Steve's Guide To Nugget Detectors Updated

[Steve Herschbach]

I am a little overdue but just finished my latest update to Steve's Guide To Gold Nugget Detectors. The main changes:

The 15 kHz Nokta FORS Gold was discontinued in January and replaced in the Nokta product lineup by the 19 kHz FORS Gold+. Dealer shelves should be empty by now so the model has been deleted from the listing.

The Garrett AT Gold dropped from $679 to $639 changing its relative position on the list to a better position (best bang for buck are lower price units). At this price it is a real alternative to the Gold Bug Pro, especially for those wanting the detector to be waterproof.

I fleshed out my "opinion" of the Minelab Gold Monster 1000 based on the latest information.

White's discontinued the old basic White's MXT in favor of the MXT All Pro. The problem is this boosted the internet price from $729 to $823 and shifted the unit quite a bit higher in the listing. There is nothing about the added features for the extra $100 that makes the Pro a better nugget detector than the old version (though the ground grab is nice), so this ends up hurting the relative rating. At this point there are better options at lower prices and so for those looking to White's for a prospecting detector I would now lean much more heavily in favor of the $699 GMT. In theory the MX Sport at $749 is the better option than the MXT Pro but as far as I can tell the MX Sport has had no acceptance in the prospecting world, being marketing much more to the coin, jewelry and relic world. The latest ad in the ICMJ shows that White's now considers the GMT and TDI SL to be their two prospecting models.

The Minelab Equinox 800 having a dedicated Prospecting Mode running at up to 40 kHz has been added to the list. Too early to know how that will shake out.

I somewhat upgraded my opinion of the DEUS based on the prospecting capability added by the new HF coils, but in the end this still is a VLF detector selling for well over a thousand dollars that can find gold nuggets no better than much less expensive detectors. The main reason to own a DEUS is because you want the overall capability and like the way it is configured, not solely for its prospecting capability. I hope a HF coil as stock version is sold in the future at a much lower price.

The White's TDI Pro was discontinued some time ago but I left it on the listing due to dealer stock still being available. They appear to be gone now, so this is another model retired from the list.

I somewhat downgraded my opinion of the Garrett ATX based mostly on the Minelab GPX 4500 now only being a few hundred dollars more in the U.S., and actually less expensive than the ATX in Australia ($3999 ATX vs $3550 GPX 4500)

Finally, my three Steve's Picks remain the same this year as the Fisher Gold Bug 2 (specialized tiny gold sniper), Fisher Gold Bug Pro (general purpose detector hot on gold), and Minelab GPX 5000 (versatile PI performance for all conditions).

[PhaseTech]

Always interested to read your opinions on this Steve, so thanks for keeping it updated. As far as I know the GPX4800 has been discontinued. http://www.minelab.com/customer-care/product-notices/discontinued-products/gpx-4800

Also, any reason why the Au Gold Finder isn't on the list? It's about as dedicated prospecting machine as they come. It's like a modern day hybrid of the Gold Bug 2 and Gold Racer. 

[Steve Herschbach]

Well, the biggest problem with the list is it reflects more of a Yank perspective. Aussies would see things a little differently no doubt. Time to start your own list Nenad!

I will delete the GPX 4800 reference and look at incorporating the AU Gold Finder into the list - basically just a Gold Racer variant. I clean forgot about it even though I still have one. It has had minimal visibility on the market here so it’s easy to overlook. Frankly Nokta and the Gold Finder in particular suffer a little from the Kellyco association as not everyone is a fan of the company. That and Kellyco now charging $999 (up from $749) for the dual coil package when the Gold Racer Pro Pack sells for $899 is not helping either.

Thanks for the feedback!

[auminesweeper]

Thanks for your efforts, I am starting to think that Nokta are the safest place to be when it comes to modern machine, It's nice to see the GB 2 still at the top of the heap.

[auminesweeper]

It's funny Steve, because you know how we get charged a premium over here for stuff, well my Dealer sold me my MXT All Pro 2 years ago for about $719.19 and I got one for someone the other day ( just over a week ago) for the same price, other dealers are charging $915.69, and I only paid $786.00 for the GMT,

And you are right about the MX Sport, to this day I have never seen a person using one, the trend seems to be for the Nokta/Makro GBP and GB2 etc and of coarse the new ML machines, but even with the limited offerings it's a fun time to be buying VLFs because there is something for every budget.

J.