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Equinox - What's Improved?


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2 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Not only is the Bluetooth gone, but so is the separate wireless module. It’s no longer included with the Equinox 900, and not listed as an accessory. So I surmise whatever Minelab is using now is totally different, and only the included ML85 headphones are going to work with the new models. The only way to use any other headphone will be via the optional wired adapter. Instead of the module, you now get a 6” coil. A better option for some I suppose, but others are going to miss that module. Will the old one work? Don’t know, but seems doubtful.

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Good catch on the no longer provided WM08. I missed that one. I'll miss the WM08 which was great on sunny, hot days with wide brim hats where you couldn't use headphones, but could use wired ear buds. We may have to resort to those cheap BT TX/RX units and use our old BT headphones with them. I've used them with other non-BT detectors and they do work.

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12 minutes ago, CPT_GhostLight said:

It's also curious that the ML-105 headphones work with the Manticore and EQ-900, but not the 700. What's that about?

That is weird.   ML-105 description... Minelab ML-105 headphones with premium carry case use wireless technology to deliver fast, higher quality audio than standard Bluetooth. This results in more precise and faster detection responses. They are compatible for use with MANTICORE and EQUINOX 900 detectors.

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18 minutes ago, CPT_GhostLight said:

It's also curious that the ML-105 headphones work with the Manticore and EQ-900, but not the 700. What's that about?

 

4 minutes ago, NAGANT said:

That is weird.   ML-105 description... Minelab ML-105 headphones with premium carry case use wireless technology to deliver fast, higher quality audio than standard Bluetooth. This results in more precise and faster detection responses. They are compatible for use with MANTICORE and EQUINOX 900 detectors.

Who says they don't work on the 700? Just because it was not mentioned as an oversight does not mean that. Obviously they will. Well, I guess not obvious to everyone, but I'll bet my bottom dollar on that one.

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16 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Who says they don't work on the 700? Just because it was not mentioned as an oversight does not mean that. Obviously they will. Well, I guess not obvious to everyone, but I'll bet my bottom dollar on that one.

That makes more sense. I couldn't imagine why there would be a difference in Bluetooth between the 700 and 900.

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Can we assume that the wired waterproof headphones we already have for the Equinox will work with the 700, 900, and Mantitcore?

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20 minutes ago, cudamark said:

Can we assume that the wired waterproof headphones we already have for the Equinox will work with the 700, 900, and Mantitcore?

Yes

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Yep must say disappointed with the headphone situation I use the wmo8 with an a very short 8 inch cable which I attach to my chosen over ear headphones. I have hearing loss in one ear. So my headphones have volume control on each cup. Do not like using long cable connection to the pod. So I will see what solution I can come up with.

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42 minutes ago, NAGANT said:

3.7 V/5100 mAh Internal Lithium-Ion battery, I like that!   Never had any issues with charging time or battery life with the 800.  

Yeah, remember all the hand wringing about that early on, batteries were going to fail, how will we replace them, on and on. And then nothing. I have the three oldest Equinox in the country, and all three are going strong with original 4 year plus old batteries. I did end up with a spare battery, but have never needed it. A huge non-issue in the end, after all that fuss.

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I guess the big question is how much benefit will someone who has an Equinox 800 and has already upgraded their shaft to a carbon fiber shaft and done whatever else they want to improve it going to benefit by acquiring an Equinox 900.

Yes the expanded Target ID range is good, from day one people were disappointed Minelab limited the ID range on the Equinox when everyone was pretty used to having the 99 style ID's on previous detectors, it really helped give the impression the Equinox had very stable Target ID's though, which it does of course but having more targets in less ID's helps with stability.  I guess again it all depends how willing you are to dig if you'll get any benefit at all from more Target ID's.  The more you filter out targets not wanting to dig the more good targets you'll miss, regardless of how many ID's your detector has. 

It'll be interesting now if targets that were locked onto one ID on the Equinox 800 now bounce around a bit between 2 or 3 ID's rather than being as stable as the earlier Equinox was.

Obviously there are benefits with waterproofing for those that use it in the water and in makes sense for them to consider it if they're concerned about drowning and they're out of warranty, if under warranty who cares.  They can just keep going with their original Nox anyway, it's not like all of them drown.

Coil ears is a good one, nothing is stopping older Nox owners getting a new coil with better ears if their ears break and if they don't break they've got nothing to worry about, it's unknown yet if broken ears under warranty will be replaced with the new design, it's in Minelabs interest to do so, so they probably will over time.

Better separation? Beneficial for those that rely on it, depends on your style of detecting I guess and where you hunt and how willing you are to dig or cherry pick, it seems they've added another F2 number to help there, for me I'd get absolutely no benefit from it so it doesn't bother me.

Bye Bye standard Bluetooth which is going to clearly annoy a few people.

The other things like vibration, red backlight, torch and all features you can get on a competitors machine for a much better price, and they also include the 99 target ID's and standard Bluetooth.

Yes, the Nox 900 is better than the Nox 800, but is it worth something "upgrading" to it that already has a Nox 800? I'm not so sure.

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