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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

Some ACE 250 users unfairly expect $1k performance!

April 13, 2008
I sold electronics (including metal detectors) for years, and most problems people had with their purchases were caused by them NEVER even bothering to look at the instructions! Trust me, you are not so smart that you don't need to read the instructions!
I have an ACE 250, and being an experienced detectorist, I have had virtually none of the problems supposedly experienced by the purveyors of the bad reviews. If you go on the Garrett website, there is a very good computer-animated demo of how to pinpoint. If You just SLOW DOWN and realize that the dig point is in the MIDDLE of the sound band, and scan two ways as instructed, it is dead-on. I've never had a problem.
I think what many people want is a machine that will locate valuables, dig it up for them, and place it in their hand. Take the time to get to know your machine, what it is trying to tell you, and that it is a man-made contraption, and therefore not perfect!
The ACE 250 is a great little machine, is extremely fun to use, and first-time buyers or even experienced hunters wanting a great turn-on-and-go machine can't go wrong. Just don't worry about all the belly-aching from people who can't be bothered with actually learning to use their machine. If the $200 price range is what you are limited to, then you can't do better that the ACE 250. It's a real GEM !!!!

Overall Rating 5 stars!

10388

Do not believe the Hype

April 12, 2008
I completely agree with disliker, even with the sniper coil this detector Loves trashy items. A penny is not a Dime, a pull tab is not a Quarter. With the Ace as others have stated, you have to dig up all items that it responds to, and it Loves Clad. True it has the features of detectors costing much more, but what is the use of these features when they are not accurate .
But in conclusion the ace 250 is better than most detectors within its price range, and is a beginner, coin shooter and nothing more, but if your serious about metal detecting you should upgrade to a better detector, think of all the great finds you may have missed :-( .

Overall Rating 3 stars

9425

It Deffinitely finds metal

April 06, 2008
I have had my Ace 250 for about 2 weeks now. I have read every single review on this site so I know all of what everyone says. It is a great metal detector. It is so easy and thus far the pinpointing is for the most part dead on. I have found a lot of trash but it is always pretty much dead on. I do give this five stars. and I will report back later when I get to know it better.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

1365

Garrett Ace 250 is a Great Machine

March 20, 2008
I have a GTI 2500, but actually prefer this little machine. First of all it's light weight. I can metal detect longer and have more fun. I usually hunt at the beach and I have found coins, a gold earring, a silver ring, and WWII machine gun bullet. I'm still getting to know the machine, yet for the money, it has very good features. Contrary to other reviews, I find that this detector pinpoints a target very well; however, I am using the larger oval coil. Perhaps that makes somewhat of a difference. It is waterproof up to the electronic box, so I don't have to worry about getting splashed by any rogue wave!

Overall Rating 5 stars!

2670

Silver Doller nickle iron is a ring on this machine!

February 28, 2008
If you go to a store and test this metal detector out it looks like all you need. It rejects iron and picks up coins in a breeze but let me tell you don't belive the hype cause a ring ain't a silver doller a nickle and a pop tup all right. If you live in soil with high mineralization this thing will act up and leave you with mental confusion. It also hates gold. It only has 12 segments that means twelve different metal shapes not compesitions. It only has 2 tones 1 high for silver 1 low for iron and has now audible gold tone. Don't Belive the hype i would steer clear from garrets ace line up. IT also can't pin point for a mile.

Overall Rating 1 star

10653

Garrett Ace 250 is a gem!

February 28, 2008
I've been detecting for over 35 years and have owned Whites, Compass and others. When I saw what features the Ace had I couldn't wait to try it out. The first thing I did right out of the box was set up a bench test and "WOW" If the air tests were as good in the ground we are going to find alot with this machine. I took it to a local park close to where I work and in about 30 min. found 7 pennies, 3 dimes and a silver ring. The next weekend I went to an old amusement park dating back to the 1800's and found within 2 hours 11 pennies, 2 nickles, 5 dimes including a 1904 Barber, 1 quarter and a silver ring dating back to the 1800's about 6" down under a rock! I was very impressed with my new Ace and would highly recommend it to others looking for a machine with alot of features for the money! Now I can't wait for it to warm up a bit so I can go back to my beach and turn up more treasure!

Overall Rating 5 stars!

3273

Great machine

February 20, 2008
I got this machine because I did research and I need a machine that was good for the money and wasn't to expensive because I didn't have that much money. This machine was the one. When I got this machine, it was easy to assemble, its very light weight, which is good. I the tested it in my back yard and here is what I found:
tons of penneys, including 2 wheat ones
1quater
2dimes
a neckless
This machine is a great and I can't wait to take it other places like the beach

pros:
lightweight
easy to use
no learning curve
has a screen and barely any adjusting needed(no knobs)

cons:
the pinpointing isn't that exact, I still have to get better at it.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

3776

New Garrett Ace 250

February 18, 2008
I tried my new Ace 250 today for the first time. In a half hour I found 1- quarter. 1-dime and 4-cents. All in my back yard that I have "cleaned out" with a Whites XLT. It is a very good detector. You have to learn how to use it like any other. I cannot stress repeatability of a signal enough! If it's not repeatable, don't dig it. Mine is a very nice machine, no shaft wobble at all. Pinpointing is not that much of an issue if you press the pinpoint button a couple of times to detune it, like any other detector that I have used. You will dig some junk with the best units out there and they all lie to you! For the money, hell, for a couple of hundred more, it is the best. Just don't expect the bells, whistles and endless scrolling through menu's that the "best" one's offer. So far I am very pleased. By the way, I have been a coinshooter since 1976. You can contact me at, katmoe3@verizon.net, I am in Uniontown, PA. and surrounded by treasure! Keep a weather eye to the horizon!

Overall Rating 5 stars!

3295

Ace 250 For the money, simply amazing

February 02, 2008
Out of the box I was running around finding stuff I needed to find. We had just finished construction on our shop and had gotten two flats.... nails. I hit the gravel roadway and found a pile of nails that must have fallen off the contractors truck and disappeared into the dirt.

Then I started in on the playground....

Amazing tool. After playing with it and earning back about a dollar of my investment (not to mention saving money on flat repairs)I watched the DVD... great work Garrett!

Overall Rating 5 stars!

1970

Here is what I think after useing it awhile

September 10, 2007
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.

Overall Rating 4 stars

14967

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