Minelab Explorer II
Price: $1200
Avg. Score: 
4.33
Based on 97 reviews
4.33Based on 97 reviews
Avg. Durability:
4.40
Avg. Ease of use:
4.00
Explorer SE..... Complex , But Logically designed
October 09, 2007
Yes, The Minelab Explorer SE has a lot of gadgets, bells and whistles. Some
may not actually help you find what you are looking for. However, I have
programmed telelphone systems for the last 25yrs. So I really like all the
software adjustable options. It makes me feel more in control. And after
all it is a toy. The SE is my first detector (purchased 10 months ago)so I
don't have a comparison. I have found hundreds of coins, Oldest 1818 Matron
head penny. Nothing of much value but Great fun ! It takes a while to
discern all the rapid tone changes when you encounter mineralized soil or
multiple metal. You get a tremendous amount of audio and visual data
rapidly. The Explorer SE is a sleek and beautiful machine but somewhat
heavy or possibly misbalanced. Overall I like this instrument very much now
that I've forgotten the price pinch. RATING: BUY
Overall Rating
Rrwerdt@comcast.net from
Harrisburg, Pa
1910
Don't Give Up
September 28, 2007
When I first got my Explorer SE I thought I was going to go out and just
start finding coins every swing. When I turned it on for the first time
and heard long nulls and flute noises as oppossed to the beeps i was used
to hearing and it just sounded like a bunch of noise, I had buyers remorse
and wanted to send it back. But since i just paid 1200 bucks for this
thing i figured I might as well give it a chance. Well I stuck with it,
and before I knew it I got the hang of it. I always hunt in All Metal Mode
so the nulls don't bother me and you can hear everything in the ground. At
first all the different flute tones will drive you crazy, but after awhile
you brain will just kinda block out the low Iron tones and just process the
good high tones. I have found dimes at around 10 inches, but they won't
read out as dimes that deep, but the digital numbers will be pretty close
and jump around a little bit. Anything shallower than that this machine is
almost dead on what is in the ground. Only time i ever have problems with
ID is when Iron is near the coin....Ferrous and Conductivity numbers will
be off some, but the tones will still let you know there might be something
there. Also at first pinpointing is a nightmare with this machine, but
once you get the hang of it you'll know right where the coins are under the
coil. This detector is really really heavy, but hey, it gives you a good
workout.You do have to swing it slow cause its response time sucks. If you hear a high tone in ferrous mode you have to swing the coil for like 4 or 5 seconds to get the digital numbers to update. This i wish Minelab would do something about cause it's a pain. Anyways, If you get this machine and have buyers remorse, just keep at it for a few weeks and you'll be changing your opinion of it.
Overall Rating
JCFresh from
Pittsburgh
291
Explorer One Good Machine
August 29, 2007
I have had my Explore II for 2 years. I do mostly beach hunting.I found
that by placing the audio to FERROUS and using the detector for all metal,
not using any discrimination including iorn mask.What you do use as discrimination is your own ears. A very high pitch is Ferrous and lower pitch is iorn. When I hit rings and coins, I get excited knowing what it possibly might be. With This setup I also increase my sensitivity to the highest value without getting too much noise.This way it is able to find things very deep. I find coins in areas worked for many years that are deep and by looking at the condition of the coins one can tell it been there for ages. I like this this machine sooo much I would buy another Explorer.
Overall Rating
Bert from
Hawaii, USA
215
Not what its hyped up to be
August 11, 2007
First up, I've been metal detecting for a lot of years and used a lot of
different detectors. I have used the Explorer on the beach and inland and
will say this about it.If you want a machine to use on the beach that will go deep and handle salt conditions, then buy the Explorer. It is a great beach machine with a reasonable learning curve, take your time with it.
However, If you want a machine to use on old house sites and parks etc, I would not recommend the Explorer. It does not perform well in high trash areas. The response of this detector is too slow, even with the fast recovery switched on. Also, It does not handle all ground conditions well. Another problem with the Explorer is the weight, too heavy on the coil end.
In my opinion there are better detectors out there. Maybe Minelab should spent more money on R&D and less on advertising. Has the potential to be a good detector.
Overall Rating
Peter from
Australia
329
Explorer Detectors are good - over priced though.
