Early Field Review Of AlgoForce E1500

[Prickly Prospector]

16 hours ago, Ndplumr said:

I look at it as an affordable option to get into newer tech PI, with more coil options than most others. My guess is that was the makers goal. If it can even closely compete with a machine twice it's price, that only sweetens the deal, but should not be expected.  Just my thoughts on it. Looking forward to seeing more testing by experienced users. We all appreciate your efforts. 

A lot of relic hunters looking closer too. What I'm waiting to see also is, with a usb programmable option, what sort of software upgrades/updates will be available. Eg..Could you have a deep package, a beach package..etc...just with the software, then the individual adjustments on the machine.

Looking forward  to users giving field reviews.

[Doc]

1 hour ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

Come on now Doc.  I've watched you hunt and you're no Spring Chicken.  Besides, how much ground do you need to cover in a day in that wheelchair?

You remember those good old days when you could be on your knees in a 10' area for half day (2 to 3 hrs for us old farts) hunt and be grinning ear to ear as you sniped another dink with a small coil on that VLF.

Pic of my happy customers finds using really small coils.  And they didn't have to walk very far.

 

Glasses may be needed.

 

Any gold no matter the size...is always good for beginner customers.

 

You/I both have many happy customers with their SDC-2300's and small 8" coil.

 

And you I both know this.  It's not how much ground you cover in a day, but how good you cover the ground.

Going home with any gold...is always better than going home with excused and an empty kangaroo scrotum bag.

I think this option of a value priced PI gold detector is going to be a smash...if not, then a splash... and we go back to our overpriced detectors.  At least we are getting options.

Cheers my friend and good to see you on here again.

You are right as usual.  Yes those were the days.

My thought about the Algo is that it's a "gateway drug'"  It allows folks to get a pulse induction at an affordable price to introduce them to the hobby.  If they get hooked then there are a bunch of great more expensive options.  GPX6000, AXIOM, GPZ7000.  How many times do we see newbies that buy an expensive detector, and 3 months later, it sits in the garage.  Primarily because they didn't invest in training and never found any gold.   Folks need an inexpensive way to enter the hobby where they can test the waters.

I'll bet that you have an amazing success rate with people who have purchased detectors from you that are still active, because you train them.  I don't train anywhere near the people you do, but I bet 99% of the folks I trained are still out there loving this great hobby, and waiting for the next great advancement in Metal Detecting to come along.

Doc

[Steve Herschbach]

A reality check. The GPX 5000 has been discontinued. These are the near future options under $4000 new with warranty in the U.S. :

$3995 Garrett Axiom (with two coils), 4.2 lbs, 6 coils, not submerisble

$3599 Minelab SDC 2300, 5.7 lbs, 4 coils, waterproof but not really submersible

$2120 Garrett ATX, 6.9 lbs, 5 coils, fully submersible

$1800 AlgoForce E1500 ($1530 + $240 6x8 mono + $30 Power Bank), 4 lbs, dozens of coil options, not submersible

The ATX seems totally forgotten now as a nugget detecting option, never getting mentioned by anyone anymore. That leaves the SDC 2300 as the next closest option to the Algoforce that really being considered by people. The Algoforce is exactly 1/2 the price of that nearest other option. Now maybe that does not matter to you guys, but I’ll bet Doc and Gerry can both confirm it matters to a lot of other people they deal with.

[Taz]

Im looking at $2850 ish Aussie with a 12" nf and powerbank.

$8999 for a 6000 and $4500 Sdc

[Doc]

1 hour ago, Steve Herschbach said:

A reality check for those not made of money. The GPX 5000 has been discontinued. These are the near future options under $4000 new with warranty in the U.S. :

$3995 Garrett Axiom (two coils)

$3599 Minelab SDC 2300

$1970 AlgoForce E1500 ($1700 + $240 6x8 mono + $30 Power Bank)

I have padded the price of the E1500 to account for shipping or possible taxes/tariffs into the U.S. It should actually be less, like around $1800 fully outfitted with new coil and new power bank. In other words exactly 1/2 the price of the nearest other option. Now maybe that does not matter to you guys, but I’ll bet Doc and Gerry can both confirm it matters to a lot of other people they deal with.

