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V3i or MX Sport

L

larryk56

Member
I am looking at the V3i and the MX Sport and would like your input.

I really like the polar plot feature that is on the V3i - however the MX Sport is getting
alot of traction and people seem to like it.

Even though the MX Sport looks like a great machine - it does not really give you
any edge in terms of what's under the coil. At least with the V3i polar plot
you can get a better idea.

My question is ..if you had the money to spend on either machine, why
the MX sport?
 
I have both and a vx3. I sold the v3i and vx3. The mx sport is smooth and simple to use. It provides ya plenty of info and ya don't need an engineering degree to set up and use.... Plus it is waterproof, if rain was forcast and it started to rain even just little I was done hunting. No way I wanted my $1K machine damaged. Now I hunt in rain, water and never skip a step.
 
I've been seriously thinking of adding the sport to the stable also. All I hear are positive reviews on it now.

John
 
I hear what you are saying but ....don't you have a major advantage with the V3 giving you
a better idea as to the probability of a good target. You don't get that with the MX sport.

The V3 has some programs that are turn on and go ...don't they?

Would like to hear other thoughts on this.

Thanks!
 
The V3i isn't for everybody.... But those that are tech savvy it is an incredible machine and the full potential can be utilized.
 
I had a v3i, sold it and bought the sport and I'm glad I did, I wasn't that good at tweaking 20 things for depth. The sport is deep, and is very smooth. But it is heavy and has bouncy vdi's unless the ground is absolutely clean around the target. It's waterproof and that's worth a lot. But I still carry my mxt pro with 13" ultimate 98% of the time. Just my 2 cents.
 
I had an MXT for many years, tried many others (sometimes concurrently) including the V3i, and stuck with the MXT.. then the MXT Pro. Bought an MXSport last spring, had to return it for the firmware upgrade, and sold the MXT Pro a couple of months ago. The MXS is close enough to an MXT (save for the audio modulation, but I can live with it) that it was no problem switching over, plus it has a number of features which I wish the MXT had. This brings me back to the V3i. No matter how I set it, I couldn't get it to run like an MXT: blazing fast recovery speed, incredible (and blazing fast) ground tracking, HyperSAT.. the V3i just couldn't quite match it. The ID wasn't any better going over the highly mineralized ground I hunt and the ground tracking couldn't cut it. Now, I don't hunt the saltwater beaches, so could be a wholly different story there, but where I DO hunt the MXT has an edge.
 
I mainly civil war hunt in Maryland, have either tried or owned most whites machine, for what I do, mxt pro period. I rarely dig junk with it. I personally think it is the best machine they ever made. Whites needs to figure out people don't want machines that weigh 4pds with a stock coil. Hopefully they redo the sport, lighten it up, separate the tones a little, because some sound almost the same, and make the I.D more stable. JMHO.
 
I have had several V3i's and currently have an MX Sport. The MX Sport really is an awesome detector but if I had to take one or the other I would take a V3i any day. I know it is more expensive but you get a lot more features too. right now there are more coils available for the V3i too but I am sure they will add some more for the sport in the future.
 
I can't speak for the MX Sport because I don't own one and have not used one. It is a machine that I covet though; especially for the water-proof factor.

I can speak about the V3i though. I've owned mine for 3 years or so. While it is true that the V3i has a lot of bells and whistles; it also has the ability to be a turn-on-and-go machine. There are multiple presets (7 or 8 - I don't currently recall the actual number) that can be selected. The V3i can be as simple, or as complex, as you want it to be.

I purposefully haven't used mine in nearly one year (bought some other machines that I wanted to spend time learning and there's only so much time available). That's not because I no longer like the V3i - it's still far and away my favorite machine ever used.

It is the ability to match the V3i to nearly any condition that makes the machine so amazing, but the truth of the matter is that a good ground balance and a stock program (perhaps slightly tweaked) will more than suffice in most situations. Heck, a plain stock program with a good ground balance will do just fine in most conditions.

I suspect that most of the worries about the V3i stem from too much tweaking - settings that make the machine unstable or ineffective. Even that can be rectified though - it's simply a matter of setting the program back to its stock form.

In the end I believe it all boils down to your likes/dislikes. I've owned the two machines that so many consider to be the best of the best, and didn't care much for them. I much prefer the V3i - but that's my take on machines. Yours will certainly vary.

My positives on the V3i - the absolute best screen of any machine on the market - it makes a huge difference in my book. It is well balanced - despite being heavier than many of the machines that it competes with (no problem swinging it all day). It can be set to nearly any condition and will go as deep as any machine, that I'm aware of anyway, in its category. It loves nickels - a great thing if you like gold. The cordless headphones are fantastic.

