Garrett ATX versus New ML coming out next year THREADS MERGED

[Bignuggs]

This is bound to get some diehards talking but it grabbed my interest.  Now the ground in the vid clip is sandy but it's interesting to see how both machines compare.
Anyone know if this machine has been used on West Oz ground and how it compared with the 5000.

[Panther]

Wow, very interesting. A Garrett comeback. And look at the price. Less than half a Minelab.

[Guest]

Wow, very interesting. A Garrett comeback. And look at the price. Less than half a Minelab.

That's because it's only half as good as a Minelab

Robert

[Panther]

Wow, very interesting. A Garrett comeback. And look at the price. Less than half a Minelab.

That's because it's only half as good as a Minelab

Robert

Now don't be a shill Robert. I think this thing could have merit. Garrett have always produced quality machines and I admit in the past not up to ML standard as far as sensitivity goes, but I am liking the look of this thing and I have had a few Minelabs. Now I know most people here have or use Minelabs but lets not be nearsighted. Garrett are well aware of their competition and would be remiss if they didn't take into account the Minelab reputation and success and I believe that they would certainly not release an inferior machine in the market nowadays. That is akin to commercial suicide in this climate. If any new super machine came out I am sure there would be many second hand Minelabs on the market and they would be real cheap.
What do I like about the Garrett ATX? (All Terrain EXtreme)
Concealed cable.
Price
one hand operation. Don't have to put the pick down to adjust all the time.
no having to swap between fine and deep gold.
Compact, folds up beautifully. That used to gripe me with ML machines.
Light weight coils
Waterproof

What don't I like?
Colour. I have so often nearly lost my machines when I have walked away from them.
I would have to paint this one a flouro colour. lol

If my back improves so I can buy a new machine, this is the one I will go for. No doubt in my mind.

[aussie18]

interesting vid but would really like to see one in action on our highly mineralized grounds in WA. the real question to me is how does in compare with the 5k on WA ground using a 11inch commander mono coil. and if gets even close to the 5000 it would have to come in consideration to new detector buyers. I hope reeds gets a couple in to hire and do some test's with, but until I see it the 5000 will be in my hands in the scrub.
jase

[araratgold]

Not a fair test at all.

Why the hell would you nobble the GPX by putting on a DD then running it in Fine Gold, especially when the manual says " best results will be had by using a mono coil " for the Fine Gold setting !  

His 7 gram and 2.2 gram nuggets would have boomed in had he used a mono instead.  

I also noticed that he barely had a threshold on the 5000 !

This bloke needs to learn how to fly a 5000 properly !  

A couple of things I noted about the ATX : It uses AA batteries ( including rechargeable ) Why would they do that ? Why not use a good rechargeable lithium ion battery pack ?

See this post re the excessive weight of the unit : " This all leads right back around again to arm strain. The ATX is a heavy metal detector at 6.9 lbs "
http://www.detectorprospector.com/steves-mining-journal/gold-nugget-detecting-with-garrett-atx.htm

Having said all that, there may be some places where the ATX will work OK !


Cheers,
Rick

[fencejumper]

Not a fair test at all.

Why the hell would you nobble the GPX by putting on a DD then running it in Fine Gold, especially when the manual says " best results will be had by using a mono coil " for the Fine Gold setting !  

His 7 gram and 2.2 gram nuggets would have boomed in had he used a mono instead.  

I also noticed that he barely had a threshold on the 5000 !

This bloke needs to learn how to fly a 5000 properly !  

A couple of things I noted about the ATX : It uses AA batteries ( including rechargeable ) Why would they do that ? Why not use a good rechargeable lithium ion battery pack ?

See this post re the excessive weight of the unit : " This all leads right back around again to arm strain. The ATX is a heavy metal detector at 6.9 lbs "
http://www.detectorprospector.com/steves-mining-journal/gold-nugget-detecting-with-garrett-atx.htm

Having said all that, there may be some places where the ATX will work OK !


Cheers,
Rick

I agree rick, if there going to use a dd on the gpx they should have it in normal not finegold. if they want to use finegold they should use a mono.
i'm interested in seeing the atx on some speci's with fine gold in them.
as for the aa battery's it would be for the African market, easier for them to carry extra aa battery's
cheers fencejumper

