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XP Deus 2 Vs Equinox, Summarized


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Just my opinion but from what I see, the D2 is a killer land machine, as far as the beach, it has a lot to do with where you hunt. If I were a open beach hunter, wet and dry sand I would own one. As far as a in the water machine where I hunt, to fragile of a machine.

From what I am seeing, the hunters who were finding gold before with the Nox's / CTX / other machines, and bought the D2...are still finding the gold. As far as the others 90%, nothing has changed, no matter which machine.....

 

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First let me say I love my Equinox 800. In the 2+ years that I've had it, it has helped me grow as a detectorist immensely and I'm very comfortable with it. It's like a comfortable pair of shoes, I just throw them on and go without having to think about it. The Deus II on the other hand is like a new pair of shoes, tight and not broken in yet, and will take some time to get comfortable.

I probably would not have purchased the D2 on my own because I didn't think I really needed it, but I've always been facinated by the Deus platform and reputation in high iron polluted sites. When my birthday rolled around in April, my whole family pitched in and got the D2 for me, so I have used it exclusively since then to try to learn it.

I know I still have alot to learn about the D2 and detecting in general, but I must say, I'm getting use to the Deus 2 fairly quickly. At this point I'm finding my way around in the settings, and while I'm still learning what they all do, I feel like I'm finding what I could find with the Nox for the most part. I am able to find the tiniest things too like bird shot, earring backs, shotgun primers, and tiny little bedazzler metal doodads from clothing, all of which the Nox smacks in Park 2, so I like that.

The thing that has impressed me most, other than how light it is, is how the D2 performs in iron. Recent trips to a ghost town and an old military training field have opened my eyes to it's real capability. It is also super quiet. Personally I like to hear the iron so I don't notch it out, but when it is over a non-ferrous target it will let you know it, and I've had no problem picking out good targets among dense clusters of nails and iron debris. I will say I dig a lot more trash at this point because I'm still trying to learn the "tonal nuances" that everyone talks about, but I am beginning to hear some differences between good and bad targets. I still dig them all to verify, but hope to be able to get to a point where I can identify different types of targets with the same confidence I have with my Nox.  

I plan to keep on using the D2 so I can get to the level of comfort I have with the Nox, but I keep the Nox ready to go for when I just want to go cherry picking.

I have no experience in gold fields or on the beaches with the D2 yet, so I can't speak to that, but I'm absolutely happy with both my Nox and D2 detectors.

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49 minutes ago, CPT_GhostLight said:

First let me say I love my Equinox 800. In the 2+ years that I've had it, it has helped me grow as a detectorist immensely and I'm very comfortable with it. It's like a comfortable pair of shoes, I just throw them on and go without having to think about it. The Deus II on the other hand is like a new pair of shoes, tight and not broken in yet, and will take some time to get comfortable.

I probably would not have purchased the D2 on my own because I didn't think I really needed it, but I've always been facinated by the Deus platform and reputation in high iron polluted sites. When my birthday rolled around in April, my whole family pitched in and got the D2 for me, so I have used it exclusively since then to try to learn it.

I know I still have alot to learn about the D2 and detecting in general, but I must say, I'm getting use to the Deus 2 fairly quickly. At this point I'm finding my way around in the settings, and while I'm still learning what they all do, I feel like I'm finding what I could find with the Nox for the most part. I am able to find the tiniest things too like bird shot, earring backs, shotgun primers, and tiny little bedazzler metal doodads from clothing, all of which the Nox smacks in Park 2, so I like that.

The thing that has impressed me most, other than how light it is, is how the D2 performs in iron. Recent trips to a ghost town and an old military training field have opened my eyes to it's real capability. It is also super quiet. Personally I like to hear the iron so I don't notch it out, but when it is over a non-ferrous target it will let you know it, and I've had no problem picking out good targets among dense clusters of nails and iron debris. I will say I dig a lot more trash at this point because I'm still trying to learn the "tonal nuances" that everyone talks about, but I am beginning to hear some differences between good and bad targets. I still dig them all to verify, but hope to be able to get to a point where I can identify different types of targets with the same confidence I have with my Nox.  

I plan to keep on using the D2 so I can get to the level of comfort I have with the Nox, but I keep the Nox ready to go for when I just want to go cherry picking.

I have no experience in gold fields or on the beaches with the D2 yet, so I can't speak to that, but I'm absolutely happy with both my Nox and D2 detectors.

That's a great combo..  I think.

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6 hours ago, Joe Beechnut OBN said:

That's a great combo..  I think.

I agree, I feel like I have all the bases covered now. 😎

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13 hours ago, CPT_GhostLight said:

...

The thing that has impressed me most, other than how light it is, is how the D2 performs in iron.  ...

Yes the D1 and D2 are the Kings in the irons ... and for lightness.  And the D2 has improved the detection depth vs the D1  ... What else ? 🙂   

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm a Florida beach hunter and I've used Minelabs for years...Etrac, Safari, Excal, CTX, Equinox and Vanquish.  I now use the Deus II exclusively for many of the same reasons cited above.  The overall performance on the beach is better than the Minelabs in my opinion....sensitivity at depth, reactivity/separation, customizable, weight, compact, rugged, stable in a saltwater environment and this one really is waterproof!  Minelab's current offering of coil choices however bests XP to date...no question.

Granted, the Minelabs are excellent machines no doubt, but XP has fielded state of the art with the Deus II...in my opinion and it's just my opinion based on years of using and now comparing Minelabs to the Deus II.

I also owned a Deus I years ago but sold it because it just couldn't compete with the Minelabs on saltwater beaches. It was a selectable frequency machine that just wasn't up to the challenges presented by any saltwater environment.  Now that XP has fielded the Deus II, that shortcoming has been overcome....and in a superior way.

But as I always say, that's just the view from my foxhole...your view may very well differ.

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1 hour ago, ColonelDan said:

I'm a Florida beach hunter and I've used Minelabs for years...Etrac, Safari, Excal, CTX, Equinox and Vanquish.  I now use the Deus II exclusively for many of the same reasons cited above.  The overall performance on the beach is better than the Minelabs in my opinion....sensitivity at depth, reactivity/separation, customizable, weight, compact, rugged, stable in a saltwater environment and this one really is waterproof!  Minelab's current offering of coil choices however bests XP to date...no question.

Granted, the Minelabs are excellent machines no doubt, but XP has fielded state of the art with the Deus II...in my opinion and it's just my opinion based on years of using and now comparing Minelabs to the Deus II.

I also owned a Deus I years ago but sold it because it just couldn't compete with the Minelabs on saltwater beaches. It was a selectable frequency machine that just wasn't up to the challenges presented by any saltwater environment.  Now that XP has fielded the Deus II, that shortcoming has been overcome....and in a superior way.

But as I always say, that's just the view from my foxhole...your view may very well differ.

The D2 is getting very popular on the beaches I hunt. We have a lot of out of state visitors that detect here while on vacation. It's been surprising how many have the D2. Having both the 800 and the D2 is a good situation to be in, simply because most of us know our 800 so well. 

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