My negatives on the V3i - It is not waterproof. That is the biggest negative, by far, in my mind. It's too expensive for me to really use it like I should (I won't take it near salt water and won't just leave it in my truck for those impulse hunts). It tends to intimidate people; especially those who have no experience using a metal detector).

I would also highly recommend the MX5 - a delightful machine that hunts above its weight. It is weather resistant - I believe that means it can take some light rain - but not water proof. It is a threshold machine; meaning it makes some noise while hunting. I like that but some do not. To me, it lets the user hear more detail about what is in the ground.

I think you'll likely be very happy with either machine (you mentioned).

I would also recommend that you buy from one of the sponsors of this forum. I have had wonderful experiences with the following sponsors:

Backwoods Metal Detectors - Richard

Indian Nations Metal Detectors - Chuck
 
MX Sport is a top-seller for us right now. Thanks to all on the forum for helping us make it the best machine it can be.
 
Own both. But if I had to let one go it would be the sport. Sport is an excellent machine. My preference is the v3i. It tells me quite a bit. However the sport is with me all the time in case I feel like stopping somewhere.
 
I don't own the V3i but I do have a friend that has one, that let me borrow his for several weeks to test with the MX Sport and some other machines. So this is coming from someone who really don't have hundreds or thousands of hours of V3i use under my belt. But I think what I will say, will be of help to you. I've had the MX Sport since about a month after they came out. Mine has the updates to it. Over the years I've also had the MXT and MXT Pro with various coils. I actually sold my last MXT Pro and coil cache I had for it, to keep the MX Sport. I personally just liked the MX Sport better than the MXT. But you are asking about the V3i so here is my take on it.

The V3i that I used, was particularly sensitive to EMI. A lot of the settings had to be throttled back to keep it somewhat stable. Not sure if this is common with them or just this unit I had; it was like that with the various coils I had for it. The MX Sport is actually not that bad with it. I have hunted under high tension lines with it, and just a freq shift enabled me to hunt without much loss in depth or stability.

While the V3i has more ID "features" for it...I didn't really find any of them to be any more beneficial or accurate for IDing targets, than the good ole VDI number system.

Setup on the MX Sport is much faster and easier...no standard and expert menu like on the V3i. I much prefer the layout of the Sport.

Here is the thing that got me. The V3 is a complex unit with a ton of adjustments. You can probably make it handle most situations you will encounter detecting IF you figure out how. However, if you don't have an explanation of what those settings control or how to use them...then they are just settings in a machine and you will be at the point of never feeling confident in the machine that you have it setup to its best ability. If you look at other top end machines that are more complex....they have some kind of after market book or video to shorten the learning curve and explain settings. So with those, a person pretty much can get a feel for what each setting does and how changing it, will interact with other settings. The V3i has nothing like that out there available for it. All I had was the manual, this forum/resource area, and YouTube. Some things I figured out on my own and some things I didn't dare mess with. Ground filters, band pass settings, etc etc....

I felt the V3 was a more powerful machine; or could be set up that way if you could ever find a emi free area that would allow you to take advantage of it. But I didn't find the V3i to be any more accurate in terms of ID, than the MX Sport was. In fact, I sort of saw the opposite. I will say, the 6x8 SEF coil on the V3i was a GREAT combo. Of the coils I had to try, it was my favorite coil combo for it. The 7" DD coil on the MX Sport is my favorite coil for it. The 950 and D2 coil were my least two favorite coils on the V3i.

It would take some getting used to, but I also felt the audio on the V3i was too overly digital sounding. That sounds silly saying it like that, but I like the audio on the MX Sport better. The recovery speed and audio duration of the MX Sport seem more pleasing to my ears vs the V3i...which to me, always seemed like it had too long of an audio response per individual target...and that there was a slight lag in audio from when the coil passed over the target til I heard the sound. I tried messing with the recovery speed audio of the machine and got this closer to my liking...but still not as good as the MX Sport.
 
I would not go with the V3i it is a machine you constantly need to program when you move to any site.

As for the MXSport it is a good machine but it is still going through some trials.I have hunted with it and have done alright when I use it. It is a little heavier than my normal machine which is a MX5. The MX5 has performed well for me both coin hunting and relic hunting.

Charlene Sabisch
Treasure Hunting Outfitters
www.TreasureHuntingOutfitters.com
“Experience the Thrill of Uncovering Lost Treasure"
 
Good advise Charlene, espically for someone like me who is an occational hunter. Think I'll stick with my MX Sport and MX5 until the next latest and greatest dirt sniffer comes down the pike.
 
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