[martinjsto]

yes the 5000 is the best techno machine out there to date but to me the time and maybe the skill to learn to use it correctly is biggy, you need to learn a lot to use a 5000 and keep it correctly working as conditions change and many on here after years of use still say they are learning, I have already been in areas where the monno is so unstable it becomes unusable due to soil mineralisation and had to go to the DD. its one thing to have the best tech machine but if you cant understand it to use it what good is it. now i know you can learn but who wants to spend the 5 years or so you guys have had to do learning to use a machine??? I want to spend that time finding gold and a machine that is stable in all conditions with minimum adjustment is going to get better results for me personally. i am regularly told that you cant learn a minelab 5000 in a few trips so look at all the waisted money and time and walked over gold you miss until we get to your level. hmmmm if this machine works as good as all the vids show then it will match the 5000 in performance in most but certainly not all conditions but kill it in price, versatility and handling, why does a minelab cost over $6000 anyway $7500 for the full pack, plus with the ATX you get waterproof, fully contained coil cables, no battery cable, collapsible, hard case and 22 inch DD with the deepseaker pack
gees I dont know guys as a new machine buyer in the new year the 4k is a big decider. I am going to the ATX showday on the 8th. full techno's on the new machine and it should answer the questions .
of course you will never convince a die hard Minelab man, but thats not what I want to do. proof is always in testing and I am trying to hire one also to try out. so far i tending towards the Garrett but each to there own.

[martinjsto]

from the aussie detector website:

Garrett presents the ATX to their dealers
Posted by aussiedetectors@gmail.com on October 23, 2013 at 6:25 PM
Last week seen us attend the first Garrett Australia dealer conference. I would like to thank Brent, Henry & Steve from Garrett America for giving us such a detailed & informative session. Also lets not forget the boys from Garrett Australia, Reece, Adrian & Roy.
The highlight was the presentation of the ATX and the testing that was conducted in the WA goldfields. The results were nothing but impressive. Depth, sensitivity & stability in the some of the worst conditions in Australia. It was tested by experienced GPX 5000 operators and at the end of the testing they even bought one.
Some of the key points that it exceeded on:
On low conductive gold (small nuggets & specimen gold), it was proven to exceed any PI on todays market.
In iron stone & salt it ran very stable & smooth allowing the operators to pick up on the faint targets.
There was no need to fiddle with settings & modes to operate in different ground conditions, just a simple ground ballance.
With the standard 11" DD coil, it picked up small nuggets down to .28 grams at 8" without slowing down the swing speed.
Check your target for a high iron content with the Iron Check, minimising digging junk targets.
Compact fold down, set it up in under a minute.
No annoying cables & external speakers needed.
Fully submersible.
On the tests that were presented to the dealers at the conference, ATX got greater depth then the GPX 5000.
My opinion of the ATX is that it will prove to be a great detector on gold & will bring some very positive changes to the prospecting market.

[Guest]

I wouldn't let the guy testing the ATX against the 5000 with a DD on it test my pulse!!!

The only worthwhile "testing" I have read about in the last month or so has been from "Bilbo" on Finders. But this was only on specimens with encapsulated fine gold. Nothing of substance yet on what we chase with Minelabs.
I personally don't care what type of batteries it uses, whether it's waterproof or not, whether it collapses down to a matchbox, etc. etc. etc. I need to know that it will find gold consistently in nearly all ground conditions regardless of price

From the manual.

"Your ATX detector is warranted for 24 months, limited parts and labor What, exactly does that mean?

Here's a sobering piece of warranty information from Garrett's website

"If your local Garrett retailer is unable to correct the problem with your detector, you may contact Garrett's International Service Center in Germany. Please be aware that you will be responsible for the cost of shipping the detector to this service center and also for the return freight. To have your detector serviced by Garrett's ISC in Germany, please follow the steps listed here"

What do you think it would cost to ship it to Germany and back?
According to Australia Post it will be between $230 for standard airmail to $470 for express platinum. This won't include insurance.

Hmmmm.

I believe the "thinking" detectorist wouldn't consider buying one until he/she has seen the results of real world testing results over at least 12 months

Robert

[fencejumper]

thanks for the heads up on the cost of sending the detector back Robert,
I've been looking for a dealer that hires them so I could try before I buy but you have just slowed me down abit.
more thought on this one may be needed
cheers

[martinjsto]

