Owners of both Minelab Exp and a Whites Dfx

Well its time to detect and I am in a dilemma. I will be buying a new machine shortly and I want the best. Price makes no difference. I just want whats best for coin hunting. I live in WI, not a lot of mineralization, and do not detect around water. If you own both machines, I would appreciate you opinion. Which 1 has the better depth. Which 1 finds the most coins? Which finds the most jewelry? Which 1 is the most difficult? If you could only have 1 machine for coins/jewelry which would you choose. Thank You for your time and expertise and good luck hunting. PJ

The minelab will take the DFX hands down but then again I believe the DFX is old minelab technology . For the money I have both the explore and X-Terra 70 with the full range of coils and think its a more versatile machine lighter user friendly. The explore can be complex meaning there is a steep learning curve to it so much for turn on and go. For coin/jewerlry park hunting I use my Troy X5 mostly but the X-Terra is very solid and has the screen that most today like where the X5 hunt by sound which I prefere. Dan

PJ,

I would recommend the EXP II or SE. This said, the real answer is the best detector is the one you can learn to use the best. The detector is only part of the equation, I have found for quality finds research is the key. Most good detectors will do for your hunting.


Ed D.

I currently own both the DFX and Minelab SE. Out of all the wants you have listed I would give possibly 1 to the SE, and the rest to the DFX.

I give ever so slightly the best depth on silver to the SE. Truth is I have yet to find a single coin with the SE that the DFX can't find as well. I give the slight depth advantage to the SE because it forces you to listen closely to the sounds and mover very slowly. This style of hunting alone will net you deeper coins. It's easy to get spoiled with the DFX and become too reliant on target ID. You tend to get lazy and pass up targets that could be good.

I bring home more coins and less junk with the DFX. By far I bring home more jewelry with the DFX. For me the SE seems more difficult hands down than the DFX. The DFX is a turn on a go detector, where as the SE can be very confusing without a good bit of reading the manual and hands on experience.

Don't take this wrong because the SE is one heck of a deep detector, but it is my honest opinion that a DFX with a 6x10 DD coil will get every bit as deep and have a wide scan like the SE, plus the DFX has much higher ID resolution, lighter and easier to understand.

I'm being very blunt about my opinion because I was in the same boat a while back and could never get a straight answer. Because of this I had to but both so I could decide for myself. I'm just trying to save you some money. Of course I live in Kansas and your area may be different, but I honest feel for what you want the DFX would be the better choice.

I currently own both the DFX and Minelab SE. Out of all the wants you have listed I would give possibly 1 to the SE, and the rest to the DFX.

I give ever so slightly the best depth on silver to the SE. Truth is I have yet to find a single coin with the SE that the DFX can't find as well. I give the slight depth advantage to the SE because it forces you to listen closely to the sounds and mover very slowly. This style of hunting alone will net you deeper coins. It's easy to get spoiled with the DFX and become too reliant on target ID. You tend to get lazy and pass up targets that could be good.

I bring home more coins and less junk with the DFX. By far I bring home more jewelry with the DFX. For me the SE seems more difficult hands down than the DFX. The DFX is a turn on a go detector, where as the SE can be very confusing without a good bit of reading the manual and hands on experience.

Don't take this wrong because the SE is one heck of a deep detector, but it is my honest opinion that a DFX with a 6x10 DD coil will get every bit as deep and have a wide scan like the SE, plus the DFX has much higher ID resolution, lighter and easier to understand.

I'm being very blunt about my opinion because I was in the same boat a while back and could never get a straight answer. Because of this I had to but both so I could decide for myself. I'm just trying to save you some money. Of course I live in Kansas and your area may be different, but I honest feel for what you want the DFX would be the better choice.

Good Summary and I would agree.  I own and have used both extensively.  Here are some statistics for the last three years.  My son Nate hunts with the DFX now and I use the Explorer II.  We are in Northern Ohio and mostly hunt the same sites.  In 2007 I got out more and this last year my son did.  What's interesting is that the cumulative old coin totals for the two detectors is about the same.  However, I do agree my son finds more jewelry & clad with the DFX.  The DFX can be a little "noisy" in certain situations which I don't like but in the same sense the tone ID of the DFX is a beautiful thing.

 

  Coins - Minelab

  Jewelry - DFX

Have Both and I like the SE better. The Ideal hunt for me is to take one behind the other and see which missed what. Most of the time there's not much left after I have grid a area with  the Se. But once and awhile the DFX will pull one from this area. What it boils down to is knowing your machine, and I know the Se much better..So both are excellent machines, and in the right hands I think either would a good choice...Joe