The more I read about the ctx 3030

gets me a little on the down side. Seems like a lot of small issues with the detector. Just read where the 150.00 water proof headphones are not very loud and one report said that all Koss are not very good. The gasket falls out. The thing shuts down while hunting. Rainbow effect on the screen. Hopefully most of these things can be taken care of. I dont think it even comes with a paper instruction manual just a cd. Kind of hard to take that to the field with you for reference. One report said it was a 10 and the E trac was 9.5.. Not much difference in his opinion. I do have one coming? I really feel if Fisher came out with something now close, and a great price they would hurt Minelab at this point in time. JMHO

Being an Early Bird with anything electronic can be dissapointing. There seems to be issues with this new Minelab. But then there are issues with many detectors when first released. Minelab will get it figured out and make things right. Take a look at the magnificent job Garrett did with the AT Pro. I make this statement often , but it is always worth repeating. I never read on any forum at any time where someone said that Garrett screwed them and refused to make things right with their AT Pro. Garrett set the standard. Minelab has no choice, but to do the same. Especially on a detector costing 5 x as much.

Opinions on performance will be different from person to person. Their dirt is different. Their expectations are different. Their sites are different. And their experience with detectors is different. Minelab makes wonderful detectors. They always seem to be in the discussion for powerful units. There are some features on this new unit that I personally do not need or want. But If you had success with the E Trac I'm sure that this detector will be even better. $$$$ Better? Everyone will have different opinions on that too.

I still own mine .....but time waits for no one....

I have moved on to the Deus and the ctx ....

while every one is debating we will be digging and mastering our gear just like in the old days...

i love my Etrac it paid for itself in less than 30 days......but to pull yourself higher you have to reach over your head....

will there be growing pains... you betcha .....but there are guys in the water and all a round the globe who are using them and making it work THEIR way....

you will never hear a peep from them and they hope you keep using your explorer or what ever poison suits your fancy.....

real wealth is in the ground .....Hard Money....If you factor in the devaluation of the dollar and what it buys TODAY.... at the grocery store....well imagine when it does not do that (buy groceries)... will more of it help.. probably... NOT ...

I like the CTX and it hunts deep .....I know each machine has its own little quirks....heck i am afraid they will do a software upgrade on either of the above....and Hate it....and have to re-Flash the old machine code...

the AT pro is great buy and has opened up a lot of room for detectorist... to improve or round out their skill set......those of us that Ice skate on the razors edge will reap the rewards of remarkable finds....and I would not expect to

hear a whole lot from real hunters that keep low profiles.......So No news sometimes is bad news for those that may have to wait a year OUT on a list.....or we hit the back side of the storm.... then what.... would the price be....If

available at all...

Happy Trails
jimpugh

I won't get one I am in no hurry and the Bliss and the Deus and what ever Fisher comes out with will be on my list maybe next summer when I can start to play again...

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

Any dealer who sells a new top-of-the-line detector has a vested interest in making you feel that detector is a must have. Whatever you have now is inferior, outdated and yesterday's news. That is to be expected. That is sales psychology 101.

How many times have you heard a variation on the old "If you don't get one, the others who do will scoop up all those heretofore undetectable keepers and you'll be missing out"

Nothing against Mr. Pugh, who is a reputable dealer and unquestionably a long time extremely skilled detectorist (and fine headphone maker). But to suggest a future waiting list of a year for the CTX3030, or not having it available at all...seems more than a little far-fetched.

Creating a sense of urgency is arguably the most important part of marketing.

And don't we all want to be one of those special people who "ice skates on the razor's edge"...

Goodmore

I don't think what you say about the Garrett is accurate. The discussion went on for weeks about the fault coil,and Garrett never ever acknowledged the problem. Did Garrett send a letter to every person that bought one, or did they just let the dealers know
there was a problem. I bet there's a lot of original units out there that never got repaired. I know my local dealer had no clue about the problems.

Every manufacturer is fighting for market share, and sometimes rush products to market before they are ready. The ATPro, maybe the CTX, all First Texas products, Whites TDi has had lots of problems. Tesoro is about the only one, but they're not pushing
any technology envelopes so we can't count them.

The price we pay for progress, as long as we make progress!!

Cheers

sonny(IN) Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> gets me a little on the down side. Seems like a
> lot of small issues with the detector. Just read
> where the 150.00 water proof headphones are not
> very loud and one report said that all Koss are
> not very good. The gasket falls out. The thing
> shuts down while hunting. Rainbow effect on the
> screen. Hopefully most of these things can be
> taken care of. I dont think it even comes with a
> paper instruction manual just a cd. Kind of hard
> to take that to the field with you for reference.
> One report said it was a 10 and the E trac was
> 9.5.. Not much difference in his opinion. I do
> have one coming? I really feel if Fisher came out
> with something now close, and a great price they
> would hurt Minelab at this point in time. JMHO


i concur! perhaps a "marketing" opportunity?
to be honest,i believe "minelab" has left the door open,
and perhaps" money" on the table! time will tell!

