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Reasons Not To Get A Minelab GPZ 7000


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Well said Steve.

You have pointed out, again, that its primarily the detectorists and not the tool that makes things happen.  And I don't feel your belaboring the point should anyone care about my opinion.

The screen is a small issue and a bit of nuisance for me as well.  There are brighter TFT screens that could have been used.

The coil is a gong :) I'm wondering if I put a thin bit of foam between the skid plate and the coil if that'll dampen things out~ another experiment.

Weight is always an issue but as you pointed out properly adjusted the machine is well balanced and with a bungee I don't find this a problem.  What is a problem is having the swing arm attached and placement of the bungee catch on the shaft.  For me the bungee ends up hard against the handle and in my fingers.  I'll figure it out.

What was pointed out on the GPS is spot on and I pointed this out to someone else in another forum.  The fallacy the GPS can be tracked is just that, a fallacy.  You don't want to have your data taken then dump the memory before tying it to a computer or as you said use a computer off line and do not use the Google tied software to play with the data.  Someone will probably be coming along before long that can tie the data to an offline maping software.  I'm waiting for that personally.  All else is pen and paper with a stand alone gps. 

My thought is anyone who wants to try this new tech on better have a healthy dose of reality for what it can, cant and wont do for one as a tool.  That and be happy in their own skin for the learning curve, expense and personal justification for getting the unit.  For me it was a toss up between tried and proven and new tech.  Simple for me and I'm happy in my own skin for my choice even for the niggling problems that the current tech has.

Thanks for having open thoughts Steve.  I carp and winge at things myself but thoughts backed by facts are bread and butter for good conversation and debate.

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Great thread, just had a couple of days use of the GPZ. It has the edge on the 5000, depth, smoothness and size wise, the wireless and no battery cable a godsend. But to sum it up IMO, if you own a gold detector whether VLF or PI and have not found gold the GPZ will not improve your lot. To be brutal if that is so, it is not the detector you should change. Takes perseverance and a ton of foot work and also very importantly faith in your detector. 

On the GPZ`s inbuilt GPS, it is hampered by Minelabs software. Having used Oziexplorer (OZI) (another OZ product), for me that is the way Minelab should go. Allow waypoints and tracks to be imported into OZI PC version now, with a future touch screen that will allow OZI to be installed on the GPZ, like the OZI android app for smart phones. Geological maps in digital form, showing those fault lines, intersections etc are as important as the detector.

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Hi Steve, once again thank you for your honest and very informative review, I agree with you that if you are not happy with the new 7000 you should hang on the machine you are using now, 5000, 4500, etc. but the progress go ahead and technology change every 5 seconds, or we adapt or we miss the train, certainly the older models have their advantages, cheaper and more variety of coils, discrimination, even if I never used, etc. but if we are stuck with the past we will never progress, long time go, when the first model of cars come out people was shocked, horses were much better, no noise, no pollution, more versatility, if they didn' t had the courage to change we will still be 100 years behind. In few months nobody will notice the extra weight, other coils will be on the market, a lot more people will be using the 7000 and slowly slowly the undecided will trade the older models for the newer, this is life.

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On the subject of other coils, I just talked to Nuggetfinder and they said they will not be making coils for the 7000 due to the security chip and patent. So, depending where a person stands that may be a potential negative, I'm assuming no 3rd party coils unless a company makes a deal with Minelab for encryption keys and whatnot.

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The user base for SD/GP/GPX detectors is huge and so a new coil has potential for selling well. The GPZ is just too new and too few in numbers to attract third party interest. That, and just about anyone can make a PI coil. I suspect the GPZ coils are an order of magnitude more difficult to produce. Don't hold your breath for aftermarket coils.

The good news with the GPZ is that by the nature of the way it works a pile of coils is not needed. One smaller coil and one larger coil and I will be happy. In fact it really is just the smaller one I am wanting. I would have to think hard about hanging even more weight off the front of the GPZ. The Aussies though I assume really want that large coil.

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I think you are assuming rightly there Steve! Not much talk downunder about the smaller coil. Everyone wants bigger & deeper. Just don't know if they realise not all areas have bigger, deeper gold?

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The user base for SD/GP/GPX detectors is huge and so a new coil has potential for selling well. The GPZ is just too new and too few in numbers to attract third party interest. That, and just about anyone can make a PI coil. I suspect the GPZ coils are an order of magnitude more difficult to produce. Don't hold your breath for aftermarket coils.

The good news with the GPZ is that by the nature of the way it works a pile of coils is not needed. One smaller coil and one larger coil and I will be happy. In fact it really is just the smaller one I am wanting. I would have to think hard about hanging even more weight off the front of the GPZ. The Aussies though I assume really want that large coil.

For now I will be happy with the 14"coil, in the future maybe I will go for the 11", definitely I will not buy the 20", for two reasons, first and most important is the weight, second and equally important is that at my age I have no desire to dig 3' holes. 

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The Aussies though I assume really want that large coil.

 

Nah Mate , I'm with you , a smaller coil would be great however they shoulda made a 8" and not the 11" coil for it , be far greater for those tight spots in the scrub or around rocks in the creek beds 

 

Marty

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Nah Mate , I'm with you , a smaller coil would be great however they shoulda made a 8" and not the 11" coil for it , be far greater for those tight spots in the scrub or around rocks in the creek beds 

 

Marty

I'll second that! Make it easier to sell the SDC also - if I end up buying the GPZ.
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An 11" coil was mentioned in the draft manual but that mention was dropped from the final manual, as was mention of the 20" coil. The actual size of the accessory coils has yet to be determined. My vote was for an 8" x 11" semi-elliptical.

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