Whites Prizm II
Street Price $250 - Beginner, coin
Number of Reviews: 22
on 3 pages.
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Also in this price range:
Whites Prizm II
Garrett Ace 250
Good detector for newbies
Tom Long in Arkansas -I wanted a basic detector to start, without spending a lot of money until I knew metal detecting was something that would hold my interest, so I bought a Prism 11.
I watched the tape and read the instructions first and started hunting in my yard for practice, immediately, I started finding coins, pull tabs, bottle caps, foil, etc. What I found out is, it takes lots of practice to use this or any detector proficiently and yes you are going to dig a lot of junk for a while, any detector is only as good as it's operator and there is no detector to my knowledge that can tell you with 100% accuracy that you will find exactly what the machine tells you is there quarters, dimes, nickels,etc. If you will look at the pages of reviews online, one person will tell you it's junk, the next one will say it's a great detector. If you are a beginner, in my humble opinion, this prism 11 is a good simple, reasonably priced, machine to start with, I paid for mine with one gold ring, everything since has gone into my collection. You may never get rich, but it is a lot of fun.
Jan 16, 2010
35 Yes
1 No
Depth+ease of use
Monte Pollock in Fort Scott,Kansas -
Having used many detectors over 30+ y years I would still have to say I was impressed by the depth and ease of use. Almost turn on&go Fairly accurate ID, and a copper penny recvered at a measured depth of 11".
High price, and lack of interchangle search coils are the only disadvantages I noted.
Hopefully, by now auxiliary coils are offered.
Sep 12, 2009
23 Yes
2 No
Worst machine ever
Jo in Ca -
Terrible unit my 40 dollar bounty hunter is better than this prizm 2. It was unstable beeped on everything and modes were useless dont buy this thing its Junk sold it right away.
Mar 22, 2009
11 Yes
27 No
Prizm 2 excellent machine
shane w in australia -
I recently purchased a whites prizm 2 and am very impressed with this machine, this unit is definatley not a toy, it is a real detector. I have owned and used a minelab muskateer, bounty hunter tracker 4, garret treasure ace and a tesoro silver umax and have not been really satisfied with any of them. I found the minelab was too heavy and had my arm aching within a short period of time, the tracker 4 would only get a depth of 4 inches but was easy to use, the treasure ace just didn't inspire me, the silver umax would be my pick out of these until I used the whites prizm 2, I found the prizm not only relatively cheap it has a very solid feel to it, is a good looking detector, light weight, can be used for hours without arm fatigue and the depth it gets for a very affordable detector is outstanding. It is very easy to use and will find coins and jewelery with ease. I have been metal detecting for a few years now and would definatley have faith in whites and use my prizm 2 quiet often and with great success and confidence. If u are looking for an affordable, lightweight, effective coin and jewelery finding machine that won't break the bank, do yourself a favor and check this detector out, it may not have all the bells and whistles of the expensive machines, but has good features for a machine of this price, and to be honest doesn't need all these bells and whistles for coin and jewelery finding. Thanks whites for making this machine and making me a successful treasure hunter and making it at a very affordable price. These views are my personal opinion and is not intended to offend or run down any manufactures, all of the machines mentioned here work OK but my choice overall goes to the whites prizm 2. If by chance you do not like this detector you must be very hard to please.
Dec 12, 2008
101 Yes
1 No
Value for money
Rob. in Penrith,uk -I purchased a Prizm 2 last week purely because it was cheap and wanted to see how it performed. Discrimination is excellent. You will not dig iron with this machine. I passed a hammer under the coil and-NOTHING! Foil is also discriminated but the pull tab area is the dodgy area as with other detectors. Modern 5ps and 10ps are ignored as are post 1947 shillings and sixpences. If you want these you will have to dig the ring pulls. However the earlier decimal 10ps are retained. Nothing else is lost on these settings. I've found rings can register just about anywhere on the upper 2/3 so this means digging the tabs again. Depth is fairly good. I found a lizzie2 halfpenny at 8" loud and clear. This machine loves £1 coins and any copper/bronze/iron combination. I had a go in a kiddie barkbox and my pocket was full of 1ps, 2ps and 11 pound coins. I found only 1 10p and that was by accident as the ring pulls were a nuisance.
ONLY dig those repeatable signals or you will go mental. A nice clear tone is what you are after. Once you get used to it, its a good starter machine and maybe a bit more.
Here are my findings for more recent coinage:
1p=5c
2p=5c or 25c
5p=5c
10p=5c
20p=pull tabs
50p=5c
£1=$1
Farthing=1c
halfpence=1c
penny=1c
sixpence=foil/5c 3d/brass=1c
3d/shilling=1c
shilling(pre 47=25c
florin=1c
Hope this is helpful to someone.
Nov 03, 2008
47 Yes
4 No
Prizm 2 is excellent
Sonnie Higgins in Lakehurst,NJ -I was recently introduced to metal detecting by my older brother. He uses a Whites DFX and told me Whites is a good company. About 8 months ago I purchased a Whites PrizmII cause its really all I could afford. I found it really easy to use and really light weight as compared to the higher models. With the PrismII and being a beginner I have been really surprised at the quantity of coins and relics I've been finding. So far I have found about $300 in modern coins and many older coins including some silver. My favourite finds so far have been an 1864 Two cent piece and a 1903 Barber dime. For anyone looking for a cheap easy to use metal detector Whites PrizmII is the way to go, ANYONE can use this machine with ease.
