Down To Three Detectors

[Dig It]

I've been holding the line with the 7000 with NF 12 inch coil / Equinox with all 3 stock coils / Gold Monster both stock coils. These seem to work for me !!!

[phrunt]

4 hours ago, Dig It said:

I've been holding the line with the 7000 with NF 12 inch coil / Equinox with all 3 stock coils / Gold Monster both stock coils. These seem to work for me !!!

Great combination of gear, you're not missing all that much.

[SLD]

I read with interest all your comments on thinning down your collection of metal detectors. As a relatively new person to this hobby, I am trying to decide which one of these beautiful beasts to buy.  I won't be doing much beach detecting but it is not totally off the radar and I don't imagine I will come across much gold unless it is in the form of lost jewellery so I am just looking for a detector that can grow with my experience and not leave me feeling like I want to upgrade as I feeling like I have outgrown it.  Any advice will be welcome. Thank you all.

[Steve Herschbach]

Welcome to the forum! Almost anyone need look no farther than the Minelab Equinox 800, Nokta Legend or XP Deus 2 for the vast majority of normal metal detecting - coins, relics, jewelry, and even gold nuggets. They will all get the job done and done well, and the difference between them is negligible. The Minelab Manticore will probably replace the Equinox 800 as the way to go once the software is finalized and coils fully available. It's probably a better bet looking forward for a really serious operator, but the Equinox 800 has bang for the buck that can't be denied. Outside of serious gold prospecting there honestly is no need to look at anything but these three or four detectors, and do rest assured they are all very good. Most of the debate on these forum boil down to hair splitting over the fringe targets, with all these models normally doing just as well on the vast majority of normal targets. Pick one that seems to be a fit for you for whatever reason, even if one just looks cooler to you than the others. Flip a coin. But if you get one of these and truly apply yourself to learning it and more importantly, putting in hours on good locations, you will do well.

[cudamark]

6 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Welcome to the forum! Almost anyone need look no farther than the Minelab Equinox 800, Nokta Legend or XP Deus 2 for the vast majority of normal metal detecting - coins, relics, jewelry, and even gold nuggets. They will all get the job done and done well, and the difference between them is negligible. The Minelab Manticore will probably replace the Equinox 800 as the way to go once the software is finalized and coils fully available. It's probably a better bet looking forward for a really serious operator, but the Equinox 800 has bang for the buck that can't be denied. Outside of serious gold prospecting there honestly is no need to look at anything but these three or four detectors, and do rest assured they are all very good. Most of the debate on these forum boil down to hair splitting over the fringe targets, with all these models normally doing just as well on the vast majority of normal targets. Pick one that seems to be a fit for you for whatever reason, even if one just looks cooler to you than the others. Flip a coin. But if you get one of these and truly apply yourself to learning it and more importantly, putting in hours on good locations, you will do well.

I didn't figure this would ever happen, but, I have to disagree with you Steve. With the 900 out and available, I see no reason to buy the 800. It's so much better IMO, that my 800 is collecting dust when it's not a loaner. Sure, you pay a bit more, but, the added features make it more than worth it. If you need a bargain due to budget constraints, get the Legend. I'm still trying to learn the Deus 2. It's still speaking French to me at this point, so, no recommendation plus or minus.

[Steve Herschbach]

2 hours ago, cudamark said:

I didn't figure this would ever happen, but, I have to disagree with you Steve. With the 900 out and available, I see no reason to buy the 800. It's so much better IMO, that my 800 is collecting dust when it's not a loaner. Sure, you pay a bit more, but, the added features make it more than worth it. If you need a bargain due to budget constraints, get the Legend. I'm still trying to learn the Deus 2. It's still speaking French to me at this point, so, no recommendation plus or minus.

900 is fine also - I was trying to keep it tight, not end up with a list a mile long. My comment in return is that if not Equinox 800 then go all the way to Manticore. But again, whatever, it’s splitting hairs over personal preferences.

Let’s amend my list to Minelab Equinox, Nokta Legend or XP Deus 2 and leave the exact Equinox model up in the air. I’d be fine with any of them.

[phrunt]

The 900’s target ID stability is a fatal flaw for my needs, I’d take an 800 any day, if they keep the 800 alive I hope they put it in a 900 body, if they do I’ll upgrade my 800.

[Jeff McClendon]

57 minutes ago, phrunt said:

The 900’s target ID stability is a fatal flaw for my needs, I’d take an 800 any day, if they keep the 800 alive I hope they put it in a 900 body, if they do I’ll upgrade my 800.

I am going to try to stay out of the Equinox 600/800 versus 700/900 debate as much as possible since I have owned both and my experience has been documented on this forum.

SLD appears to be fairly new to this hobby.

As a newer detector user, the Legend, Equinox 600/800, Equinox 700/900, XP Deus 2 would be a handful for most who have not used such advanced detectors.

In a dig it all situation like saltwater beach hunting and basic gold prospecting, the Legend, Nox 800, Nox 900 and Deus ll would be just fine as long as the Nox 800 didn’t have water ingress or coil ear problems at the beach.

Sounds like SLD might do some beach hunting a some point while nugget hunting is a no at this point.

However, for anyone needing accurate target IDs for whatever reason for their style of hunting, I absolutely would not recommend the Nox 700 or the Nox 900 unless their soil conditions are basically inert. The Legend, Nox 600, Nox 800 and Deus 2 have far superior target ID accuracy from my experience than the Nox 900 where I have detected with them which included mild to highly mineralized dirt and saltwater beach conditions.

[Steve Herschbach]

4 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

As a newer detector user, the Legend, Equinox 600/800, Equinox 700/900, XP Deus 2 would be a handful for most who have not used such advanced detectors.

Using advanced detectors need not be complicated at all. The presets exist for a reason - use them and I don't see why a beginner can't get going, then expand into learning the controls later if they want. Better that than buying a simple detector, then selling it later to upgrade. Surely most people can do this:

 

I have a short Equinox tutorial here

 

[phrunt]

The Nox 800 in defaults is basically the Vanquish which is designed more for beginners, only they've added an option to ground balance which in some situations makes it even easier to use than the Vanquish, most need not trouble themselves with advanced settings, I rarely venture outside of defaults myself and I do just fine, I think.

The Target ID stability of the 800 makes it a great beginner's detector, set it in your desired mode for location where is easily set out and understandable how to use and off you go, if you pass over a coin and know it's air test ID you'll likely dig it, even my daughter at 9 years of age was using the Nox on her first time detecting and found it easy to use and found a heap of $1 and $2 coins.  I tried to put her on the Go-Find and then the T2 that day, both were rejected so I had to hand over my Nox as she wanted the good ID's and I used the T2 my wife refused to detect using the Go-Find and didn't want to use the T2 with its dodgy ID's so she just didn't detect even though we were in a place loaded with dollar coins.  When she saw a 21 or 22 repeating over and over again on the screen, she knew she had herself some money and that's great fun for a kid.

It ended up encouraging my wife and daughter to come back with me over the next few days seeing we were staying in the area and we cleaned up real good, all the gold coins are $1 and $2 coins.

It's nice to be able to grow into a detector rather than have to replace it upgrading when you feel the time is there to dabble with settings.