Equinox 800=old Reliable

[Skate]

I had a search yesterday in the sand out front of an exclusive Malibu beach club. I had a two-hour max window to find a ring lost the night before at the wedding. I brought my D2 and my 800, unsure of which I would use. As I arrived, I gave it a moment and took the 800 out and left the D2 in the car. My reasoning? The 800 is a turn-and-go hunt detector, and it has never let me down. It was like riding a bike, I felt like the 800 was the simple machine we all think we need to improve upon when the reality is it works and works really well. I'm not saying I've lost confidence in my D2, but I don't want to spend time tuning my detector as that's not what I want or need out of a detector. 

I found the ring and all's well that ends well but the point of this is you really don't need the latest and greatest machine to have fun and find things. The 800 is more than enough for 98% of all your hunts. 

[Jamie]

Good story. I too use my 800 as a go to Detector because I have confidence in it. I wish I had the same feeling with my golf clubs. 
 

[Valens Legacy]

Grandfather gave me his 800, and I can honestly say why get another detector when this one gets the job done.

Yes I know that I don't know everything about it, but when I want to go detecting I just turn it on and do a small setup and I'm detecting.

They are a great detector for sure.

[rvpopeye]

An 800 racks up another score !

Did you find anything else besides the ring ? 😎

 

[phrunt]

My opinion is the 800 is still right up there as the pinnacle of VLF's, the only thing letting it down was build quality, performance wise it's not been left behind by the Manticore.   For anyone that doesn't have a 900 or Manticore you're not missing all that much, better build quality is the major change, but I would not think I'll find much more using my Manticore that I'd miss with my Nox 800.  Extreme circumstances like perhaps heavy iron or something maybe, but under most conditions very little difference.

[Chesroy]

1 hour ago, phrunt said:

My opinion is the 800 is still right up there as the pinnacle of VLF's, the only thing letting it down was built quality, performance wise it's not been left behind by the Manticore.   For anyone that doesn't have a 900 or Manticore you're not missing all that much, better build quality is the major change, but I would not think I'll find much more using my Manticore that I'd miss with my Nox 800.  Extreme circumstances like perhaps heavy iron or something maybe, but under most conditions very little difference.

Thx for your honesty as you know I sold my Manticore as I was not overly impressed, and as you say the 800 is still up there, mine continues to surprise me its a great machine. The Manticore had a lot to live up to, its still got room to grow so hopefully it will improve. Manticore II will be the machine to get I feel and if they stabilise the 900 that may well be my next step when my 800 dies. I prefer Minelab machines.I keep hoping you weaken and give the D2 a try would love to know how you rate it lol

[phrunt]

54 minutes ago, Chesroy said:

Thx for your honesty as you know I sold my Manticore as I was not overly impressed, and as you say the 800 is still up there, mine continues to surprise me its a great machine. The Manticore had a lot to live up to, its still got room to grow so hopefully it will improve. Manticore II will be the machine to get I feel and if they stabilise the 900 that may well be my next step when my 800 dies. I prefer Minelab machines.I keep hoping you weaken and give the D2 a try would love to know how you rate it lol

I'm not one to pussy foot around, I say it how I see it, it gets me in trouble a bit 🙂

The Manticore has improved quite a bit with the firmware update, even in air tests now it's ID's have improved, previously they were quite bouncy even in an air test, now that has settled down.  I hope this isn't the last update they do for it, I think there will be another one yet as updates = excitement = sales. 

I'm seriously considering a Deus 2, I'm not a fan of it's mid sized coils as for coins I want depth and large coils and gold I want small coils and it has neither.  The Deus 1 has been a bit of a disappointment for me, for the Deus fans it was the greatest thing since sliced bread until the Deus 2 came out, for my needs it isn't ideal.  I'll give the Deus 2 a go at some point, right now my focus is on gold prospecting more than anything and the Deus 2 lacks for that quite severely. 

I do really like the Nox 800, performance wise it's great, I'd personally rather buy a Nox 800 in the Nox 900 body rather than buy a Nox 900 🙂  800 owners shouldn't feel like they're missing out much on these new models.  My 800 is pretty solid, aftermarket shaft, aftermarket arm cuff, aftermarket coils, the control pod is all I care about and it's been good to me.

[midalake]

5 hours ago, phrunt said:

I'm seriously considering a Deus 2, I'm not a fan of it's mid sized coils as for coins I want depth and large coils and gold I want small coils and it has neither.

Don't do it. You will not be happy. 

 

[midalake]

On 6/19/2023 at 3:46 PM, Skate said:

The 800 is a turn-and-go hunt detector, and it has never let me down. It was like riding a bike, I felt like the 800 was the simple machine we all think we need to improve upon when the reality is it works and works really well. I'm not saying I've lost confidence in my D2, but I don't want to spend time tuning my detector as that's not what I want or need out of a detector. 

I HEAR you!

Went on a three-week binge to learn the D2 this winter, after using it on and off for months. What surprised me the most is when I went back to the Equinox.
I realized how simple and good it was. All around, from depth, target ID and, ease of use to run AT PEAK PERFORMANCE!  It was nice to give that chirpy mother-in-law D2 a rest.  

[D&P-OR]

1 hour ago, midalake said:

I HEAR you!

Went on a three-week binge to learn the D2 this winter, after using it on and off for months. What surprised me the most is when I went back to the Equinox.
I realized how simple and good it was. All around, from depth, target ID and, ease of use to run AT PEAK PERFORMANCE!  It was nice to give that chirpy mother-in-law D2 a rest.  

I thought the E800 was a "chirpy" motha!