July 21, 2007
The explorer detectors are probably the worlds most over hyped metal
detectors in living history. No question about this. They are good
detectors yes but are not as good as the hype makes you believe. My deepest
coin so far has come from 6 -7 inches , no 14 inch deep coins as yet , some
have claimed 14 inches is possible on deep coins but i have to say i have
not got past 7 or 8 inches on a coin as yet with either explorer 2 or the
se. The discrimination abilities of the explorer detector are fantastic
though if set right, you can teach the detector to detect only certain
coins , if set proper this feature is honestly deadly accurate and you can
detect and dig virtually just the coins you have programmed in and dig no
virtually no junk at all. This is a feature that i love on trashy sites and
gives me the abilty to cherry pick coins out from trashy sites or any other
coin shooting site- speeding up finding lost coinage. The explorers are
nice detectors but are over priced . Minelab must be rich from just
selling this detector range alone!.. All in all its a great coin shooter
but is massively over priced which is a shame. The batteries soon get
flattened too - no matter how powerful your batteries are - these detectors
are very thirsty for battery power (and that incluseds the se).Always
fully charge your battery pack before going out detecting because the
battery voltage will drop off very fast once your battery level indicator
gets to 50% down. Good points :- The explorers will find coins on sites
you thought you had worked out with your old xlt or dfx or other detector,
especally silver coins , the explorers are superb on silver coins - really
good. Watch out for bad SE coils , they go faulty quite often. The se is
not quite as deep as the explorer 2 and lacks about an inch depth on coins
compared to the explorer 2. On smaller targets the se will beat the
explorer xs and explorer 2. Iron rejection on the explorer xs and 2 is
excellent but not as good on the se. Heavy on your elbow so don't say i
did't warn you, you get arm ache from the elbow with these detectors which
makes detecting for more than an hour really uncomfortable. I have arm
muscles like a gorilla but i still get aches pretty quick honestly..
Overall Rating
Silver hunter uk. from
Uk
354
Now we are talking
June 22, 2007
Fabulous whatever way you look at it, loads of programmes to choose from.
ok its heavy for some.but what you gain in performance more than makes up
for...i run iron mask at -6 just becoz i havent got time digging iron,and
this baby still hits the hammereds..just swing slow its a thoroughbred pure
and simple..and its deeeeeeeeeeep.loads of programmes you can use or mess
around with,or just stick the one you want in and leave it alone,then its
just switch on and go,remember this always press noise cancel now and again
as soil conditions change in all a world beater.
Overall Rating
Paul from
Linc uk
174
Explorer SE is a piece of junk
May 30, 2007
The reason that this a a piece of junk because, my ace 250 works better is
more accurate and goes deeper. I regret spending moneyof Explorer SE. i
could have bought 6 ace 250s instead for entire family. SE is a very slow
machine does not work on all soil condition and it is only ok for beach
that is it, do NOT buy it I REGRET OVERPRICED
Overall Rating
John from
Portland, OR
2941
Don't give up
April 02, 2007
At first I was going to throw ExII in the trash, due to I've been using all
major brands of metal detectors since 1989, and this machine was totaly a
diffrent machine. Even from the Pluse Star II I own ($2500 machine). But I
worked with it until I finnally got the trick, forget about all you have
learned with any other metal detector. Start as a beginer and keep at
it.Get a harness, 8" DD coil for trashy areas and a 12" for open deep areas from Sunray, also a good set of headphones from Sunray. "GROUND BALANCE" AND GO PRACTICE, PRACTICE and more PRACTICE. Those Spanish reals will be coming out of the ground sooner than you think. White's you better wake up, Minelab is sinking it deep in to you.
Overall Rating
DWH from
Panama
153
Big Profit Margin for Minelab
January 07, 2007
Amazing that Minelab can take a piece of low quality composite Plastic and
charge $1200.00 for it. I bought it based on the hype of all the different
freqencies that it was putting into the ground. Sad part was that after 15
minutes of swinging this thing, my back and shoulders were killing
me.The learning curve is a nightmare and the quality is simply terrible. The Lower shaft would actually wobble when you were swinging it and the lower shaft that connects to the upper shaft started getting hairline cracks in it!
Unlike the Whites Detectors, the ONLY Metal on this thing is the battery pack in it. It's made of a composite of some type, yet again, the balance and weight are awful. After 2 weeks of use, the display went out. I contacted Kellyco and they were great at replacing it within a week after I sent it back. My new one lasted 1 day and the same thing happened again! "I'm not Kidding"....I was so disappointed. I returned it again and they gave me credit towards a Whites DFX. At $300.00 less, it's made so much better..Whites actually uses Metal for it's case and shaft and it's so much more Balanced and lighter than the Explorer.
I hate to bash something this severely, but this machine was such a waste of my Money and time trying to use it. It can however build muscles and find any and all pieces of worthless Junk that was ever swallowed up by the ground. The time I was able to use it was spent digging so much trash that read out as being good targets? I prefer digging coins and such....Buy The DFX, you won't have ANY Regrets.
Overall Rating
Mike from
West Central, Indiana
4727
Minelab ex II review
January 03, 2007
I have now owned my ex II for the past two years. I can tell you that
after really learning how to use it I have increased my finds greatly. I
find coins and rings in areas I used to go over with my whites spectrum
xlt. I was thinking about keeping my xlt, but I went ahead and sold it as
much as I hated to. The way this detector hones in on silver targets is
nothing short of amazing to me. The things this detector can do
absoulutely amaze me everytime I use it.
In year and half that I have owned it, definately payed for itself. In one year alone I found over 900 bucks in change, and that is not from everyday use. Not to mention the silver and jewelry that was found. There is a learning curve issue with the machine, all it took was a little time to learn it really is not that hard. This detector has a been a pleasure to learn and use. I like it very well. I see myself purchasing another minelab product very soon. Good detector in my opinion.
Overall Rating
James montgomery from
Warrenton ga
162