Is the Deus better than the Etrac?

Mountain Mike

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Is the Deus better than the Etrac? I own the etrac and love it. I have never seen the Deus in person but have watched many videos about it. I spent a couple hours yesterday watching videos trying to find one that showed the Deus hitting a target that the Etrac could not see. On a actual hunt I could not even find one. Yes I have seen the video showing the Deus hitting a coin 3" under iron nails. But I have found many coins under or with iron with the Etrac. It seems that the Etrac has no problem hitting coins under iron after they have been buried a while. I am a Minelab fan but if I see some real evidence that the Deus is better I will definitely find a way to own one even if it means selling the Etrac. Has anyone here seen a situation where the Deus could see targets that Etrac could not?
 
I would not say better but different. When hunting for supper deep coins in hard hit sites I'd choose the E-Trac over the Deus. If I did mostly coin and jewelry hunting schools/yards/parks I'd go with the Deus. Both are great detectors and deep they just do it differently.

The Deus is a dream to swing. That is the one advantage I give to the Dues over the E-Trac.
 
I was on the fence between buying an etrac or a deus and I went with the deus. I'd love an etrac but I wanted something light and easily portable. Also I will use it mostly in high iron areas and in thick woods and brush. Having no wires will be awesome! Hoping I made the right choice, if not I'll sell it and buy an etrac. I'm not as worried about depth where I am or coins, more after relics and they're shallow here
 
Hunting in iron is different for every target. So many variables come into play. For deep silver the E Trac is one of the best. When it comes to machine gun iron grunts the Deus will perform very well. No detector does it all. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. I have used both detectors, and have used them one after another. I always find stuff no matter the order of use. I can absolutely say that I have found targets with both detectors that the other would never find. If I was heading for an iron (nails) rich site I would definitely prefer the Deus. Years ago people using detectors ran from machine gun iron. Now there are detectors like the Racer, Deus, even the AT series which can pick good targets out. This is one area where the manufacturers have advanced the hobby. Some sites can be very cruel on the ears and brain, but if you master a fast recovery machine the results are well worth it.
 
As everyone else said they each have their own strengths. I wanted something for deep coin and silver hunting in areas with low trash, so I went with the E-trac. If I mostly hunted trashier sites I would have went with the Deus for the faster recovery. Also if weight was an issue the Deus is the hands down winner. On the other hand I like the F75 for relics, and the V3i for all around detecting. I wouldn't say any of the high end detectors out there blow away the others, most excel in different situations.
 
Went from Etrac to Deus and found many things in areas previously hunted with Etrac. Main thing I miss is the FE reading of the Etrac. Yes their are techniques to ID rusty bottle caps with the Deus but the Etrac made it a breeze. Today I was hunting a trash pile and was wishing I had the Etrac with small coil. Depends on your needs really. I like them both about the same, maybe once I become more proficient with the Deus I will like it better, but lately been thinking V3i, haha. Never satisfied, always wondering...
 
A good question by the op.

I have experience with both and will try to explain differences, advantages, disadvantages as objective as I can.

Weight-- Deus wins by a mile
Cost-- very similar
Warranty-- Deus has a longer warranty

Performance
Both are great performers.

Etrac provides more accurate Target info at depth vs Deus
Is IMO a tad more emi friendly

Depth-- very close ( depends on settings)

In the super high mineral dirt-- Deus slightly deeper

Here is a scenario to maybe reflect

Take a yard say 1/4 acre in size

Deus user will be able to cover the yard much faster say getting down to the 8" depth strata

Now to go down deeper Deus will have to be slowed a bit more, but still faster than etrac

Hunting in heavy iron/nails--- Deus coil size for coil size hard to beat

Consider this
Nonferrous targets that are challenging the Deus to sneak through with tone-- these particular targets most likely to be invisible to Minelab

For relic hunting-- Deus better choice

For areas where digging is limited looking for coins/ silver jewelry-- etrac better choice

If I had my choice in say a site--- hard pounded by etrac, I would choose Deus

Both are great machines

If you are a gold jewelry hunter--- Deus likely to get you more gold

If you are a silver coin hunter-- Etrac gets the nod

If you want versatility-- Deus gets the nod

And if you want the best of both worlds get both
 
TNshaprshooter pretty much nailed it here.... both have their place. If you have to choose one, base it on the type of hunting you will do... :)
 
Went from Etrac to Deus and found many things in areas previously hunted with Etrac. Main thing I miss is the FE reading of the Etrac. Yes their are techniques to ID rusty bottle caps with the Deus but the Etrac made it a breeze. Today I was hunting a trash pile and was wishing I had the Etrac with small coil. Depends on your needs really. I like them both about the same, maybe once I become more proficient with the Deus I will like it better, but lately been thinking V3i, haha. Never satisfied, always wondering...

