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Garrett Ace 250

Price: $250
Avg. Score: 4 stars 4.2
Based on 260 reviews

Avg. Durability: 4 stars4.05
Avg. Ease of use: 4 stars4.50
Maximum detection depth
Submit your review for Garrett Ace 250

No title

June 01, 2010
The machine is awesome it finds coins like you wouldn't believe. You have to learn the masking thats what gives strange readings if its jumping from nickel to quarter than thats what is in the hole. When you use headphones the battery life will last about 16 hours.... I wish there was a clock on it but I guess I will put one on myself. Great machine I'm very happy with it.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

11102

Beginners Luck

May 27, 2010
I purchased an Ace 250 and I am more than satisfied. I have been working the beaches of Ft. Lauderdale and on my first use I recovered two nickels at three inches and five inches deeper I recovered five pennies that were highly mineralized. I kept working the same spot and received multiple tones and at an estimated two inches deeper I found an earring of 14k gold with 7 diamonds. I could not believe what the 250 can do. I will buy another ace 250 for my backup.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

2799

Unexpensive detector or expensive toy ?

May 27, 2010
I everybody, I am Italian and my English is full of mistakes, I hope you understand, I am not so sure.
I bought this joke after I read some enthusiastic comments right here. Do not you worry, Garrett 250 is ALMOST a chip machine, so I lost not too many Euros.
What can I say, I have no words to describe it. Some chinese "analogic", "old fashioned" detectors are far better than this noisy toy.
Anyway I also tried some other budget digital detector of famous brands and what I really think is that all of them are very similar to Garrett 250 and I found no differences between them and chinese digital poor units. I repeat, ANALOGIC unexpensive chinese detectors are very often far better than digitals machines of famous brands.
Just the exterior shape is better.
-----------
Serius hunters listen me,
do not buy digital detectors of any brands (and I mean top price digital machines too).
Analogic detectors, even if unexpensive, are always better, for fun and for finds.
With Tesoro Detectors you never go wrong and old models, previus the MicroMax series are fantastic too. Fisher 1236, 1266, 1270, (forget CZ series) and, for you people living in USA, you can easily get an extraordinary, unknown, underrated machine: the Treasure Baron Discovery (Cobra II, in a modified version) the best detector I have had.
It is still in my dreams.
I sold it just to buy a plastic saxophone, AKA "Minelab Explorer", one of the worst experiences in my life.

Overall Rating 1 star

9185

Ace 250

May 24, 2010
Good if u don't give it more than halfway on the sensitivity, other wise it goes into random tune playing all over the show and can calls owner 2 rap it round a tree and walk home.

Overall Rating 3 stars

12323

Needed coil replaced after just 1 year ?

May 22, 2010
I purchased this detector new a year ago and it
worked great up until a week ago , it would just
start going crazy a couple seconds after I turned
it on. I have taken very good care of this detector
and the coil has always had a cover on it and I
always used it in grassy areas so I would not
bump the coil on anything. I did find a lot of
coins with it when it was working properly but
you would think that the coil would last longer
than a year. Made in the U.S.A but where is the
quality ? Overall still a great first detector
for anyone that doesn't want to spend a lot of
money. It will find coins and the depth is
pretty decent. I had a lot of luck finding
nickels with this machine but you will also
dig some tabs.
-John

Overall Rating 3 stars

1588

Veteran

May 20, 2010
I first started using this machine with my son, I have been detecting for about 25 years. I have been the proud owner of a Fisher F70 and 75 over the last few years. I don't really get what people mean when they say this is a good starter machine or entry level machine, thats rubbish it is a machine fit for both the starter metal detectorist right up to the most experienced. This little detector doesn't have all the whistles and bells of the more expensive machines but it finds items as well as any other machine on the market. It is an all rounder rather than a dedicated machine that is built to specialize, but so what, give an ace 250 to an experienced metal detectorist and I bet he finds just as much with this machine as he does with a more expensive model.

