I just bought a Garrett ATX. I read up on Steve's info, and watched as many youtube's as I could to get a very rough idea of how it handles. I noticed that despite this detector being out for such a long time it doesn't have a lot of press...
On first inspection I'd defend it, and here's why:
1) The ATX has excellent tonal nuances both in depth volume and target distinction, despite what some people might say. Keith did an excellent video that demonstrates this.
2) The ATX is the best PI I've ever handled that doesn't freak out when EMI is present! Minelab gold machines also freak out, our SDC and GPZ can't be anywhere near our shop, but here I turned on the ATX right inside the room with our computers and barely had to lower the sensitivity.
That said, I am in no way saying it's better than the GPZ which would smother the ATX, I'm simply trying to shed some positive light on a machine that doesn't get enough attention.
3) I think a lot of people haven't used the circling technique while sweeping over the target and holding the iron discrimination feature. I saw a guy using this technique and I think it will do wonders. I can see myself trying to find new avenues for discerning between trash and treasure with new techniques using this feature and others.
4) As Steve said in one of his posts on another forum, the new coil design cuts out any falsing issues, but more importantly, it is one of the most ingenious engineering fixes I have seen on a detector to date. It allows you to slide the coil back so it weight-balances perfectly!
Being a Physical Therapist and exercise specialist, I hated the way the Equinox 800 was balanced, so I bought a counter balance and it fixed my back and shoulder aches. I see many people fearing how "heavy" a detector is, however, a detector only feels heavy if it is not balanced correctly to allow its weight to fall biomechanically through your skeleton.
For instance, with my counter weight on my Equinox, I can swing it 7-8 hours without body fatigue, doing that without the counter-weight would have put me in the hospital!
My point is that the ATX may be "heavy" in terms of pounds, but my experience was that it was very balanced and easy to swing. I also love that you can shorten it to use in streams and underwater detecting.
If anyone has this detector please comment and let me know your thoughts about it, positive or negative reviews of it, or tips and tricks that you discovered and would share.