The V3i is a great detector and very FUN to tinker with. I still need to do a side by side field test of my E-trac, F75, and V3i but I can say that in air test (for what it's worth) the V3i is significantly deeper on targets than the other two.
 
The Etrac isn't deeper than my Explorer II, and other Minelabs for that matter. The Deus has more electronics built into the seperate components and that's a concern to me, just more to malfunction over time.

Question is, do you want to pay $thousands just to squeak a few more mercury dimes out of those hard hid spots?:lol:
 
I have a buddy who really wants a Deus so he is constantly sending me videos about them. Kind of getting in my head. I do hunt a lot of trashy areas around old home sites. I also mostly hunt in clay with a fair amount of mineralization. I really enjoy the etrac except for the weight. I swung a 15" coil at the beach multiple hours a day for 5 days and I thought my arm was going to fall off. It took a week to recover. This is coming from a guy who works out regularly and benches 315. At this point I would have to sell the Etrac to afford a Deus. I would be sick if I did that and started digging lots of trash. I wish I could see one in action for myself. It would be awesome to own both but that would be a stretch.
 
Unfortunately, I dig more trash with the Deus, might be a user/learning/interpretation thing, but it's true for me. After swinging an Etrac with Sunray probe, the Deus almost flies out of my hand sometimes, so more energy to dig iffy signals.
 
A little story.

Yesterday, My brother and I were detecting.

I was using Deus with 9" coil.

He was using etrac with 6x8" sef coil.

I get this signal--- a screamer and didn't appear by the horseshoe reading to be very deep.

My brother swept the target many times with his etrac from different angles.

He said nothing in the spot he would dig-- no coin reading of any sort.

I dug the target out popped a 5-6" deep copper penny.

This area had loads of trash in it.

Seeing is believing.

Granted this is just a one target scenario.
 
I've owned both and I just couldn't get used to the Deus because I learned on the E-trac. I always say it's like going from an IPhone to a Galaxy, it's a difficult transition and one I couldn't do. So I sold the Deus stuck with the E-trac and now just bought a CTX because for some reason I like the more techy MD, I guess.
 
Some great posts here, should be a sticky. A very common question and you guys provided some great information and insight
 
I have the Deus, I take it out for the day to hunt and come home with lots of good stuff. I have the Minelab SE Pro, same thing. At pro, F 75, several tesoros, all come home with good stuff. Never a boring hunt. Doesn't matter what machine you have if you know how to use it you will find things. Get yourself a light weight tesoro and be amazed at how much you find in areas you have hit before, real eye opener.
 
Cabbagebasher should be along soon to tell how the XP is the ultimate answer to everything...

The etrac has far, far, more deep silver found than the XP... Standing living proof of its prowess..

But CB will tell how his friend found this, and that with the XP...

The ATP has found more gold than the Etrac, and XP combined..

But..

That just means some tools are better than others at times... Like in the fresh water, or old hunted out parks...

If I was to look for a used machine just for old parks, the Etrac has my number...

But I'll let Cabbagebasher fill you in on how the XP wins in everything...

<°))))>{
 
Cabbagebasher should be along soon to tell how the XP is the ultimate answer to everything...

The etrac has far, far, more deep silver found than the XP... Standing living proof of its prowess..

But CB will tell how his friend found this, and that with the XP...

The ATP has found more gold than the Etrac, and XP combined..

But..

That just means some tools are better than others at times... Like in the fresh water, or old hunted out parks...

If I was to look for a used machine just for old parks, the Etrac has my number...

But I'll let Cabbagebasher fill you in on how the XP wins in everything...

<°))))>{

Lol, your spot on.Any FBs machine is your best bet for silver or copper coins.Some will say Minelab FBS aren't good in iron,and I usto believe that too.But they're just as good as anything out there,and better than most at identifying deep silver and copper,and ignoring junk.
 
The first question that should have been asked is where you typically hunt? Parks , house permissions, old lots that have had several buildings torn down on them,,, etc.... Do you relic hunt or mainly coins with a focus on silver?

I personally spend more time on old lots where multiple structures had stood over the years. Here you for sure want the deus with 9 inch coil or the new small elliptical. I prefer the Impact with the small elliptical for this and sold my Deus. Deus is deep but you will not be finding deeps targets under the extreme trash on these old lots. By trash ,, not just nails! Tin, brass, aluminum etc... Nails mask targets , but nothing like these others do.

Parks, house permissions, etc..... Etrac ,,, it will give better idea as to silver on deep targets
 
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