I have both the Infinium and ATX, I only use them in the water, mostly salt water. The Infinium finds little use since I bought the ATX, except for one or two beaches with hard packed rocky bottom, then the Infinium with the 8" Mono coil is the only machine I use. The area is highly mineralized. In the water is have no need for the ProSwing, which I also own and use on land/sand. I also own two Excaliburs, one with the WOT coil and the other has the stock 10" coil. Both are great in fresh and salt water, but I find they do not have the depth the Garrett detectors do. That being said, during the summer months the targets are generally shallower and the WOT coil really covers the area FAST and iron is NOT a problem compared to the two Garretts. I have just added a NEL BIG coil to my ATX -- you talk about ground cover, the BIG does IT! But I have to use the ProSwing 45 with that combination on land/sand. As for maintenance, the Infinium wins out over the ATX, but I would not trade my ATX for an Infinium, except for weight and camlocks. The camlocks DO need the cleaning, maintenance, but the features/controls are far superior to those of the Infinium. Now, if you want a really light PI detector take a look at the White's SurfMaster with the 950 coil or Dual Field. It is my third PI detector and IF I am going to detect several hours on the flat beds of wet sand...the SurfMaster is the detector I will use with the control box hip mounted. No one detector can "DO IT ALL". But my 3 PI detectors cover the gambit here in the Northeast US very well for me. FYI Garrett has discontinued the Infinium. The reason I see it that the ATX is the far superior detector. Granted the weight, cams and cost are its drawbacks. Another choice you have is the Garrett Sea Hunter Mark II with two coils and waterproof headphone. I have never used, but hear of great raves about the DetectorPro HeadHunter at 3.1 pound, it probably is the lightest of the detectors. However it is NOT a PI detector. Its VLF frequency is 2.4KHz.
I enjoy the DD coils over the Mono, except for the 8" Mono on my Infinium when used in the rocks. Again it all boils down to location, conditions and targets you are detecting for. Coil sized being equal, the DD covers about twice the area that the mono will, the mono will pinpoint a target better, but in 4 feet of water...I use the DD!
Summing it up for salt water/beach detecting, you have the BEST PI, the ATX. No PI will "mask" as the Excalibur's IronMask. In my side by side test - on natural targets - between my Infinium and the Excalibur 1000, the PI won hands down here on New England's mineralized beaches. If I could have only two of my detectors for the salt water/beaches of New England, I would keep the ATX and the Excalibur. A third would be the light weight White's PI for hunting large open flats, wet but out of the water at low tide. But going to fresh water/land you would have to beat me up bad to get me let go of my ATPro and Shadow X5. My other detectors see little use, except in specific locations, conditions, and/or given target. Just like having different fishing equipment/bait for different fishing trips and types of fish.
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