Garrett Pro Max Or Minelab Manticore

[PathfinderBob]

New Guy questions…I’m sure these ? have been asked before.  I did a quick search but didn’t really look that hard so beat me up if necessary.  

So I’m looking at the Pro Max and the Manticore.  I’m gonna be searching for anything that makes a noise on land and in water.  Is one better than the other regarding capability, warranty, customer service, accessories, etc.   

Also, regarding system updates…are they downloaded via computer and installed via USB?   Or does the unit have to be sent in for updates?  Or is what you buy is it and updates are in new production units only?

Thanks for your assistance!  Be Safe!

[☠ Cipher]

I assume you mean Garrett AT Max. The AT Max is built on an aging single frequency platform with no update ability. The Manticore is Multi IQ, giving you the option to run on different combinations of weighted multifrequency or any one of several single frequencies. The Manticore is going to be much more versatile. That versatility also comes at a high cost over the AT Max. I think a better matchup would be the Nokta Legend vs the Minelab Manticore. The Legend is less expensive than either of those and offers a great bang for your buck, coming much closer to what the Manticore is than the AT Max. 

[Chase Goldman]

See the link below for a post I put together for another forum member who was considering the AT Pro.  Whether you are considering the AT Pro or AT Max, the advice is the same.  As mentioned above, the AT Pro and AT Max platforms were game changers back in the day but while they still get it done, they are long in the tooth and are missing some features, such as recovery speed adjustments, that will enable you to better access targets in areas where a lot of junk targets are clustered together (basically the the last frontier where old targets had been previously inaccessible due to limitations in detector processing speed).  All the detectors we are talking about have about the same depth capability, but speed and target ID accuracy can help improve your treasure to trash ratio.  Check out the post below for additional information on a number of the latest crop of detectors and look for the best bang for your buck and a detector that is versatile enough to tackle different detecting objectives (coin shooting, jewelry, relics, or gold on land, in farm fields, or in fresh or salt water).  Many recently released detectors such as the Legend, Equinox, Deus 2, and Manticore have the versatility to tackle all these challenges.  But the price range is huge and the older, less versatile detectors such as the AT Max are not really discounted enough to make them necessarily good bargains when you have something like the Legend which was released just last year and has seen several updates released within the pass year to eliminate bugs and add features and at around $500 to $700 depending on the package you choose giving something like the $1600 Manticore a run for its money.  Good Luck.

 

[PathfinderBob]

1 hour ago, ☠ Cipher said:

I assume you mean Garrett AT Max.

Yes Sir…That’s what I was wanting to post.  🙃

[PathfinderBob]

3 hours ago, Chase Goldman said: Many recently released detectors such as the Legend, Equinox, Deus 2, and Manticore have the versatility to tackle all these challenges.  But the price range is huge and the older, less versatile detectors such as the AT Max are not really discounted enough to make them necessarily good bargains when you have something like the Legend which was released just last year and has seen several updates released within the pass year to eliminate bugs and add features and at around $500 to $700 depending on the package you choose giving something like the $1600 Manticore a run for its money.  Good Luck.

 

I like the looks (and price) of that Legend.  Thanks for the info!

[Chase Goldman]

12 minutes ago, PathfinderBob said:

I like the looks (and price) of that Legend.  Thanks for the info!

You're welcome.  Do some more research to make sure it checks the boxes (plenty of additional info here and on the web).  It's a very capable machine with minimal investment so its hard to go wrong with it.  But like any machine you need to really take several hours to learn it.  The most important thing is to secure the sites on which you can actually use it.  Good luck.

[rvpopeye]

Welcome to the forums Pathfinder !

A lot of great advice to your question already and it looks like you found a winner !

There is a lot of detector specific info already posted .  There are forums for each manufacturer to get better answers to your questions from folks that already use the same one ! You can learn a lot before you get one in your hands .

Good luck out there and researching where to detect is the key to finding likely places with more of the targets you want .    

 

[Steve Herschbach]

Anyone looking at starting out on a budget under $500, I think there are only two detectors to consider now. The $499 Nokta Legend (multifrequency) or the $269 Minelab Xterra Pro (selectable single frequency). Both are fully submersible and incredible values. There is little reason to consider anything else under $500 that I can think of. If even $269 is a stretch for anyone, I'd say save you money until you can get the $269, as getting anything less than an Xterra Pro, even for less money, is really a not a good value at this point. Just my opinion.

[cudamark]

The Minelab Equinox series is another good option. If you're going to submerge the detector, I'd go with the 700/900 version for sure. It's also the better choice even if you don't use it in the water, if your budget can stand it.