Minelab Equinox 800 Vs White's V3i

[Steve Herschbach]

The V3i came out in 2009 and could have set the basis for the future. In 2009 we had a detector that could run three frequencies at once, or any one of the three separately. It incorporated wireless headphones. If effort had been made since 2009 to shrink the circuit, the MX Sport release could have been a VX Sport and history, as they say, would have been different.

[auminesweeper]

Yes a lost chance for sure, a VX Sport could have been a winner with less adjustables and screens that are not needed and a good tracking system, Even stuffed in to the new GMK housing would be a good place to start.

[johnedoe]

Been gone for a while....

 Nice to see this thread still going and adding to the knowledge base of both machines.

[EL NINO77]

2 hours ago, auminesweeper said:

Yes a lost chance for sure, a VX Sport could have been a winner with less adjustables and screens that are not needed and a good tracking system, Even stuffed in to the new GMK housing would be a good place to start.

I think of the possibility there is still ... "Also the new detector whites 3f VX Sport 2.5kHz-22.5 khz and 3f-VX Gold 14-80 khz can enter the detecting game ..

[auminesweeper]

The trouble with some of the mid frequencies is that the government use them for repeaters and SAR so the ones around the 20/30khz can become a bit over crowded.

[Cal_Cobra]

Now that Carl is over at FTP, if FTP released a modernized V3i, in a lightweight, waterproof package, with modern upgrades, for >$1K, they'd have a big hit IMO.    

Heck with Carl and Dave both at FTP, they could be working on a hot new SMF (simultaneous mufti-frequency) detector? 

Only time will tell...

[☠ Cipher]

I finally got my hands on an 800. I'm a thrifty kinda guy so I waited until the inventory built up and while I did I was using the 600 to become familiar. Traded the 600 when I was done with it for an AT Pro, 3 AT coils, and Z-Link system plus $200. I played around with the AT Pro for 2 weeks before selling it for more than enough to buy a used, complete 800 for $700. I'll be honest with you guys. I've used a lot of machines, including an AT Pro before I had this AT Pro. I had the first one briefly with the big Nel 14" coil. It didn't leave an impression on me the first time. It did this time. This time I saw what all the fuss was about. It was a really fun machine to use. Very well behaved, but plenty deep, and I found a lot of nice things with it in that short time. I hated to give it up. But I digress. 

In any event, now that I have the fully loaded Equinox 800 and the V3i I'm gearing up to put on a very detailed head to head comparison. I like things very structured, scientific, and complete. One area I already see a blowout coming is the Equinox recovery speed quite noticeably outpaces the V3i. But there will be areas I expect the V3i to shine. With either one you get a lot of detector and I'm pretty satisfied that they can handle most any scenario I'm going to run into, especially now that I'm starting to put together a pretty good coil lineup for the V3i. If anyone has any specific areas of comparison you'd like to see, feel free to offer suggestions. 

[Invent4hir]

Cipher, I'm new to this site and own a DFX and V3i.  Over the past month I've been giving some thought about getting a Nox and look forward to your detailed head-to-head comparison.  When do you think you'll post it?