Thinking of buying an atpro and would like some insight from users

hi all, after suffering some serious burn out, i sold all my equipment which at one point was a ctx and deus. i owned one of the first atpros back in early 2011 but sold it and went with an etrac then ctx and deus(some in between but trying to keep a long story short). anyhow, i have decided to get another machine to use on occasion but i have no plans of getting back into the hobby the way i was. my question is, is the current version atpro still a good choice for an all around detector in its price range? i see alot of praise for it but i also have seen quite a few gripes with it not having much depth. i remember my first pro being pretty good depth wise, but it seems like i have seen quite a few posts about it mainly with silver. i trust asking you people on this forum alot more then reading about it in a forum with a section about it that is filled with only its owners and has a history of any negative posts being removed. i am thinking of getting the 2 coil special but am open to ther units in the same price range. i am not going to allow myself to spend 1-2000 on a detector anymore but still want to get as much for my money as possible....thanks for any help and suggestions!

I own one and I love it. It took a while to get used to as when I 1st purchased it - I felt/thought that it was nothing more than a glorified ace 250 but - after using it more and more - it grew on me to the point that I wouldn't be without it now. It's a versatile machine (land/water) and is hard to beat for the $$

I have found items far deeper than I imagined the machine would go for those specific targets and have found it to be able to pick out good targets among trash as well as love the iron checker feature (pretty impressive) for a $600 machine.

I have had several Garrett's over the yrs (GM CXIII - GTA 1000 - GTAx 1000 - GTI 2500 - ace 250) as well as other older garretts and now the AT Pro which is far better than most of the others I've had.

Better than many of the other Brands/Machines I've had too. (Many Whites, a few Minelabs - couple Fishers) etc.

I still have my CZ20/21 - the AT Pro and a Tejon - saving for one of the Vista golds at the moment :-)

Hope this helped somewhat -

good luck with whatever you decide on!

HH

Personally, go with your gut. And if it makes you feel any better, MY gut also would say AT Pro with two coil special!!!! That 5x8 inch DD coil is right up there with the best of the separators in iron nails!!! The depth is great too. If you want to see one in action.....check out ol' Nuggetnoggin's vids. He finds alot of great stuff with one!! And usually uses the smaller (5x8 inch DD) coil. For the cash, it's my recommendation. Sad to say, I don't have years of experience. BUT I have owned two AT Pro's and made some great finds.

Owned a lot of Garretts over the years and although not depth demons were well built good units. Unfortunately never owned an AT pro as from the get go the screen was too small but once they got the bugs out seems to be one of the top units in its price class...As a side note as a water unit if it likes gold rings like my original AT3 from years ago its surely a top notch fresh water unit....Hope this helps and again Garrett is a class company with excellent service after the sale and even will offer you a large price discount on one of your old broken Garrett units if you buy a new AT pro....Might contact Garrett on the aforementioned deal as a club member or local dealer may have one to get you the discount...

Deepest target so far with mine has been at a measured 11" on a small piece of lead. Is it as deep as my Etrac? No. But what do I reach for on totlots or around the edge of a nail infested house? The AT-Pro. Have also used it with success wading in salt water. Not overly deep there but it's still finding targets. Great in fresh water. I think it's one of the best choices at it's price point. I have three coils for it and would strongly reccomend the two coil package. The little sniper coil will also work right up against chain link fence and metal poles.

Thanks for the replies guys! After some thought and reading I actually ended up deciding to get the AT-Gold. I have already owned a pro and I actually like hunting with a threshold. I never use the notch function and 90% of the time never use any disc so I thought I might like the features of the gold more since I like to relic hunt and hope to put the all-metal mode to good use as I have seentests of it being noticeably deeper then the pro when in that mode. I did also order the 8.5x11 DD to go along with it. Whether or not it was the right decision, I dont know...lol. It is due to arrive today and if it ends up not being better for me for what I do I can always sell it like kevin does!(lol. I am just jokin' around with ya bud)

Keep us posted on how you like it and how it performs. I am especiall curious on how it will do on coins in the AM mode. Will it ID at depth, etc.

bigboar Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> if it
> ends up not being better for me for what I do I
> can always sell it like kevin does!(lol. I am just
> jokin' around with ya bud)


I know ya are. And hey, it's the absolute truth. But the only difference in me and that statement is this: sometimes I sell a unit that is actually better for me with a bertain type of hunting. Case in point: The Minelab Etrac. That unit gave me the best ID;s at depth, particularly on coins. If I had took time to learn ID's of other relics, it would have been a formidable detector. And the primary reson for me trying a second (this was my SECOND Etrac) was that I read on this forum that it actually DOES ID better at depth in mineralized ground. I remember the post well. DanielTN made it. And it turns out that he was absolutely, 100% correct in his observations. Ya know, I was digging a silver coin per day with that unit, almost. And my clad count went up tremendously!!!! But....I sold it. Why? For no logical reason. But "logic" is overrated when applied to the human experience......if the human who is experiencing it is me. lol

Going off on a tangent here!!

Some people go through a lot of stuff.
Metal detectors have this affect on Kevin, God bless his addiction,... ;-)
My son in law has the same thing about vehicles, 2 cars, 2 vans, working on killing No3 van.
Doesn't do a lot of miles, just buys em, something goes wrong with them/him, sells them,...

