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Should I By An X-Terra 70 or 705 ?

E-Trac-Ohio

E-Trac-Ohio

Well-known member
My wife is thinking about getting a good quality - light weight - not to expensive - metal detector and I heard a lot of good things about the X-Terra's.
She would probably use the machine a few times a month during the nicer weather - mainly looking for jewelry on beaches and some coins here and there.
I would like see her get a Minelab machine because I'm more familiar with the controls and settings than machines made by other manufacturer's.

Had a few questions ...

( 1 ) - Is there a big performance difference between the X-Terra 30/305's - 50/505's and 70/705's ?

( 2 ) - I was thinking of maybe getting a used X-Terra 70 - is there a big difference between the 70's and the newer 705's ?

( 3 ) - What's the best all around coil to use - say if you could only pick one ?

( 4 ) - What price range does a good - clean - used X-Terra 70 usually sell for ?

Thanks in advance for your replies !
HH --- Mark
 
Mark

Regarding the difference between the X-70 and X-705, I believe the X-705 has a ground balance offset feature that the X-70 lacks. To fully appreciate the X-70 machine, I would suggest that you visit the ML website and download the manual for the X-70. Once you read the manual, you will be impressed with the features

The stock coil that comes with the X-terra machines is a great all purpose coil
 
Mark...there is very little difference between the X-70 and X-705. If you can buy a used machine you get no warranty and will wind up paying on average $500.00. Invest in a X-705 and you pay several hundred dollars more but you get a 3 year warranty. The X-705 comes with the 5X10 18.75 kHz coil which is excellent for jewelry hunting. I would add the 9" 3kHz coil for coin hunting. HH TomB
 
If you are planning to use the detector on beaches, I'd opt for either the X-70 or 705 due to Auto NC, Auto GB and the tracking feature. Beach tracking in particular. The performance of the 70 and 705 is very similar, with a slight edge in depth going to the 705. In addition to the upgraded processor on the 705, Minelab added the tracking ground balance offset (as Ken mentioned), an additional Pattern mode, a backlight and Sizing Pinpoint mode. If she is going to be looking for jewelry on the beach, I'd opt for either the elliptical DD at 18.75 kHz or the small 6-inch DD at 18.75. As Tom mentioned, you can now buy the 705 as a prospector's package, which includes the elliptical coil as the stock coil. So it may become a matter of economics? If you buy an X-70 with a concentric coil, you will likely end up buying an additional coil for her use on the beach. If you can find the 705 with the prospectors package, the stock elliptical might be all the coil she needs for the beach. Note that the elliptical coil is considered water resistant, not water-proof. The difference being the depth to which it can be submerged. Most people using the coils on the beach run a bead of silicon around where the cable enters the coil and around where the coil cover meets the coil. Never hurts to be too careful. JMHO HH Randy
 
I have a 70 and got it for $375 shipped of of the classifieds a little over a year ago. Best 375 I ever spent. I had the x-terra 50 and sold it . I like the 70 better for the noise cancel and the ground tracking.
 
Thats a good price for the x70.
I just talked with Kevin at MineLab yesterday and he told me
the newer models x305, 505 and 705 have been tweaked and
a few new things added. I too would go with a new machine and
get the warranty.
Katz
 
I like the 705 for the Ground Tracking option. Troulble free hunting and no worring about GBing the detector, and in some conditions the continuos tracking feature will get you a little more depth. I have found that it works very well for me when I am in iron trash. Of course that is my opinion and hunting conditions.

GL
Jeff
 
Spend a bit extra and get the E-Trac or Whites Spectra 3i

The X-terra is a very ordinary detector that will set you back as much as a E-Trac anyway by the time you buy all the different coils for different freq's.

And the 705 is as good as useless even for casual prospecting.

If you don't want to spend the extra, a Bounty Hunter Tracker IV is just as good as any X-Terra and easier to learn.

Took me a while and some use of the X-Terra to come to this conclusion. I also have a Tracker IV to compare. I find as much with it as I do the 705.

