Should of purchased Whites DFX300?

[franco802]

Hello all, new guy here.

I have been researching like a mad man on all different types of metal detectors. My father in law has got me into the hobby and I love it. He has an old Whites XLT that is about 5 or 6 years old and still going strong. I decided to buy a brand new Xterra 705 from Kellyco. Now I have been looking at the Whites DFX300 for sometime, but didn't want to spend the extra $300 on it. Funny thing is, I haven't even received the 705 yet and I am already changing my mind. This is my first metal detector by the way.
What do you guys think?

I will be going from the beaches to the deserts looking for anything, gold, relics, silver etc...

 

[David]

The Whites DFX (300 with 12" coil) is an overly complex machine is what I have read as I've never used one, but I do know it is more bulky and heavier than the X-705.

Do not worry because I know you cannot go wrong with the X-705, you have made a very good choice, as I have an X-70.

Will the DFX TID (Target ID numbers) targets better in the ground or cherry pick good targets out of trashy sites better than the X-705 is something I do not know?

Someone else can tell you more on how the DFX is in comparison to the X-705.

 

[7centsworth]

I can tell you the machine you bought is a good one. But if you are not happy cancel your order and buy a whites. Be sure to read the faqfaq post at top of page . There is a lot of good information there.

 

[gambler13]

Once you learn the 705 you won't be sorry you got it. It's a very good versatile machine. I'm sure the DFX is a good machine also. I have a 705 and a m6 and enjoy the m6 for it's turn-on-and-go operation but also enjoy the 705 for some of its features.

 

[mapper65]

You're going to look back at your post in a few months and laugh. Who know's, maybe the 705 will end up being your father in law's next machine. You made the right choice, you just don't realize it yet. Enjoy!!

 

[TomB]

NO

 

[skippers]

I bought a Tesoro Cibola to take to England in 2007. Among many relics, I found a Celtic Gold Stator. So, I thought I would buy a White's DFX 300 and be able to find more and deeper items. Not so. When I took the DFX to England in 2008, I was practically skunked. I will admit I wasn't an expert on the DFX, but had used it, and had read the manual twice and watched the video at least once. In 2009 I only took the Cibola back and had good luck, including a Papal Bulla from Pope Clement IV 1265 - 1268. When I came home, I sold the DFX300 and bought an X-Terra 70. So far I really like it. It's lighter and easier to use than the DFX. I'm taking it to England in about two weeks and expect to use it most of the time, even though I will take the Cibola as a backup machine. I think you will be happier with the 705 than with a DFX 300. But, you know, opinions are like noses: everyone has one. HH Skip

 

[khouse]

Don't second guess yourself. You bought a great machine. Your acting like you just bought a $100 China built machine. If you want to mess with 100's of settings, pay another $300 and swing an additional 1.5 pounds then the DFX is your machine.

 

[xwyokid]

I swung a White's MXT for years. Once you get a handle on the X-Terra the MXT will long be forgotton.

 

[Goes4ever]

I hunted with 2 buddies that had DFXs last year and I smoked em both with my xterra, the DFX is an over complicated machine especially for someone new to the hobby. I had coins buried in my coin garden that they COULD NOT DETECT that my minelab picked up easy, that was the day they decided to trade the whites for a minelab...........they never looked back! You made a good choice, stick with it

 

[jpdane]

I bought an Exterra 70 for my first machine. I don't think I could have made a better decision. The stock coil works very well and with a little practice you probably won't even look at the screen. The sound will do it all. It's light and very easy to learn. I don't know the difference between the 70 and the 705 but it can't be much. I think you will like your decision. Good luck.

 

[TURNMASTER]

franco,

I would be suprised to learn that the Xterra was not enough machine for you for a good long time. Nothing against the Whites lineup, I might like to have an MXT one day, but they (so far) are not my cup of tea. Minelabs tone ID is the bomb. These Xterras are very capable. As you grow and learn this thing you will find as you add another coil or 2 to your arsenal that the machine changes into another very capable machine that has been fine tuned to a target or style of hunting that is best suited to you.

No regrets yet, give it a while and come in and ask some questions. Some of of us have hit some pretty deep targets and in the trash to boot. I have an Explorer SE too and still prefer my 705.

As a side note I picked up a Troy Shadow X5 yesterday for dirt cheap and may sell my Explorer (?). I will probably see if I can trade the Troy X5 for a Soverign GT, but I will run it a bit first to see how I like it.

Jeff

 

[Danno]

I came from years of using a Bounty Hunter Tracker IV

I was almost turned off the Minelab X-Terra after seeing a youtube video of some guy in Europe throw his X-Terra in a lake in frustration (he then ran over it with his car)!

I thought, WOW! this X-Terra must be a piece of S**T.

Anyway, I went against all the negative comments (and YouTube videos) and bought a 705.

I am loving it despite it being a bit uncomfortable after a Tracker IV. It lacks adjustments too out of the box. A one size fits all badly so to speak. (But hey, Nothing that a good aftermarket lightweight shaft wont fix).

Not too bad a bad machine for the $$$.

Danno.

 

[Southwind]

OK for the sake of fair and balanced opinions.

I owned the X-Terra 70 and it was a fine detector for sure, but I felt the DFX was in a different class altogether. The DFX's VDI system is one of the best I have ever used. It can tell you a clad penny from copper or clad dime from silver with much more accuracy than any detector I've used to date. Depth wise the two are close in average conditions, but the DFX's flexibility gives it better performance in more conditions.

Just telling it as I see it like it or not.

 

[David]

OK for the sake of fair and balanced opinions.