(h.h.!)
j.t.

jimpugh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I still own mine .....but time waits for no
> one....
>
> I have moved on to the Deus and the ctx ....
>
> while every one is debating we will be digging and
> mastering our gear just like in the old days...
>
> i love my Etrac it paid for itself in less than 30
> days......but to pull yourself higher you have to
> reach over your head....
>
> will there be growing pains... you betcha .....but
> there are guys in the water and all a round the
> globe who are using them and making it work THEIR
> way....
>
> you will never hear a peep from them and they hope
> you keep using your explorer or what ever poison
> suits your fancy.....
>
> real wealth is in the ground .....Hard Money....If
> you factor in the devaluation of the dollar and
> what it buys TODAY.... at the grocery
> store....well imagine when it does not do that
> (buy groceries)... will more of it help..
> probably... NOT ...
>
> I like the CTX and it hunts deep .....I know each
> machine has its own little quirks....heck i am
> afraid they will do a software upgrade on either
> of the above....and Hate it....and have to
> re-Flash the old machine code...
>
> the AT pro is great buy and has opened up a lot of
> room for detectorist... to improve or round out
> their skill set......those of us that Ice skate on
> the razors edge will reap the rewards of
> remarkable finds....and I would not expect to
>
> hear a whole lot from real hunters that keep low
> profiles.......So No news sometimes is bad news
> for those that may have to wait a year OUT on a
> list.....or we hit the back side of the storm....
> then what.... would the price be....If
>
> available at all...
>
> Happy Trails
> jimpugh


quite a few who you will never hear from!
they read,but never contribute! reason?
too busy findin' the good stuff! would much rather hunt,then talk!

(h.h.!)
j.t.

marcomo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Any dealer who sells a new top-of-the-line
> detector has a vested interest in making you feel
> that detector is a must have. Whatever you have
> now is inferior, outdated and yesterday's news.
> That is to be expected. That is sales psychology
> 101.
>
> How many times have you heard a variation on the
> old "If you don't get one, the others who do will
> scoop up all those heretofore undetectable keepers
> and you'll be missing out"
>
> Nothing against Mr. Pugh, who is a reputable
> dealer and unquestionably a long time extremely
> skilled detectorist (and fine headphone maker).
> But to suggest a future waiting list of a year for
> the CTX3030, or not having it available at
> all...seems more than a little far-fetched.
>
> Creating a sense of urgency is arguably the most
> important part of marketing.
>
> And don't we all want to be one of those special
> people who "ice skates on the razor's edge"...


he! he! he! at $2,500.00 a copy,don't believe a waiting list is
too big a concern ,at least it isn't for me! (lol!)

(h.h.!)
j.t.

sonny(IN) Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> gets me a little on the down side. Seems like a
> lot of small issues with the detector. Just read
> where the 150.00 water proof headphones are not
> very loud and one report said that all Koss are
> not very good. The gasket falls out. The thing
> shuts down while hunting. Rainbow effect on the
> screen. Hopefully most of these things can be
> taken care of. I dont think it even comes with a
> paper instruction manual just a cd. Kind of hard
> to take that to the field with you for reference.
> One report said it was a 10 and the E trac was
> 9.5.. Not much difference in his opinion. I do
> have one coming? I really feel if Fisher came out
> with something now close, and a great price they
> would hurt Minelab at this point in time. JMHO

As others have said, I don't really see this as a big thing. First, the detector is performing and second it truly appears waterproof thus far - leaks would be bad.
Your other points:
Waterproof headphones not loud - I haven't heard this yet. If true I wonder if they could release a software patch to address it. (Gray Ghost are working on water proof headphones as we speak. I love GG and would buy them, hopefully no issue with volume.)
Gasket falling out - Minelab missed this, but this is about as small as it gets as far as a repair goes. Put some grease on it. Yeah, if it falls out and you don't realized it, that is BAD in the water.
Rainbow effect - Seems to have been an issue with an oil residue on the screen. Not all are reporting it. If there is something wrong with the screen, then oh boy, that would be bad. Have to send it in but again, I see very few reports of it.
No paper manual - I complained about that, but it's not a deal breaker. I think to start to not include paper manuals is great, to save paper. BUT don't start the process with your flagship model! A quality manual is a part of the presentation...
Performance difference with E-Trac - This could be important. But it's too early to say. My guess it is better at unmasking, quite a bit better. Throw waterproof, color, more features, etc. into the mix an it is just a relative decision. But I am far far far from rich, actually far from middle class ;-)
Agreed regarding Fisher, mentioned that in a few places.

