Garrett Ace 250
Street Price $250 - Beginner, coin
Number of Reviews: 181
on 19 pages.
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Also in this price range:
Whites Prizm II
Garrett Ace 250
Here is what I think after useing it awhile
Charles Paris in Indiana -The Ace 250 is the best thing in detectors that has ever come along! Well, not quite the best thing but very close.
When I first got the Ace eight weeks ago I was ecstatic! I could not wait to get out into the field and see what this little guy could do. Already being familiar with the power of the MXT, I was quite surprised by the ACE and its simple turn and go application. There is almost NO learning curve to scare off the first time detectionist. The DVD and the instruction booklet are easy to understand. A first time buyer can be up and running in a matter of thirty minutes! That?s not an exaggeration!
The ACE 250 is solid and small but don?t let the size fool you. It?s a rugged little machine. The visual display is clear but may be too small for some of us with poor eyesight, even with glasses. The sounds of the machine, the tones that indicate when you have hit a coin, iron, or just trash, are all clear and distinct. You will KNOW when you hit a target worth digging. If you?re not sure about the target you will quickly learn to dig it anyway. Many iffy tones, while usually junk, have turned out to be real keepers. You will soon learn what to dig and what to ignore.
After having said all that, I have to vent my one complaint: the pin pointing is a real problem for many people and for my self as well.
The standard coil that comes with the ACE 250 is an elliptical 6.5x9inch coil. It does not pin point accurately with any consistency. It does NOT pin point dead center of the coil. Usually it will pin point in the front inner coil?.maybe. Sometimes it WILL pin point very close to the center but be off to the right or left. You will have to perform a little ?stunt? called ?detuning.? This is not discussed on the DVD or in the instruction booklet but needs to be. The reader is lead to believe that all you have to do is move the machine forward, backward and sideways, while pressing on pin point and keeping your eyes on the visual pin point display. ?In your dreams!? After referring to experts on the metal detecting forums, I soon learned how to pin point and detune the ACE 250. Has it helped me find my targets any better? Sometimes I find them, and at other times I spend too much time looking for them. The results are more wasted time and usually a bigger and deeper hole that need not have been dug.
The only way around this situation is one: too buy a hand held pin pointer that cost an arm and a leg, or two, buy the 4.5 sniper coil. The sniper coil is always dead on. There is no wasting time trying to locate your target. The third alternative is to just live with the situation. I do not agree with this last alternative. Garrett needs to address this problem by ?fixing it,? or by providing an 8inch concentric coil for us die hards who like them.
Would I recommend this machine? Yes but only half heartedly. I would give it a full thumbs up when Garrett comes through and fixes the pin pointing problem AND provides us with an 8 inch concentric coil.
Sep 10, 2007
129 Yes
1 No
Good for the money
Patrick in FL -
Have about 100 hours in with ace 250 beach and park hunting.
First off this is a coin shooter. If your into recent clad this is the machine for you. For a new comer this can be pretty impressive as is its turn on and go capabilities and I suspect this is what has lead to the numerous positive reviews. The reality is any lower end detector will do the same.
Beach hunting;
Machine does fine for dry sand as will any other machine in its price range. At first I was impressed with its wet sand abilities with a few quick clad finds but as time went on I discovered it had the same falsing and pinpointing problems in wet sand as any other machine in its price range.
Park hunting;
If trashy forget about it unless you disc out all but the higher coin range. Unfortunately you have then disced out most all gold. For less trashy areas it will do fine.
This is not a jewelry machine and lets face it that's what we all want after the novelty of digging all the clad wares off. For this I would recommend saving up the money for a machine with a numeric vid and wider range of notch discrimination unless of course you are a "dig it all" type and then your fine with the ace.
Bottom line is for an introductory machine you cant really go wrong with it. Reasonable price and performance.
For now it is also holding its value nicely so if you find that the hobby is not for you you can recope a large percentage of your money. If you find your in the hobby for the long term I suspect you will eventually want a better machine. This is true no matter what introductory machine you start out with.
Sep 05, 2007
43 Yes
3 No
good time detecting
Jerry in Alabama -
Ok,
I just got my new ace 250 two days ago. I watched the dvd and read the owners manual. Today 8-25-07 I crawled out of bed at 6:00 am and went hunting. I am very pleased with the results of my first hunt, I had found several old bullets and a few coins in my first hour of the hunt. In my opinion this detector is worth the investment so if your looking for a good starter detector this is the one....Bench test this unit when you get it, the video explains how and you will save a lot of time. You will be able to avoid the trash and get the treasure......Happy hunting
Aug 25, 2007
28 Yes
1 No
Impressed with Ace 250
Gene Lyons in Marlow, Ok. USA -I started detecting in the mid 80's with a White's 6000 Di Coinmaster that was a near top of the line model for then. It had a HUGE learning curve almost like learning to play the piano but once learned, was hard to beat.
I just got the Ace 250 to replace the White's and noticed a few things about it. The learning curve for it is low, has a lot more features, and I hate to say it but it beats the old White's hands down. (Sure, it has new technology and my White's is 24 years old, so it should beat it.)
My White's new was over $500. The Ace 250 was $200.