My son and I have used it on beaches dry sand and salt wet sand, in fields, in forest, in abandoned house plots etc and I was in no way disappointed with the finds. In fact I prefer this machine to my more expensive Fishers.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

55101

Excellent value and preformance

May 17, 2010
I picked up an ACE 250 recently. Prior to then I had used Radio Shack model (can't remember which) about 15 years back. I was amazed at how sensitive the ACE 250 is (especially compared to that old technology). I've been using it on freshwater beaches, no problems at all with picking targets out of wet sand (may not be the case for salt water). What I liked the best:
- Super easy to use.
- Light weight, no problem swinging it for hours.
- Pin pointing works very well.
- Sensitivity is excellent at factory settings.
- Target depth ID where not 100%, does give you a really good idea at how deep you going to have to dig.
- Even with how sensitive the unit is, I had almost no 'ghost' hits, although, at max sensitivity setting they were a few. After playing for an hour or so at that setting I went back to factory.

Was able to pick up even a tiny part of an ear-ring at 6".

I had read review prior to purchasing, not sure if they've changes something in the 2010 model, but there was no issue with the shaft being lose and it didn't require tape to tighten up.

I had tried a friends GTI 2500 first. The 2500 is a nice machine, but it is heavier, requires much more effort to get to know, and of course the $900 price tag. I'm sure more practice with the settings and I would get the hang of it.

If you're looking for a good quality, easy to use, entry level detector for around $215, I would highly recommend the ACE 250.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

25114

Good detector

May 16, 2010
People that used this detector and complain that it falses a lot should back off the sensitivity. It's just too hot with full sens and that can cause falsing. I used several aces and they really impress me. Maybe not the best but name one detector that is the best? For the money it's a great machine.

Overall Rating 4 stars

897

Lost signals

May 13, 2010
Used my Ace 250 for WW-II relic hunting in the Belgian Ardennes..
Can't say I'm to happy about this detector.. Loads of signals appear to move or leave totaly..
Every time you hit something, even grass, it'll give some signal..

Missed a lot of things with this detector, like a K98 bayonet sleeve, a Tompson magazine, a pineapple granade etc.

Works well without disc. but than u got to dig for it all..

Resuming: lot of fake and moving finds and misses a lot.

easy in use though and you'll always find something..

Overall Rating 3 stars

3696

Excellent Detector

May 11, 2010
Detectors I have owned; Compass Relic Magnum, Compass X-70, Compass Coin Scanner Pro, Whites 5900 DI Pro SL, Whites Eagle Spectrum, Minelab Musketeer Advantage. Unfortunately these all went to the wayside years ago.
Now that I am 49 and have a new understanding wife, I decided to pick up the hobby again. My first attempt was a BH 3300. This was returned to the store the next day. Next I tried the Tesoro Vaquero; a used specimen off e-bay. This, in fact, is excellent but unfortunately is affected by some radio interference in my neighborhood. This happened even when switching the frequency. I sold this and decided to try the ACE 250.

I have been very pleased with this purchase and have found more coins and jewelry in a short time with this detector comparitively to other detectors I have owned. I have found some silver coins and rings but no gold yet. I am confident that this detector will find it if it is there. The ACE 250 is very sensitive to small items and if you are looking for jewelry be prepared to dig little bits of metal including foil and small aluminum bits, rivet heads, etc. I have found some silver earings that have been tiny. A pinpointer is a must.

I have added the 4.5" sniper coil and 9" x 12" coil. The sniper coil is a must for trashy areas and has proven itself by finding a lot of coins in my own yard that were masked by junk to the larger coils. As far as some of the other claims that this is a piece of junk they don't have a clue about using detectors properly or what to expect. This detector is very easy to pinpoint with. The meter works very well in conjunction with detuning or lifting the coil slightly. 90% of the time my coin probe has hit the coin on the first try. These have ranged anywhere from just under the surface down to 7 or 8 inches. In fact I have buried a fresh quarter and dime in my back yard at 7 inches and the ACE 250 has no problem finding these with the standard coil. As you know freshly buried coins are difficult to detect.

The large 9" x 12" coil has absolutely no problem with these coins and will go much deeper than the standard coil in my soil type. As for falsing, etc. this detector is no different than any other detector I have owned. A detector can only report what it sees and some items will undoubtedly mimic a coin, ring, etc. This is to be expected. The target ID is accurate on actual targets and seems to "lock" in most cases. Although a large silver ring and some coins have jumped around a bit, but this has been due to rusty nails, etc. close by. The depth meter is also accurate most of the time unless the target is a very large piece of iron or something very small.

Again I am very pleased with this detector and recommend it to anyone looking for a good basic machine and does not want to pay a fortune for good performance. As with any detector, read the manual and take the time to listen and learn to what your detector is telling you.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

70107

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