sorry this is incorrect.
I just spoke to Jamie from the prospectors patch about the warranty and the testing. Garrett are  training people to do local repairs and currently you just drop off you machine and they will attempt to get it repaired locally or within Australia at no cost to you. if it requires sending overseas then they, the shop owners you purchased from, send it at their cost. limited warranty means it must have a valid fault not been misused, modified or opened up and damages, standard conditions there.
there will be a service center in Australia for the new season.
it has been intensively designed and setup for our WA soils, the engineers spend 6 months here gathering the info required to design the machine. so far all tests have proven the machine as a match or better than the minelab and this is based on field test finding gold in WA and yes they found good gold using DD and mono test conditions. the dealers themselves who have sold minelab for years and are currently going to sell all their minelab hire machines with two yrs warrenty for $4500 each in the new year to finance the purchase of Garrett ATX for their hire fleet. yes I know this is hearsay from the dealers and Garrett but so is everything we read until you actually try it for yourself. seems to me that the ATX is getting a bashing without any real knowledge of the detector and being compared to a machine that cost twice as much and takes 10 times as long to learn how to use. a lot of gold is missed by the 5000. just look at the "60oz missed by 4500 and 5000 post. there is room for improvement in design and cost and that is what Garret are pushing.
time will tell but there are a lot of machines being sold with the prospectors patch selling out their next two deliveries b4 they arrive. i think by the end of next year a lot of you will reconsider and look a bit more seriously at this machine.
Minelab also states a limited warrantee,
quote from minelab site:
"Purchasers must return any defective Products to one of Minelab's Office addresses (see below) or a Minelab Authorised Service Centre (as listed on Minelab's website www.minelab.com), as determined by the location of the Purchaser. The Purchaser is responsible for all freight, insurance, taxes, duties and any costs of returning the relevant Product to Minelab or a Minelab Authorised Service Centre. it goes on to say they will cover cost also IF the machine has a "Valid" fault.

[AuHunter]

I can't stand this fella. He needs to let someone else run the 5K.

[Bignuggs]

I think I'd like to see the video of the tests Garrett did in WA before I outlayed the $3400 odd dollars for the basic pack.  
If they start hiring the machines out, I'll book now to give it a run.
Chris Gholson from Arizona has a vid clip on youtube and he's happy with the ATX.  Not bad for a man who got all gooey about how good ML is.
Yes, I know it's not Australia.
If someone does a Xmas special for $3000, I just might buy myself a new toy.

[fencejumper]

I think I'd like to see the video of the tests Garrett did in WA before I outlayed the $3400 odd dollars for the basic pack.  

If someone does a Xmas special for $3000, I just might buy myself a new toy.

me too

are you dealers out there hearing this.... buddy's..... pals... old mates  

[martinjsto]

lets see a minelab do the same with hotrocks

[Inhere]

Well I wouldn't buy too quick, Minelab is going to defend by attacking, just got an email that their version is coming in 2014.
More information is being released on Dec 9.

Also this suggestion!

Why gamble on the alternatives when the real performer is just around the corner? Shocked

Let the fun begin!.......how about a price drop for starters?

they can stick those 11" $720 coils as well. 

[fencejumper]

lets see a minelab do the same with hotrocks

hotrocks??? what are they...

I use a 5k so have not had the pleasure of finding them   those garret guys find all the good stuff  

[Nightjar]

Mid range Minelab detector:

http://minelab.newsweaver.co.uk/1bzc5eux3731bm8jftpt57?email=true&a=11&p=42946375

[fencejumper]

lets see a minelab do the same with hotrocks

all jokes aside, you can only do that with hotrocks if the ground there on is not bad. if the ground the hotrocks are on is nasty hot and you balance on a hotrock like that, the machine will scream when you put the coil closer to the ground because the ground balance is set to the hotrock. it works in mild ground but not hot ground so most places around aus you will still be kicking them aside

the garret atx manual will tell you this
cheers

[Bignuggs]

Interesting. Maybe the ML response to the ATX ?

[Bignuggs]

Just send a message to Garrett Australia asking to see video of the Australian tests. Let's see what they have to say for themselves.

[martinjsto]

that is new news inhere as they categorically stated that there will be no significant improvements for the minelab gpx in the near future, now they are releasing a new one next year? good stuff if is better and cheaper than the 5k and comparable to the ATX price, cool. competition is good and if it takes a garrett to get a new machine from them so be it. a lot on here have said about the handles breaking, the cord problems, the shaft issues the G/B button failing and connection issues in the loose wires inside the box, for $5000 plus you want something a bit more designed for its purpose,


lol fencejumper, yep i have a big collection of hotrocks here in perth, found many with the 5000,  do you not find any at all? i would love to know how to set a 5k up so it will not see a hot rock but will still pick up a sub grammer at 4 inches, ahhh so much to learn. good point on the ground balance, it guess it makes sense if you balance on something hot then the quiet ground around you may sound off, although this didnt seem to be the case on the video.
I am a bit of a newbi to detecting with only 2 yrs exp and I am still learning, I admit i am no expert by any means. thing is I am looking at this without being sentimentally attached to a 5000, totally comparing results only and the learning curve to become productive, what everyone wants in reality and I dont have the knowledge yet that is required to operate a 5k to ensure I miss NO gold, I have found some gold with the 5000, some nice bits and have been shown a few things by people that do know their machines. I would need to hire one and the PP guys as said above are doing just that this coming season, cant wait till next season.

edit: email sent to Garrett for vids Cliff, see what they do

[rocklobster]

Seems it may be a new detector to take on the garett unit out now. Anyone know more about this one.

[Nightjar]

That's what I was thinking Albo, by all accounts the ATX is gathering a lot of attention.

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