Which Minelab?????

[Anonymous]

I am thinking about buying a Minelab..My question is which one is the best for my type of hunting (and why) for under $1000.
I am a relic hunter, no beaches..A friend of mine has a Whites XLT and I have seen how important the depth readout is..on older sites he only digs the deeper signels.. when I, using my old Nauty DMC have to dig all "good" hits because I can't tell which are close to the surface ( modern junk). I need a machine that is a bit tough.. I hunt in some rough places..most of the sites I hit are War of 1812 to 1860 ( I'm in Canada so I have to travel South to do CW areas)
Any ideas of which would be good for me.. I am kinda thinking of buying an XLT.. but I have heard alot of good about the new Minelabs..so I am sitting on the fence PLEASE HELP ME OUT!!!
Dean
Whitby Ontario Canada

 

[Anonymous]

[No message]

 

[Anonymous]

I agree with Jim. White's makes a good machine. I used the XLT for years, then sold it and bought an ExplorerXS.

 

[Anonymous]

It really depends. Is your soil highly mineralized? The Explorer and Sovereign have the edge, although the Musketeer can do exceptionally well for a non-multifrequency machine.
Since you want a depth meter, the Explorer is the only Minelab that has one. If this is that important to you, the Explorer is your only choice as far as Minelab goes.
All in all since you hunt relics, I would recommend the Minelab Musketeer Advantage. It doesn't have the bells and whistles of the more expensive machines, but it does have great depth. I've had a White's Eagle spectrum which is the forerunner of the XLT, and while it was a fine machine, in the soil around here it was very limited in depth because of the mineralization. My Musketeer beats the pants off it in the depth category there is no comparison. So if depth is an issue and you have mineralized soils, I don't think the XLT will cut it for you. In that case you may wish to go with the MXT, although it's really not a relic machine per se.
Other non-Minelab machines you might find appealing are the Garrett Ace 250 and the Fisher ID Excel. But if you want to go with Minelab, I'd say I don't think you would be disappointed with the Musketeer. Try one out before you buy and see.

 

[Anonymous]

<FONT COLOR="#ff0000"><STRONG><BLOCKQUOTE>"Since you want a depth meter, the Explorer is the only Minelab that has one."</BLOCKQUOTE></STRONG></FONT>
Actually, that's ALMOST true. The Quattro has one. And it seems to be <STRONG>the</STRONG> machine that best fits his requirements. Given the variables "Best Minelab" and "Under $1000", it's the one.
Of course I agree there are other options. But given his criteria, the Quattro is the only choice. I guess Minelab saw a niche that needed to be filled there.

 

[Anonymous]

I am looking into the Quattro MP and I will look into finding a Musketeer in my area. In Canada the Quattro MP sells for $1150 Canadian..about $900 US.
Not bad considering the import tax and GST.
Thank you again.
Dean

 

[Anonymous]

The depth gauge works in discriminate mode - all the time. So if you are scanning for deep stuff it is easy to glance at the display and get an idea. Of course with time you will be able to tell the depth by the signal unless you have the gain way up. This goes for the Explorer and I think the Quatro, never used a Q.
HH - Robin
PS You should be able to get an E for under a thousand somewhere.

 

[Anonymous]

The "E" cost about $1500 Canadian..a bit more than I want to spend...however I want my next machine to last a few years..so I may have to spend a bit more.
I just want to make sure I get the right machine for my needs. I have heard that the "E" has a difficult learning curve. Any comments on that?
Dean

 

[Anonymous]

I have my biggest problems when I don't hunt for quite a spell. If you're hunting with it for a while you pretty well learn when to dig...
Guvner..