Minelab E-TRAC
Price: $1500
Avg. Score: 
4.1
Based on 69 reviews
4.1Based on 69 reviews
Avg. Durability:
3.55
Avg. Ease of use:
3.27
Is the e-trac better than explorer se?
December 19, 2018
NOOOO!!! I bought the E-TRAC and made a lot of test in comparosson with my
EXCELENT Explorer SE and dissapointed when I foun there´s no difference
except some details like coil, conectivity and menu. I expect a different
detector with new tecnologies and more deep targets and better finds.
Dissapointed is the result. Is the same detector than Explorer SE. But it doesn´t mean is bad So if you are going to buy this and you do not have an Explorer, then go because is a very good detector anyway The new coil wich comes also in the Explorer SE PRO, goes more deep than de FLB 10¨ Explorer SE original, but only 1 inch more.
To be honest, the Explorer is more accurate to identify targets and the pin point as well. I wish Minelab make a new versión of the explorer SE just with deep detection and no more it would be perfect!! I used the E-TRAC for 1 season and was enough! What I did? So I sold the E-TRAC to a Friend and bought a White´s TDI SL in order to go for deep targets in the wet sand and it is amazing for that work So, E-TRAC sinde my point of view is "the same new" Minelab Explorer detector Durability is good, the weak point is the display, NEVER DETECT UNDER DE RAIN !!! WITHOUT A DISPLAY COVER!!! if water goes behind the display, for sure a capacitor will exploit inside de machine I have The explorer SE from 2007. Found too much gold an silver I´m happy with this Regards
Max Depth: 9 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
No, not really.
OSCAR FERNANDO SANCHEZ ARAMAYO from
SALTA ARGENTINA
14
Not for me, but not bad.
October 22, 2017
If you like to swing your coil quick then stay away. Especially in trashy
areas, CPU is slow. You need to slow down or you'll flat out miss targets.
Locks on to silver like a hot dam. A lot of guys kill it with this machine
but I never took to it the same way. Definitely not for a beginner. You
need to be patient and slow down if your going to use it. I'd say if a very
good machine but not for me.
Max Depth: 10 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
No, not really.
Dirt Burglar from
Vancouver Canada
48
Horrible customer service at minelab
October 07, 2016
Great machine, but horrible customer service! Takes a miracle to get them
to return calls or emails. CEO should be fired for allowing such a great
product to fail in the customer service department.
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
No, not really.
Virginia from
Washington
206
Best one i have used
April 25, 2016
I don't care what anyone says bad about this detector. I have had all of
them etrac always brings home the bacon, silver magnet.
Max Depth: 10 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
Yes, absolutely!
Tommy from
Virgina
1711
Minelab build quality
June 13, 2015
I have a Minelab Etrac. The machine while being a good performer is falling
to bits before my eyes. The build quality is crap compared to other
machines like Fisher/Whites/Garrett even Cscope have ten times better build
quality.
Max Depth: 8 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
No, not really.
George from
UK
1442
Vista rg1000 or gold beats etrac or at
April 30, 2015
I own one it works like a ford 9". Watch the youtube videos vista and etrac
you will be blown away. The vista will hit hard on a dime at 10". Etrac
will barely hit it at 8 in highly mineralized red soil and then call it
iron. Who's got time playing with program's that make you think your
machine will do anything special when it won't out do simple like the vista
rg1000 or vista gold. A better price for the etrac should be around the
ace350 price range. At least the two machines are within an inch or two
apart in depht. Try a vista for you will say minelab what? HH
Max Depth: 7 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
No, not really.
Bobby from
Kingsport TN
1538
E-trac not for beginners
October 08, 2014
I have been detecting in the UK for many years now and have owned my e-trac
for the past 4. Like many people have said before, when first switching on
the machine it gives the impression it's broken and squeaks and grunts like
a deranged animal...