Steve you're spot on.

I get guys all the time that want to get into gold prospecting.  They have money.  They don't want a GPZ7000, but they don't want a Gold Monster either.  That just isn't their speed.  They want something that they can occasionally go out and enjoy, but not feel bad that they only go out once a month and spent $3600 for a detector.  I'm sort of the same way.  I don't want the cheapest, but I don't want the most expensive item until I find out whether whatever it is something I'm going to stick with or if it's another tangent interest that becomes an occasional activity instead of a burning passion.

It's like golf.  I love golf, but I don't like it enough to have the most expensive clubs.  I have decent clubs at a price that I feel good when I use the clubs, but I also feel fine about letting them sit in the garage when I'm not using them.  Does that make sense.  There has to be that balance for me.  If I was an avid golfer who played tournaments and my whole life revolved around golf, I'd have the best clubs.

With metal detecting, I'm all in.  I would detect every day if I could.  So I have the GPZ7000 because this is really my passion.

So I think a PI gold detector in that $1990, $2000 range is a VOID that really needs to be filled.  I also think Garrett was very smart to have discrimination on their AXIOM.  Minelab seems to have a mental block about discrimination on their latest detectors.  We know discrimination isn't perfect, but it still helps.

Doc

[RONS DETECTORS MINELAB]

Has anyone done any target testing against the 6000? I liked the one chart on Prospecting Australia, but have not seen any other small target test comparisons. I would like to do a test comparison using 0.05 gm 0.10 gm & 1.0 gm bits when I finally get a Eforce here in the states. This seems like a good size for testing its fast timing constants. Maybe I need to put WTB Eforce in the classified add, and hope someone decides to part with one, highly unlikely from the reports coming in. LOL

[Whatsthetime]

Very good post mate, but what do you mean by .....manual ground grab.....

 

Regards Fred

[PhaseTech]

On 2/14/2024 at 7:52 PM, Whatsthetime said:

Very good post mate, but what do you mean by .....manual ground grab.....

Regards Fred

Looking back to the beginning, all good gold detectors had to have some form of ground balance - it was initially done manually by turning one or two pots, and then Minelab came out with Tracking, but the initial ground balance or Reset, like on the GT16000 was also automatic (as opposed to turning knobs), and generally faster than the slower "tracking" ground balance. At some point it was all just referred to as Auto Ground Balance, and Minelab tried to differentiate the two by calling the initial faster balance a Quick Trak. Quick Trak was trademarked, so only Minelab could use that term, so I may be wrong but I think the term GRAB first appeared on some US made detectors - basically another name for the fast auto balance or ground balance reset, (not to be confused with continual tracking).

Any method of ground balance requires you to pump the coil, but the differences are:

Turning knobs or pressing +/- keypads = Manual

Push button = Auto

Ground balance automatically updated as you are sweeping = Tracking

So the AlgoForce has an auto ground balance or you could call it a ground grab - same feature, different name. 

[Norvic]

Yeah maybe should refer to it as fixed or tracking, as auto is like you say opposed to turning knobs.

[Whatsthetime]

10 hours ago, PhaseTech said:

Looking back to the beginning, all good gold detectors had to have some form of ground balance - it was initially done manually by turning one or two pots, and then Minelab came out with Tracking, but the initial ground balance or Reset, like on the GT16000 was also automatic (as opposed to turning knobs), and generally faster than the slower "tracking" ground balance. At some point it was all just referred to as Auto Ground Balance, and Minelab tried to differentiate the two by calling the initial faster balance a Quick Trak. Quick Trak was trademarked, so only Minelab could use that term, so I may be wrong but I think the term GRAB first appeared on some US made detectors - basically another name for the fast auto balance or ground balance reset, (not to be confused with continual tracking).

Any method of ground balance requires you to pump the coil, but the differences are:

Turning knobs or pressing +/- keypads = Manual

Push button = Auto

Ground balance automatically updated as you are sweeping = Tracking

So the AlgoForce has an auto ground balance or you could call it a ground grab - same feature, different name. 

Thanks for that, I understand the GRAB now