When you turn on the White's, you must go through a complicated "ground balancing" routine of pushing buttons and twisting knobs.
With the Ace 250 you just hit the power button and go.
I've heard from some about the apparent cheapness and looseness of the tubes. If you look closely, I think you'll discover the lower tube is a composite material designed to insulate the coil from the rest of the unit. The material is naturally more flexible than steel and not a design flaw.
I learned this from the White's: If you're pinpointing with the Ace and the signal is overloading the unit, swing sideways just a little, release and press the pinpoint button again and the detector will "detune" itself. Do this a few times until there will be only a short "beep" when swung directly over the target and you will have the exact position of your find.
My White's weighs almost eight pounds. The Ace weighs only 2.7 pounds.
The Ace apparently goes 2 to 4 inched deeper than the White's. An example: My wedding ring shows up at 6" in an air test with the White's - Nine inches with the Ace.
The Ace has notch discrimination - the White's does not.
The Ace 250 has five preset modes to choose from - the White's had to be manually set for each one.
Please remember: I'm comparing the Ace 250 with a 24 year old detector. The new ones I'm sure are much better. (Yes, the old White's still works very well, thank you.)
I haven't used the Ace enough to discover all of it's characteristics. I do know it has features only available in much higher priced units of just a few years ago. I would not hesitate to purchase it again. It's a good find in and of itself.
Aug 20, 2007
39 Yes
4 No
Bought one for my wife.
Mike Hillis in Albuquerque NM -
She was using a little modified Tesoro Tone ID unit and mentioned she'd like to have a visual target id. She has to have lite detectors. So I thought I'd get her a new ACE250 to try. I thought the features were nice and at the price I couldn't lose much.
Didn't work too well in our ground. Falsed all the time even at low settings. No coin lock ons. At first I thought it was just her and the new detector learning curve but nope. Just our magnetic ground doing its stuff on a preset ground balanced machine.
Physically, the arm rod is too short which makes it coil heavy. Wasn't nice to swing for either of us. Bell tone was irritating. Notch spread is a bit lopsided to the silver side.
Just wasn't a good choice for us so I sold it.
Aug 13, 2007
14 Yes
13 No
You Don't Always Get What You Pay For
3G's in So. Dak. -IF you THINK the Garrett 250 shouldn't find as much as a $1000 machine you are right. The $1000 machines have Threshold, Volume, Grnd Trk, etc. etc..By the time you learn how to set all the controls you are convinced that this baby can 'find' a silver dime at 12" (good luck)..Using the same locations for trying out my new detectors, and 35 yrs of learning, this Garrett model will 'Coinshoot' as well, if not better, than the heavy, more complicated machines..I'm not 'prospecting' or 'relic hunting', that is for the folks that want to carry shovels. This is a machine for those of us who just want to relax and have some fun..
Aug 11, 2007
30 Yes
1 No
A True ACE
Dan Etherton in Senatobia, MS -The ACE 250 is a great value and a great machine. I have an older model Bounty Hunter, but never detected much because I never found much. I've hunted with the 250 for less than 30 hours total and have found about 240 clad coins, three silver rings, a few collectable coins, not to mention numerous keys, tokens, knives, etc. It's light and easy to use. It takes about 15-20 hours to really get the hang of what the tones are trying to tell you, but the more I use it, the better, and more abundant, my finds get. I can't think of a better machine for the money. Try it...You'll love it!
Aug 05, 2007
27 Yes
4 No
Here a no bull review!
Rene in Netherlands -Did get this detector last week.
Had not much time to test it, only did some back yard searching.
Pro's :
Light weight
Has diffrent tones for diffrent metals!
Handels easy and comforteble.
Metal type Indicater on screen.
A lot of programming options.
One thing i hate about this detector : IT HAS NO VOLUME CONTROL!!!
This was a big disapointmet when i saw it.
So you need to use a ajusteble headphone, or what i did is to tape off the speaker holes to get a exepteble volume.
I also advise that you get the bigger coil and rain cover for the Ace.
But this is a fine detector with good preformance, don't think you get a better one for this mony.
Rene,
The Netherlands
Aug 03, 2007
11 Yes
2 No
Best for the money
decadude in owensboro, kentucky -I am a complete newbie to the hobby and from what I have found this detector has been super easy to learn.
Pound for Pound this detector I think reigns supreme as far as the more bang for the buck aspect. The pinpoint feature works very well.
Nothing but good out of this detector thus far. I am soon going to buy a sniper coil for it.
Oh it is super lightweight to making hours of detecting easier
Jun 02, 2007
51 Yes
1 No
Great - straight out of the box.
John Thornley in Loughborough, UK -If you are new to metal detecting and want something that works really well straight out of the box, the Garrett Ace 250 is IT! The control system is so intuitive and it takes very little time to climatise to its "ways". Of course, in the UK with different coinage, you should follow the advice in the free DVD and bench test well for all local currency to see where the 250 puts each individual coin.
I know there are a few picky reviews from those who also own big bucks machines, but for what it says on the tin - it easily hits the mark and beyond. I am very very pleased.
May 23, 2007
16 Yes
1 No
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