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Glad to hear that Garrett took care of your problem, DSmith. Customer service used to be great at Garrett, but things appear to have changed over the last few years. I had an AT Max that went back to the company to deal with a sticky on/off button. Admittedly, it was out of warranty, so I was expecting to pay for an inspection/repair. When the machine arrived at Garrett, they told me that they "discovered" a problem with the coil and that it would need to be replaced to the tune of nearly $200. It was fishy since there was no problem at all with the coil prior to me shipping it, and Garrett wasn't clear about what the issue exactly was. Maybe, like everything else, I should've complained more to get a better result. But I paid up just to get it over with. The whole thing turned me off Garrett.

Thanks, Steve. That's the clearest explanation I've read anywhere of the difference (or lack thereof). If anything, it validates my purchase!

I just bought a T2 SE with the black stem. After reading the manual and scrolling through the settings, I've confirmed that it has: Boost process DST The four iron volume options (based on 2+ tones) My question is: How is this machine different from the T2+? I've read that the + is a newer version, but it's not clear to me whether it actually has any features that the SE doesn't. (I guess I should've asked this before I bought my new machine, but I got a good deal and knew for sure that it would have Boost process, which is what mattered the most to me.)

I'm also curious about this. I've assumed in the past that it was mostly good for finding caches/large things? But maybe it's useful for coins/relics as well?

Since we're talking hot deals on the FT eBay page: I was able to get a T2 SE w/stock and 5" coils for $280. All I had to do was watch the listing. After a couple days, FT knocked $200 off the listed price. Seems like a great deal for a machine that still holds its own against far more expensive detectors.

This is what I keep thinking. There's a big audience to fool/lots of clicks to get if someone claims to have details about the forthcoming T-Swift album. The forthcoming Garrett metal detector won't attract nearly as large a crowd. Makes me think that guy whose video we were commenting on last week knew what he was talking about (or at least earnestly trusted the info/wasn't trying to deceive anyone) and that this video is legit.

I've noticed the phenomenon that OP describes, though in reverse order. One of my favorite spots lately is a wooded area where signals are generally far between. I'll get what sounds like an iron signal at first while swinging amongst the leaves. Then, after kicking the leaves away, I'll recheck the signal and start to hear the ferrous grunts break and a non-ferrous tone emerge. Nine times out of 10, it's something nonferrous. My ground is moderately mineralized so that could explain why I don't just hear a very faint nonferrous tone. This has encouraged me to play with some settings -- reactivity, audio response, etc. -- to see if I can make a likely good target sound better.

"Ground radar mode"? Maps on the screen? I'm a little skeptical of this guy's claims. I do agree, though, that some groundbreaking feature no one else has is exactly what Garrett needs to get back in the game, especially among high-end machines.

Garrett's last big hit, IMO, was the AT Pro. When that machine came out, you couldn't buy any XP products in the US and Nokta was just getting its feet wet here. Meanwhile, the Ace 250 was perhaps the best entry-level machine. It seems to me like Garrett has lost a lot of ground at the entry- and mid-range to Nokta and at the higher end to XP. You also have First Texas leaning into mass retail sales of cheaper detectors, as was being discussed in another forum here. Where does that leave room for Garrett to stand out in the marketplace? A lot of us would love a new high-end machine (GTI 2500? pass, sorry) but that's not where most sales happen, as Steve points out. But there's obviously stiff competition in the $200-$400 range, too, and I'm not evening talking about the people who use Chinese clone detectors that you can buy on Alibaba, etc. Unless the Storm takes some radically new approach to detecting or has some dark horse, innovative feature that none of us are even thinking of, it's tough to see a smart strategy for Garrett going forward.

I picked up one of these F70s even though I already have an F75 (and a Deus 2, lol) just to see what it's capable of. As others have said, the all metal mode should be excellent. There's also a lot on the forums about its nuances, from Dave J's posts to Digger27's extensive experiments and experiences. I've only gotten out one time with it so far but it found me some three-ringers at a place I'd gone over with more expensive machines. For $199, it's fun to pick one up and see just how it stacks up to machines that cost several times more.

I bought a similarly sized Mars coil for my T2 and have been surprised by the depth that thing gets in AM. Civil War bullets at 8" no problem!

This is what I keep running into: Spec-wise, the AM mode looks the same on both. There's also an old Aquachigger video that shows how to set up the T2 in all metal mode to hunt for Civil War relics in bad ground. In it, he shows an F75 and says that you can use the same settings in AM on that machine.

I have both machines. There's a fair amount out there about how good the all metal mode on the T2 is. I'm surprised that there doesn't appear to be as much about the all metal mode on the F75. Since both machines are built off the same platform, you'd think all metal would be similar on both. My question is: Has anyone tried all metal mode on both the T2 and the F75? If so, did you feel that it was deeper/more stable/somehow better on one than the other? Obviously, I'm assuming all else is equal on both machines (for instance, both either have Boost or DST or don't).

I have a T2 as well as a (pre-DST) F75. They're both great machines in many respects. One thing I don't like are the foam grips that both machines use. They get dirty really easily in the field and hard impossible to clean thoroughly. Does anyone use a cover/alternative grip on their machines? I remember seeing someone a few years back with a leather cover over the grip on a T2 that looked cool and provided lots of protection. I'm curious if anyone knows where to get one of those/knows of something similarly hefty you can buy that would provide similar protection?

100% agree. Maybe they've been taking their time using the White's tech/some new work of their own to create something top-of-the-line that gets everyone's attention. As Chase said, they need a big win. Badly.

The Apex retails for around $420, while the XTerra Pro goes for around $250. Even if Garrett intended it to be entry-level, it certainly isn't anymore from a price standpoint (IMO the Apex always was in a weird spot between intro and mid-tier machines, which might've been why it wasn't a hit at a time when there were fewer SMF machines on the market). All that to say they might do well to come out with something in the $200 range with SMF and some other features. This is a good point, though I also agree that mid-tier machines are a very crowded part of the market. Hard to come out with an SMF AT Pro for $600-$700 when people can get an XP Deus 2 if you're willing to go without the remote (and that's saying nothing of the Nokta Legend, ML Noxes, etc). On the other hand, maybe that just means there are lots of potential customers at that price point.

To me, it says everything that Garrett still lists the GTI 2500 among its detector lineup on its website: GTI 2500 | Metal Detector with Imaging | Treasure Hunting (garrett.com) They're past due to release something new. It feels like the AT Pro was their last big hit, and that was over a decade ago! What kind of price point do we think this new machine might aim for? Maybe an updated SMF Ace at the intro level? That's probably where they could sell the most units, but there are already lots of great alternatives there (think ML's new Xterra or even the Simplex). Alternatively, I could see them finally putting some of the White's tech to use and coming out with a SMF, Garrett-ized V3i. All the longtime White's users would love that, and as the GTI 2500 shows, they could really use a new flagship machine.

Gonna violate the rule I just stated to say that the D2 is a very, very nice machine and you should try one. Ergonomics are great, it's fast as lightin' and you and tune it just perfectly for any kind of hunting. I've found rings underwater in Hawaii and three-ringers near CW camps in Virginia with mine. It rocks every environment you can detect in.

Good on you, bigtim. I use a D2 as my main machine, but earlier this year, a T2 and then an F75 fell into my lap. I've put some time on both of these machines and they have their merits, but left to my devices I'll reach to my D2 when I head out the door. The temptation to hop between machines is real. However, if you stick with one machine and learn it inside and out, it will become the best machine for you.