I wish I could say that I chose my metal detector based on a plethora of information gathered from a diverse sample and I was certain that it was exactly what I wanted, but that's just not the truth. I began searching knowing that I wanted a beyond par metal detector, but didn't want to pay the big bucks (probably sounds like a lot of people). What this equates to in my world is that I will be purchasing a used metal detector.
I've always been a fan of eBay and haven't ever been taken advantage of (yet) so I began looking there. I first searched for detectors that were used (that were NOT bounty hunters) and then looked up the model and type on multiple websites to compare them and see the ratings. If anyone does this you'll find quickly that there will be some people that say a certain model is the best and others that say it was a waste of money.
I bidded on many different detectors hoping to win, but they often ended the auction at the wrong times. I was either out eating and/or at an engagement where I couldn't send in my last moment bid to win. Each time this happened, (once w/ a White's Matix M6 and other w/ a Minelab X-Terra 70) I just chalked it up to equating "this was just not the one for me). Both of those detectors had some of the highest reviews (at least on the site I chose to pay attention to) , but most of all someone was selling them for an inexpensive price.
My third item I found was a Garrett GTP 1350. I read quite a bit on this detector and it had the highest rating out most of the other detectors I was reviewing (white's, minelab, garrett). I chose to take this auction a little more seriously and waited up until 12:30am to sneak in (or snipe as eBay calls it) the last bid and outbid the current highest bid.
What did ya know I won the auction and a week and a half later my metal detector showed up. I had purchased it from another "detectorist" who claims he purchased it to compare between other Garrett models. He had his own website and all, so I chose to believe him. If what he said was true, but the detector only had around 2 or less hours on it.
Around the same time, the only other member of the "chupas treasure club" Miguel purchased a Garrett GTI 1500. We both got our metal detectors within one day of each other and we quickly compared the two.
First of all, the Garrett we chose both had some form of Graphic Target Prospecting or Graphic Target Imaging. Each of these (in different ways) were able to give you an indication of the size of the target. I thought this would be a very useful feature since my use of the Bounty Hunter didn't prove very accurate. What this can help you with is that if you're detector indicates that your target is a $0.25, but it shows up as being larger than a Quarter size, then the object is something that has the same conductivity yet not a Quarter.
The differences between the GTP 1350 and the GTI 1500 is that the GTI 1500 indicates 5 different sizes possibilities and the GTP 1350 only indicates 3. Also the GTI does its sizing analysis during the pinpointing procedure and the GTP 1350 performs it's size imaging right after the pinpointing. I've found that becuase it performs the procuedure after the pinpointing and not right after, that it's sometimes not used. Most of the time, if it's conducive like a QTR, then it's QTR. Only if I am having trouble finding the target will I go back over it and make sure its size matches the conductivity. Also the GTP needs additional action to find the size, you must go over the object right after pinpointing (they say around 7 inches each side of the target) so the processor can determine the size. When you're using the GTI 1500 it does not need addition detector swings to find the size and also indicates the size on the same screen and during the same procudure as pinpointing. (one up for GTI) However I'm still happy w/ the GTP as it performs as I had expected.
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