IMHO, there is no bang for your buck PI. You either get a Minelab 4500, 5500, or 7000. No other choices.

Paul that really depends on where you are working and what you need the machine to do. I have both a White's TDI SL SE and a Minelab GPX 5000. For trekking around the brushy mountains of Northern CA I really like the White's. It is lighter than the GPX, simple to use, and I've dug targets deep enough to make me feel very comfortable in its abilities. The GPX on the other hand while heavier and a little more complicated does see very, very deep targets. In areas that the bedrock is a few feet down the GPX is the machine I prefer. Both detectors are stable and have great thresholds, and do very well with most hot rocks.

Hi Paul,

A big part of detecting successfully is learning and working with your detector. I'm a Minelab man as many are.....but if I were starting over I would rent or borrow detectors from multiple vendor's.......sure there are pros and cons for each.....also learn why VLF in some conditions can be better and why PI is much preferred in highly mineralized areas.

Cost is something you will have to consider as well......M-Labs are expensive. For me...their worth the extra cost.

I detect with a GPZ-7000 and the SDC 2300 . I spent some time at a recently pushed area in Quartzsite and the folks using the Monster were cleaning up....although it was very small gold. I found gold with the 2300 but think I would have done better with the 1000 in this instance. But again.....what are your goals? Only interested in bigger nuggets, weight, options etc....

Hope this helps.

Will