Is Garrett About To Release A New Gold Prospecting Pi?

[abenson]

All I can say is after the Apex subpar performance I hope Garrett really has something to talk about with this new detector. I can tell you right now I'm not going to even think about buying one until the initial reviews are out. All the latest ergonomics, looks and features can't replace subpar performance these days. The competition is too stiff to release a lack luster performer. 

[phrunt]

11 minutes ago, Jonathan Porter said:

Once again, YOUR thread is about a new Garrett prospecting detector. Anyone developing a PI has a LOT of catching up to do to increase their market share.  

Yes, but the other brands showed it was possible with the VLF's when I at least didn't think it would be.    

I agree there is a lot of catching up to do, but it's worth having hope that some company will be able to do it, will it be Garrett? I hope so.   Either way if a slightly improved ATX in a standard lightweight design came out I would be interested, El Nino showed just how sensitive the ATX can be to small gold and it seems to run nice.   They don't have to win to be a winner in my mind, they just have to do whats needed to give the market another option and to start to bring some competition to market.  I'm not expecting a GPX or GPZ killer, but I would be very happy if they did.

Any thread about a new prospecting PI is going to instantly draw comparisons to the current market leaders, that's why it's here, and not in the Garrett section of the forum.

[Norvic]

For me, to be competitive a new gold detector has to beat the Z/X coil combo and the 6K in performance firstly, and of course be lightweight. I`m fickle and don`t care what Manufacturer or tech. VLF, PI, ZVT or something new, but a wee birdie tells me ML will be that manufacturer and the tech is ZVT. Prove that little birdie wrong Garrett.

[RoobyRoobyRoo]

The last thing that even ATTEMPTED to compete with the best of bread, Minelab, was the (I refuse to say the name of but hi Doug *waving*) and we see how that worked out for them... Wishing them (Garrett) well, it would be good to see some competition but I'm with JP on this one, I may winge about them now and then but i highly doubt anything will appear in my short years I have left on this planet that makes me leave the lab....

With what's happening to the US economy right now, the chip shortage, the instability in even GETTING chips with the China/Taiwan fiasco, and with White's passing, I think a US based manufacturer would be lucky to survive the next few years, let alone dump millions into R&D to try to outgun the Barrett .50 of PI machines.... snowballs chance in H.E Double Hockey sticks if you ask me.

If I was going to put money on any company pulling off this trick, I'd buy X-Coil stock before Garrett, just for the sure delta between cost of production in labor alone, combine that with the incredible results people say they're getting, if they or Rohan could translate that into a product up the shaft, I'd jump in and at least give it a go (as backup to my 5k of course). Are you reading this Rohan, please please please jump into this market 🙂 

They have a LONG way to go and a short time to get there, they're gonna do what they say can't be done... NOT LIKELY!!!!!!

 

 

[phrunt]

While I agree especially when ZVT is involved I also like to be optimistic and I hope Garrett can be successful.  I want them to make a detector I want to buy.  If not the goal of making a prospecting detector that's light in weight, good but not the best in performance and at a good price they'll sell a lot of them, especially people that don't need to spend a massive amount of money on a detector, the person that will use it a week or two a year if that, a huge hole is in that space of the market, and its there for the taking. 

[RoobyRoobyRoo]

1 hour ago, phrunt said:

If not the goal of making a prospecting detector that's light in weight, good but not the best in performance and at a good price they'll sell a lot of them, especially people that don't need to spend a massive amount of money on a detector, the person that will use it a week or two a year if that, a huge hole is in that space of the market, and its there for the taking. 

Isn't the market already saturated with that business model? Gold Monster 1000 for one example. I'm pretty sure that's a hard ROI # to beat, that's more than an entry level machine in an entry level price point. How could Garrett with their "Americanized" labour force ($$$) compete with that? $26.00 an hour for an INTERN!!!! You can buy a lot of cheap Chinese prisoner slave labour for $26.00 an hour, or anywhere in Asia for that matter.

[jasong]

A GM1000 isn't really a prospecting detector. A prospecting detector needs to be lightweight, simple, quick, and able to adapt to many different ground types. VLF's fall completely flat in salty or saturable soils. The 6000 is the only good lightweight prospecting detector for sale right now aside from a 5000.

If someone could make one even lighter, it'd be in a class of it's own.

Which makes me wonder something else - how responsive is Garrett to fixing issues discovered after release on their other machines? I don't follow the jewelry/coin detecting forums enough to have a sense for that.

[RoobyRoobyRoo]

1 hour ago, jasong said:

A prospecting detector needs to be lightweight, simple, quick, and able to adapt to many different ground types.

If someone could make one even lighter, it'd be in a class of it's own.

Touche.....

Congratulations, welcome to the new and improved GPX 6000... LOL...oh you already mentioned it... 😉 But I'm curious now, how much lighter than the 6k do you want, that things was like a feather for the period of time I owned it, it was absolutely incredible to swing, it was like I had nothing in my hand, I loved that about it. Going back to Queen Zelda felt more like I had Queen Latifah on the end of the shaft, never mind Queen Zelda.

[Steve Herschbach]

Was out of cell range a few days, just back to this pleasant surprise. I’ve wished Fisher good luck on developing the Impulse Gold, and I certainly welcome anything Garrett and Nokta have to offer. I think it’s bollocks that any new detector MUST have better performance than the GPZ or 6000. Last I looked Minelab still sells the GPX 5000 and SDC 2300. There is room still for good value propositions for people who simply can’t tell the spouse they want to sell the car so they can pay for a metal detector. If it was to take top honors, so much the better. But setting it up as beat GPZ or lose, is setting terms designed to favor Minelab.

I do agree power users will only use the most powerful detector available. But lots of us use different calculations based on different criteria. I use a GPX 6000 instead of a GPZ 7000, although I think the GPZ 7000 is the more powerful detector. Why? The 6000 is better for me and my circumstances. We all have a personal calculus that does not automatically boil down to “only own the most powerful, no matter the cost.”

One of the biggest gripes I’ve had the last 20 years is the ATX being a perfectly respectable circuit in a housing totally inappropriate to desert prospecting. I went so far as to cram my own ATX in a custom box just to try and make the point, to get some action. All I got was more frustration. Long story short, if it’s better than ATX, and packaged and priced right, there is room for Garrett to get back in the game. Fingers crossed. I’d love to have a U.S. company to root for again.

 

https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/462-garrett-atx-strip-down-rebuild/

 

 

 

Garrett Axiom Quick Facts, Owner's Manual, Etc.

 

[jasong]

I had secret hopes that your silence meant you were busy field testing this machine already Steve. 

In all seriousness though, I wonder if Garrett has an experienced team of prospecting detectorists to field test equipment? That could make all the difference between a machine that succeeds and fails when it comes to actual prospecting use.