Hello all. This is my first post on here. My name is Jarrod Strickland and I am from Claxton, GA., and I am sort of a newbie to this hobby. I did have a Whites Coinmaster one time that my Grandfather gave me, but I let someone borrow it and I haven't seen it since! LOL! I mainly used it for finding lost arrows when I missed my 3D targets while shooting my bow. I am getting ready to purchase a detector. I was advised by my uncle to go with a minelab. He has been using them for about 25 years, and after seeing his collection, I can see why. My dad just purchased an X 705, and my buddy just bought an X 505. They are both newbie's also. We have all been out hunting together a few times and we are starting to get the hang of the tones and numbers. Now I am ready to buy my own, and I have been doing some research on here and a few other places on what detector would fit me. My main hunting areas will be old farm houses, fields, ball parks, and some beach hunting. So, my question is if you guys had around 600 or 700 bucks to put into one, what would it be? Would you get a new X 705 or a good used Explorer SE for about the same money? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Jarrod
Thanks, Jarrod
Secondly, no doubt I'd get the new 705. Not that you'll need it, but the 705 comes with a 3 year warranty. Since Minelab does not transfer warranties, the used Explorer will not have a guarantee. I've owned several Explorers, and currently have a few X-Terras, an Advantage and a White's XLPro and an Etrac. If I were forced to hunt with an FBS detector, it would definitely be the Etrac, not the Explorer. In my opinion, the Etrac is much better balanced, has a much quicker response and is more 'user friendly" than the Explorers. But I had my choice of anything on the market today, I'd still take the 705. I hunt for old coins at old sites. A great majority of the spots I hunt were also old farmsites. I will hit the parks and yards when the crops are too tall to manuver. But primarily it is old farmsites. I have owned about every detector known to mankind, some of them multiple times, and would put my X-Terra 705 up against any of them. I won't go into all the details of why it is such an excellent detector.......just ask your dad or your buddy why they bought theirs! Then take some time to read through the posts on this forum, paying particular attention to the FAQFAQ section. Regardless of which detector you buy, learn to use it properly and know that there are still old coins just waiting for a serious X-Terra user to come along! Equipped with the proper coil and adjusted to the correct settings, it is hard to beat. JMHO HH Randy