After the first hour with it, the beloved e-trac was nearly launched into the hedgerow. I tried many settings to what I thought was no avail. Then after about a month of trial and error, bingo, my brain realized what the e-trac was all about. The machine needs to be honed to the person using it. It is a very sensitive machine, but when fully tuned in to it's operator there is no better all rounder. Here are a few tips on how to perfect this machine (don't know too much how the soils differ worldwide to here in the uk), firstly, turn off your mobile phone, this will sporadically interfere with machine (especially iphones). Remove watches and jewelry on hands. Wear wellie boots (rubber) with no metal eyelets etc. Ensure your trousers (or pants) don't have metal poppers or zippers at the bottom. Carry your digging tool above waist height (I carry a shovel on my shoulder). All these common sense factors all contribute to the noise/sensitivity of the e-trac.
I have found the machine when running a hot sensitivity (over 22) will pick-up on the slightest metallic objects or electrical item. All this, and that's without even starting on the settings. I will not go fully into what I run my settings at as it will be a personal preference. But what I will say is, if you are just starting out with the e-trac, set the machine for coins, a manual sensitivity of around 22 (drop it if unstable, add more if nice and quiet) and go for it.
Don't bother with deep search, unless specifically looking for deep objects. You will end up digging bomb craters for old junk. That said, I like to run a nice low and quiet threshold hum constantly in the background. This will (in coin mode) tell you of any iron targets by going silent. If a coin is among iron contamination it will go silent then give you the lovely solid ring/beep. To run the machine on all metal with multi-tones is a test for the most hardened detectorist. You will end up looking constantly at the screen, when you should be taking in the scenery.
Just remember this is a multi frequency machine so a slow swing and shuffle is best practice. I've dug targets at over 3ft deep, and on the same setting found bronze roman minim's in iron contaminated soil. Remember, this machine easily out performs the XP Deus on depth and range of targets.. The deus, is lighter and has cool wireless head-phones, but will be out done in the long-run... So persevere with this machine, you will be rewarded.
Max Depth: 12 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
No, not really.
Jerry from
Suffolk, England
3819
Very good coin machine
June 20, 2014
A friend of mine suggested that I buy this machine based upon his
experience over many years of hunting. Years ago we both bought a Whites
Eagle Spectrum and is still an awesome detector but the E-Trac once
learning the sounds is a superior detector. Anybody that says it's not,
either cant hear well or does not want to spend the time learning the
sound.
It does take a little practice. I think some people do not have the patience to learn what a solid tone is for what they are digging. There are cheaper and simpler machines that will find stuff but if you want a machine that will find the good stuff in areas previously hunted this is the detector for you.
Max Depth: 10 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
No, not really.
Wildman1964 from
Hurricane, WV
285
Silver and gold with etrac
April 12, 2014
Bought the Etrac one year ago, within a month I found 1 golden coin and 2
silver hoards! One mediëval and one from the 1600's. No doubt, it's a
silver killer. High tones on the silver, low tones on the gold. On the
beach the best friend you can have (comparing to the Deus). This year I've
found mediëval silver again, very edgy on little silver as well.
I've uploaded several programs form the minelab site, the Roman site pattern is my favorite! Great balance also! One thing: for that amount of money I wanted a bluetooth headphone. The cord is lousy. And, you won't find golden chains (jewelry) with it, it will give a blur.
Max Depth: 11 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
I have no clue...
Johan from
Holland
1619
All that and a bag of chips
November 28, 2013
It lives up to it's reputation. After owning 5 detectors from 3
manufacturers I can say it easily delivers the best results, and by a big
margin. CTX has fancy features, but E-Trac is the go-to world silver killer
for a reason. After considerable use, the ability to identify targets by
their sound mid-swing will develop due the the fantastic tones scaling.
Even with the stock coil you can perform coin pulls from trash other detectors can't touch. This comes with a downside. You won't want to dig things that E-trac doesn't agree with, and that is a no-no. If it's iffy, you need to dig it. I usually hunt in auto sensitivity, usually 19 on the scale. Manually turning it up to 25 does clean up ID clarity on deeper targets, but running it this way will be noisy. I have pulled silver quarters in the 9-10" range. Not saying it won't go deeper, it seems to on test gardens, that's just the deepest I've encountered them.
Max Depth: 10 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
Yes, absolutely!
Fairway from
America
2212