I'm quite the opposite with cars/vehicles. Last one I bought for personal use was about 16 years ago.
This for a guy who sells and maintains ATV's and powertools for a living.
You'd think I'd always want the edge in new tech,.... I have got the edge, but it's a different kind.

Now let's get down to the nitty gritty, what is the No1 thing you really need to be spot on in an area of use.

Cars/vehicles I'd say tyres, brakes and accurate tyre pressure. Get the best tyres and brakes for your application, learn how tyre pressure can achieve the desired result.
Don't need all those 3 letter words, EPS, ABS, Traction Control, PDC, MP3, bla bla bla,...

Metal detectors I'd say coil, frequency and accurate ground balance/sens setting. Wright coil and frequency for your kind of finds, adjust ground balance and sens spot on.
Don't need all those 3 letter words, GPS, TID, LCD, Iron Volume, audio profiles,.... bla bla bla,....

On topic:
I'd bet someone with a more basic detector like an AT Pro as compared to a Deus or CTX with a decent understanding how the unit reacts and how to set it up spot on.
Will enjoy his detecting and finds more than the whizz kid with the souped up 3 letter word detector.
The AT Pro swinging guy will definately have the edge.

Off topic:
Next time you set out for a trip with your vehicle, ATV/Car/Truck/Van.
Just kick your tyres on the sidewall, muscle memory is just plain great for checking a differential in tyre pressure on the same axle!!
Also clears mud on your boots!

HH with the AT Pro.

HH
Johnb

Well, I'm certainly not a whiz kid (although I'm sure that you used the phrase in a generic sense) but I bought 2 AT pro's (send one was much better OR I had learned more, maybe a mix of the two) and two XP Deus. The AT Pro with 5x8 coil is one formidable little unit when unmasking in sites like I hunt about 88% of the time: ie. carpets of square nails where once stood an 1800's home. But the iron sound coming from that unit was a roar. And I'm a nervous type feller, or high strung, rather. I sold teh AT pro's and kept the second Deus that I bought. (I have actually broken a record for keeping a unit longer than a month). Now...for ME, the adjustable iron volume is VERY important when going through sites that are simply matted with underground square nails and other iron detritus. I can set my Discrimination, and lower the iron volume to very pleasant and small 'grunt' instead of a boisterous sounding sound. But let me say that I did put quite a bit of time behind the last AT Pro. I actually still have it but am letting my brother use it as he fell on hard times and I figured that he could experiment with this hobby and give him a past time that is non self-destructive.
But if I had around 600 bux or less, and I was looking for a do all detector that was VERY capable and was waterproof to boot, I would CERTAINLY pick the AT pro with both coils. It's just a fine piece of unit and for the cash, it is very difficult to beat. Even in ground like mine that is medium to sometimes highly mineralized.
But. I'm certainly not trying to start a war between "iron volume or no iron volume". But I have found it to be VERY useful when picking though iron. I realize that i sound like Keith S. when I say that. But I have found it out for myself as well. Either way, it's a hobby with PLENTY of ways of looking at it and every detectorists has their perspective and I totally appreciate that. If we were all the same, it would be dull. And I CERTAINLY am glad that the R&D engineers have differing perspectives. We are the beneficiaries of their differing approaches. And to quote Will Rogers, but editing his quote for my purpose: I have never met/used a detector that I didn't like. Garrett ACE250 included.

The AT Pro isn't a basic detector. Has the price tag of one though.

I really like the AT-PRO...it a haeck of a detector for the money...

Get the 5x8 DD BT coil and it will open your eyes on intermingled target's....

The secret to the AT is the Blending audio...

Its a digital machine but they have spent alot of time in the audio department on this machine..

It will unmask with tonal qualities instead of recovery speed...It is jsut a blending type audio...

It's also one of the few machine's that you can really manipulate the ground balance in bad dirt and still run it to your benefit...

I like the 5x8 coil for wroking in iron..it unmask extremely well..

the machine is quite deep in bad dirt...it will go down to about 9-10 inches on 3 ring minnie ball's..that pretty good for a disc circuit...

I like pro mode, iron audio on, disc 32, sens wide open in EMI is not present...

It unmask in iron better with iron audio on instead of off...I have a video of it here doing it...

[www.youtube.com]

Keith

have any of you used both the gold and pro? i had already owned a pro and what led me toward the gold this time was it having threshold. i also had noticed that "diggers" had been using it in all theie 2013 episodes( i know alot of people hate the show but this isnt about that) so i mesaged tim about noticing them using it and he told me after using it they both fell in love with the gold. i did some more looking and then noticed aquachigger seems to have switched from the pro to the gold also but before i got the chance to ask i saw a comment he had already answered about the same question and his reply was that in his opinion the audio was better on the gold and that is why he now swings it. I just received the gold and although i havent got to use it, i put the 8.5x11 on it and took it to my test garden and it will clearly hit a silver dime i have at 8" that i couldnt get either of the previous pros i owned to make a whisper on. i was in all metal mode so i am sure that is why because it is noticeably deeper in all metal than my pro was in pro zero. disc1 on the gold should be either exact or darn close to pro zero on the pro. i didnt stay out to test it long though as it was freezing out...

I've an atpro and love it for freshwater beaches in and out of the water.(only got to tote 1 machine there) In dirt it has good target separation ,really like audio of the pro mode . In it's price range it stands tall.