Apr 29, 2008
113 Yes
4 No
New found intrest
adam in Hudson Falls,N.Y. USA -This isn't much of a review , I'm afraid. I just received my first metal detector this past Christmas. There is still a lot of snow on the ground, And the perma- frost is still thick. I live in an area rich with French and Indian war History. I have been looking at old maps and such for trails, camps etc. The more I learn, the longer this winter becomes! anyways I wanted to thank you for my new found interest, Happy hunting.
Feb 21, 2008
8 Yes
176 No
40 silver coin
mike in norfolk,va -i got the prizm 2 at a pawn shop for $132.w/950 search coil, back in april 06.with 6 months of hunting i`ve dug 40 silver coin including 1941 walking liberty half, 1916 barber dime, the rest are fdr dimes, mercury dimes,quarters. 1 1907 indian head penny, 2 buffalo nickles dates gone, 9 silver rings, and over $350. in change so the prizm 2 has paid for itself and is a good detector for the money. but research is key and you will dig alot of trash to. dont get discouraged, you have to take the good with the bad don`t get into this hobby thinking that you`ll get rich
Jun 03, 2007
65 Yes
2 No
Whites Prizm II
poptop in Eastern North Carolina -I have 5 Whites detectors, the earliest a 75 Coinmaster IV TR that I bought new in 75. Needing a lighter detector for everyday use I bought the Prizm II. It has performed well and I have found many coins. The pinpoint is dead center the coil. If you want to find rings, you will be digging poptops and pull tabs. It has good separation between zink and copper pennies and dimes. When you detect a coin,the target ID is steady and does not jump around like it does on trash. It gives a low grunt type tone when it is a big piece of iron or aluminum(at least mine does) as I have not read anything reference to this type of tone on this detector.
All in all,it is a fun, easy to use, turn on and go machine. It will hold me until I can justify an M6 or XLT.
Apr 10, 2006
121 Yes
4 No
Newbie gives 5 star Review to Prizm II
cary in south dakota -As a newbie, I wanted an inexpensive, light (under 3 lbs with batteries), but well-made metal detector. I did not want to invest a lot of money, in case I did not like metal detecting. After receiving a $50 off coupon from Whites, I decided to go to the local hardware store, which had a store-wide sale, and take a look at the Whites Detectors. With sale and coupon I ended up purchasing the Prism II for under $150.00, though I could have purchased a Prizm IV for around $300.00, I feel I didn't want to spend that kind of money at this time.
Here is my review:
The assembly of the unit is easy. Directions were clear and easy to follow. One thing I noticed in the directions is that is doesnt show where the Headphone jack is. It is located on the side of the box, there is a black pullout snap cover protecting the opening. The unit is well balanced also, which is very important at the end of a long day. It is not "top" or bottom" heavy and the arm cup is comfortable.
This unit is truly an ON and GO machine. Simply turn it on and you can go hunting, using factory settings for discrimination (factory presets eliminate iron and foil and standard sensivity is set) I found .56 in change including 2 clad quarters at 5 inches in my first 30 minutes at a local park. While the Prizm II lacks a depth indicator ,I still dont feel that for a beginner, a depth indicator (Prizm III) is necessary and I would rather save the $100 and spend it on books or gasoline, or use to buy a better dectector if I get hooked on the hobby, so that is why I didn't buy a Prizm III or IV. 2nd day out at a local man-made beach I found 13 coins (no quarters), 2 hot wheels, fishing sinkers, an old key and over 30 pull tabs. I dug all tab indications. The unit detect via motion sweeping, unless in pinpoint mode. When a target it indicated you get a distinct BEEP. To verify it is a true target, White suggests repeated BEEPS in both the forward and reverse swing to indicate repeatability of the signal. I found this works well.
I feel this unit will go 6-8 inches deep no problem, though i didnt go that deep for my finds as they were all shallower. The Pinpointing mode is very good, in the center of the coil, making it easy use.
Once a person understands what discrimation is and does and how it works (read as many books as you can on the subject), one can adjust it to suit his/her tastes. The control is easy to use. The sensitivity control is easy to use also, if you need to adjust it.
The digital display shows the type of treasure that is most likely to be dug up. At the time , as a newbie, I didnt realize that rings could and will likely show up in the tab range, but never the matter, i didnt miss any jewelry, because I dug all signals. Unfortunatly, I had only 2 days to use the Prizm II before winter snow storm that totalled 17 inches of snow over a 3 day period, sub zero temperatures, so I am afraid my hunting days are over until spring. I am very well satisfied with this unit, and I am hooked on the hobby. I will always keep this unit as a spare, if I decide to go with an update next year. I highly recommend this unit, especially if you can purchase it for between 150-$200.00.
Dec 08, 2005
225 Yes
1 No