Albert

since you basically went down the list I guess you do not think shutting down on its own is also nothing to be concerned about. One thing that I wonder about as all the testers were testing the unit they did not have any of these problems I guess? Like I said I am getting one so I must not be to worried, but I am concerned. 2500.00 is the most I have ever spent on a detector. that gets my attention

Sonny,

I didn't see you mentioned that and you can still address my replies, whether or not you agree with them. I'm not out to win, just to give another perspective.

Shutting down can be bad, but the most any person has reported it, that I have seen, is twice in a long hunt. Most haven't mentioned it. What I do know is that Minelab is aware of the problem and will write a software fix for it. That is the savior I must say. If people had to send them in then that could be bad (like what Garrett went through.)

So, I'm not really sharing in your worries here and judging by the forums, thus far anyway, there doesn't seem to be anything major brought up yet.

I'm not exactly happy with some of the problems, but to be blatantly honest, I'm not worried (yet) and I speak my mind on forums, so have been very honest in answering your concerns as well as complaining on a few points with the CTX (e.g. - my Gray Ghosts not working - I'd like to see a software fix for that).

If you are really concerned, anyone for that matter, me included, don't be the first to try a new product, especially for the money involved as you mentioned - let the bugs get worked out, happens in almost every industry to a lesser or greater degree. I know the chance I'm taking, but the software upgrades/fixes will alleviate all but hardware issues.

Albert

This was mentioned already but bears repeating: The early adopters pay the price for getting the cool toys first.

I got my AT Pro after all the issues with it had been identified and fixed and I have not had one iota of a problem with it.

And so it will be with the CTX.

Me, I wait for the smart guys to figure it all out and then I read their posts and go from there.

earthmansurfer, I await with anticipation all your videos with this machine!

Pinpoint twice, dig once

Interesting response...


The GPX 5000 is back ordered 6 months to a year.....

The Xterra 705 as well as the Excals are back ordered....

There is a huge gold rush going on globally....

A great place or position for any company to be in....

I would hope that all other companies would step up to the plate...

Minelab has PhD's writing white papers for their counter mine and consumer metal detectors (future technology)

I want my gasket to come out where it can be maintained.....anyone that hunts water knows or should know about second safety.....1. gasket 2. silicone gel.....just a wet look not gobbed on ....

unit turning off ....well heck... turn it back on ....right back where you started .....FCC rules & requirements may make it susceptible to a spike that kills or puts it in shutdown....

either way i enjoy your comments and respect your opinions....

I truly hope you all get out and find what your heart desires..... whether it is a wizbang detector or a modified heath kit "Make it Happen"

Happy Trails
jimpugh

maybe i expect to much. I guess that when I think of a detector costing 2500 as compared to say 500.00 I was expecting and hoping for all to be 100 per cent. They went to a lot of thought when they introduced the 3030 with the countdown and all. No price for a while, then bits and pieces of info. Just guess I was expecting a perfect working without issues detector. Like I said I am getting one and if not satisfied will get rid of it. I really enjoyed the E Trac and found a lot of silver with it. Hopefully I can do the same with this one. I will just turn it back on when it shuts down..... LOL

Sonny, your concerns are certainly warranted. As you said it's a lot of money, a whole lot of money for me. All I was saying is I didn't think the issue were really serious. Due to the mixed reactions of the way the machine was released (I actually loved the short 48 hour cointdown thing but hated the rest of it!) the last think Minelab wants right now is bad press. If there is a problem with your unit, not only will it probably be resolved quickly, but you might come out on top.

Like I said, I am more worried about the headphone compatability problem into the headphone module on the actual machine. I mean how hard is it to write a software fix for that? I worked IT for years, I think Minelab could easily write a fix to listen for other wiring schemes and turn the external headphone off. But what did they do? They released a PDF that basically put the blame on the headphone companies. Which, is true, but they still could make like easier for the headphone companies and people with the headphones, by just writing a software fix. If I'm wrong about that possibility I apologize Minelab, but they haven't said it isn't possible and again, I really think it is.

Will have mine next week and hope nothing ironic happens in light of this thread ;-)
Albert

I love my CTX 3030. So far no major issues and great performance in iron. Albert you will love yours. Just treat it as a new machine and try not to compare it to the E Trac...similar, but it's own machine. Let it talk to you and you will be surprised. Good luck when you get it.

Jim, I respect your opinions as well, and apprecialte all your skill and experience. I have enjoyed your posts for several years now.

I promise if the CTX 3030 is ever on back order for 6 months to a year, I'll say that Jim Pugh sure knew what he was talking about!