I owned the X-Terra 70 and it was a fine detector for sure, but I felt the DFX was in a different class altogether. The DFX's VDI system is one of the best I have ever used. It can tell you a clad penny from copper or clad dime from silver with much more accuracy than any detector I've used to date. Depth wise the two are close in average conditions, but the DFX's flexibility gives it better performance in more conditions.

Just telling it as I see it like it or not.

Wow thanks Southwind !, you own a DFX, E-Trac, and V3i. You say the, "The DFX's VDI system is one of the best I have ever used. It can tell you a clad penny from copper or clad dime from silver with much more accuracy than any detector I've used to date."

That "IS" the exact problem I want to solve, telling the difference between a new penny from an old penny & dimes because I AM sick of digging new pennies and want to reject them totally right out. According to you the DFX is the best at this task, even better than the E-Trac, (Spectra)V3i, and X-Terra 70(5) ?

I was thinking about buying an E-Trac for this particular task, but maybe I should buy a DFX instead ?

 

[Goes4ever]

I put my etrac in the hands of another hunting partner that uses a DFX...........can you guess what he has on order right now?..........yep an etrac!

 

[Hart-IN]

I think we all dislike digging new pennies but it is very easy to not dig them if you don't want to. Copper pennies and dimes hit higher on the scale on every machine I have ever used. If I remember right, when I was swinging an X-terra 70 newer pennies hit at 30 with older copper pennies and dimes hitting around 36-38. There is one big problem though if you choose to avoid newer pennies, that problem being that Indian Heads hit the same as those new stinkin Lincolns most of the time. Some tokens and other goodies also hit like new cents so I dig them all.

 

[Digger]

I won't disagree that the DFX does have a good target ID system. And once you understand how to tweak the freqs, you can separate most coins from some common trash. As it comes from the box, it can operate at 3 kHz, 15 kHz or both simultaneously. When hunting in the combined frequencies, the VDI (TID for Minelab users) is based on what White's calls a normalized VDI based at 6.6 kHz. The reason I can remember that is because White's bases all their VDI numbers on the same 6.59 kHz frequency as my XLPro. And just between the two of us, I can't think of a better discriminating detector than that trusty analog metered XLPro! Nothing compares to the subtle deflections of needle in that meter. Glad I still have one! Anyway, when you get a target signal using the DFX dual freq mode, you'll need to check the VDI. Then you toggle to operate only on the high freq and recheck the VDI. By comparing the difference between the normalized VDI number to the VDI number that you get by using only the high frequency, you can make a decent guesstimate of coins vs junk (such as pull tabs).
It's been a couple years since I used the DFX, so I'm only going on memory now. But if I recall correctly, a "new" zinc penny (those made after 1982) would read somewhere around 80 on the high freq and in the upper 50's in the normalized VDI. Notice I said "new" zinc penny? I don't know about how zinc reacts in the soil where you hunt. But the zincs in my neck of the woods deteriorate very rapidly when left in the ground. As such, the VDI numbers for zinc cents is inconsistent to say the least. If you rely on your DFX VDI to tell you it is a zinc penny buried there, you're likely leaving behind some old Indian Head pennies for the next guy. As to telling silver dimes from clads........ I don't remember being very accurate doing that either. From what I recall, dimes all register in the upper 70's to maybe an occassional 80. Again, excuse me if I am off a bit as I'm going on memory. Regardless, in the field I believe there are just too many variables (adjacent targets, coins not perfectly flat, mineralization etc) for me to walk past a target that I believed to be clad Rosey, only to wonder if the next guy wasn't going to dig up a beautiful Seated Lady.




At the end of the day, the best detector is the one that fits your style of hunting. The best discriminator is the one between your ears. And the best verification is to dig it up and look at it. JMHO HH Randy

 

[Southwind]

David, do I detect a little sarcasm there?

While being able to tell clad from silver or copper may not be of value to those who "dig it all", and frankly I have yet to meet such individual, some of us selective hunters put a lot of value in it, and if you're going to be a selective hunter you'll really want the best at tell targets identity. If you really are a "dig it all" kind of guy, do yourself a favor, buy a Tesoro and be done with it.

Nothing worse than seeing someone new to metal detecting asking for tips and gets "Dig it all" as tip. A few days later the same person returns to say how depressed they are because they find nothing but trash. You people ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

Although there are those who won't openly admit it, we all are selective hunters to a varying degree. In a tot lot or beach I'm a dig-it-all but anywhere else I'm selective. Call me lazy, but I ain't bending over to dig something unless I'm pretty darn sure it's worth bending over and digging for. I personally don't think a zinc penny is worth my trouble to pick up much less dig for. And sometimes I just don't feel like bending over for even a dime or quarter unless it's silver. OK, I will almost always bend over for a quarter, but you get my point. For me having a VDI, and a very reliable one, is top priority. Even higher for me than depth. My extreme detectors, the E-Trac and V3i, can pull old coins out of our city park that none of my other detector can touch, but so far that seems to be the only place where they do better than my DFX, and thats only on depth. I've taken those same extreme detectors to all my other sites and they found nothing the DFX had missed. The X-Terra is a great detector, but it didn't get any deeper than my DFX and didn't ID quite as well. Of course I've had close to 8 years on my DFX.

Point is, we're all selective hunters to some degree, so why not have one of the best selective detectors you can get?

 

[Goes4ever]

oh and another huge thing I hate about DFX's NO DEPTH meter! come on! what were they thinking? You have to pinpoint the target to see the depth. Heck even a $200 ace 250 has a depth meter. They dropped the ball on that one!