Danno
 
Boy, do I disagree with Danno. I have two x-terra 70s, one with the standard coil, one with the 18.5 kHz coil. I also have a 3 kHz coil. I've used a number of Bounty Hunters and there is no comparison. I also have two White machines and I prefer the x-terra 70. I'm in Quartzsite right now and am using the 70 for nugget shooting. To say that the x-terra is lousey is like saying that a Ford is lousey and a Chevy is great. They both get you to work. For the money, don't overlook the x-terra 70 or 705.
 
Danno I would have to disagree with you completely on the x-terra being useless. I have owned two or three bounty hunters and they did not even compare to the x-terra. I have now owned two x-terra s. To be honest when I first got an x-terra I hated it . I thought the same thing my bounty hunter is way better. But I stuck with it and learned all its secrets. I now hunt so called hunted out spots and always find things. I am completely comfortable hunting with the x-terra now. But I have been using them for almost three years now. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed my bounty hunters and they were good for me at the time. But after completely learning my x-terra it is a better machine for me. But that is why they make all kinds of detectors everyone likes something different.
 
Either detector would be a great choice, 70 or 705. Guess it boils down to the best "processor" is what ya got between your ears.........:poke:
 
Danno, you obviously don't know what you are talking about with detectors. Every manufacturer out there can beat the quality of a Bounty Hunter. Bounty Hunters are for people who are too cheap to spend the money for a quality detector. And in defense of the x-terra 705, I own one and I also own a GPX4000 and I can honestly say I enjoy hunting gold with the 705 more. As far as a VLF gold detector goes the x-terra 705 is superior to everything on the market today. I find gold down to 1 grain in size. It is for sure a professional machine.
 
E-TRAC

The X-70 has been my main detector for about a year now,
so I have had some time to learn the machine.
Next week I get a 705.
I will report back in about a week or so my experiences with it vs the X-70.

Good Hunting

Denny
 
Go with the XT-705, it has slightly more depth than the XT-70 and also has several extra features. Believe the Gold package would be best for your wife being that she wants to do both coin shooting and beach hunting. What's best about the XT-70 (705)'s is how versatile they are, almost any problem you run into can be overcome by tweaking your settings or as a last resort switching to a different frequency coil. Having a problem with EMI, constantly changing ground mineralization, too trashy a site, they can all be overcome along with a host of other problems by using the XT-70 (705)'s. Best of all the XT's are far easier to learn how to use as compared to the Explorers, Safari's and E-tracs.
 
Mtnmn


I have read that the recovery time, response is a little quicker with the X=705 vs the X-70.

True?

Denny
 
That's what I've read too, although I've always been well satisfied with the response time of the XT-70.
 
Mark....I responded to your question by saying that if you purchased a used X-Terra-70 you would not receive a warranty versus purchasing a new X-Terra-705 with a 3 yr warranty. Well today I decided to
follow my own advice and placed my order for a new X-Terra-705. I have owned a X-Terra-70 for the past three years and it is one of the best detectors on the market. I strongly disagree with Danno assessment
of the 70 and 705. Sorry Danno but there is no comparison of a Bounty Hunter with any detector made by Minelab. HH TomB
 
Go to Etrac forum and look under thread that Etac not good for gold.The FBS technolgy can work against you for small gold because you have no control on what set of frequencies it picks but if you are going for mostly coins and larger gold the Safari is a great option also.I would also look into Garretts AT Pro I have only goofed around a couple hours with a friends AT,But WOW you get a lot for 600 bucks and it likes gold.They are having a few issues with there connections but seem to be taken care of that also.If I had to pick 705.
 
I would highly reccomend getting the 705 gold pack. It comes with te 5x10 DD HF and this is the best all around coil for the x-terras. The 705 can do alot that the lesser x-terras cannot do. She will have so much fun with the 705 and it is very easy to learn how to use all the features. It has a beach mode too to handle the mineralization very well.
 
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