.5hrs 3 hrs tops.

And this time I'm not going to part with the ORX nor the Equinox 800. If anything goes it will be the Teknetics T2 with all the coils. I have not hunted with it since the Equinox came. It has sit in its box. Yep I might sell that one for sure in the very near future.

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Rob - I actually got the MXT AFTER the Deus once I saw what it could do in the hands of an expert in highly mineralized dirt.  I at first got an MX Sport, mistakenly thinking Whites had put the MXT DNA into the Sport chassis.  Wrong.  Got an MXT with an Ultimate 13" coil and started getting some proficiency, then the Equinox came along and that was that.  Not letting the MXT go though and will still bring it out for some swing time.

Glad you re-obtained the Orx -  keep your eyes pealed for someone trying to unload a Deus control unit and phones for cheap.  You already have a compatible coil, you might luck into a good Deus deal that way.

GL HH

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Hi Rob,

The V3/V3i is a one of a kind model.   There will never be its like on planet earth again.   You owe it to yourself to get one and experience it.

HH
Mike

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2 hours ago, RobNC said:

As someone on here told me before I got the Equinox "Keep the ORX". I've often heard the ORX and Equinox compliment each other. I do miss the ORX. So after thinking this over I went forward with the ORX, except this time with the X35 11" coil not the HF 9" coil. It really is the only detector I've used since the car wreck last year that didn't hurt my neck and shoulder. Equinox I can do but usually no longer than 2.5hrs 3 hrs tops.

And this time I'm not going to part with the ORX nor the Equinox 800. If anything goes it will be the Teknetics T2 with all the coils. I have not hunted with it since the Equinox came. It has sit in its box. Yep I might sell that one for sure in the very near future.

If a machine helps you because of your injuries it will help you concentrate better on metal detecting  then the pain you are getting because  of a heavy machine.Use what makes you happier but still gets the job  done..

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On 6/24/2020 at 3:37 AM, RobNC said:

Perhaps the most discouraging thing I seen  was a few comparisons of buried targets where the Deus and EQ800 were tested along with the Simplex. Simplex was hitting things neither the EQ800 or Deus could hit. That was quite troubling to me.. hahaha

 

Hi , 

I have tested the Simplex+ last year and I made depth tests comparisons with it on my test boxes  . Actually I am not confident with some youtube test videos    I prefer to do my own tests , that I know very reliable ( test boxes, see my other threads in this forum , Vanquish for example  ) .. :

- On a big 10grams coin at 11inches deep the Simplex has exactly the same perfo as the Deus 11i coil , Eq 800 11i coil , Vanquish V12

- On a smaller 3grams coin at 6inches depth, the Eq , Deus, Vanquish are better than the Simplex. This is due to the Simplex 12khz relatively low freq which is not optimal for small /very small targets , compared to the 20 and even 40khz running on the 800 , Deus , etc 

Concerning the v3i , I do not know this machine , but from the single weight standpoint , I imagine that it must weight at least 1,5kg , whiile the Orx only weights 0,8kg.  For info a teknetics T2 weights 1,6kg, the Simplex+ 1,4kg  ... So the Orx/Deus outperform the others on this weight criteria , this is why people appreciate the XPs , in addition to excellent abilities on iron trashed areas...

 

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