Garrett GTI 2500
Price: $1000
Avg. Score: 
4.03
Based on 89 reviews
4.03Based on 89 reviews
Avg. Durability:
4.63
Avg. Ease of use:
4.25
Finds Coins in the Same Hole with Trash
October 20, 2008
This is one great detector. I have been using it for about 6 weeks now and
continue to learn more every day. The Imaging feature is great and can ID
coins right in the same hole with trash. My last time out it detected a
dime among several trash hits. I was able to zero in on the dime and dig
it. In the same 3" hole I found a foil gum wrapper and a crushed bottle
cap. All metal mode is very useful too in areas I can't swing the coil. I
would definitely recommend this detector.
Overall Rating
TxCacheHunter from
San Antonio, Texas
148
The best detector ever.
October 20, 2008
Hi, I had my garret 2500 three months now and I was a little upset with it
at first, But after fully understanding the machine (With takes some time)
It's the best, I know exactly what I'm digging.Depth: This machine will go down to about 8 inches with Smaller than coin size, 16 Inches Coin size and 20 inches Plus for Large Metal objects. I dont like digging bigger holes than that as it takes all morning. (I did dig once down to 24 inches to find a Large aluminium bolt) I gave this hobby up as best finds are 2 - 10 Inches.
Imaging: The imaging is superb, But this takes some time to master, Basically upto 8 Inches spot on Deeper not so good, Will fluctuate when object not in centre of coil but once you have pinpointed the object it gives you a proper reading, Always a good idea to scan objects at 90 degress after found as can tell you wether its round or oblong like nails ect..
Coils: Superb range of coils, choosing the correct coil for the job is vital to what you want to find, Example Use Larger Imaging coil for deeper larger finds and smaller coils for shallower smaller finds, Use DD coils for Wet sand on beach and mineralised grounds, Use with the salt cancelation setting.
Discrimination: I always use all metal mode which is extremly sensitive when adjusted correctly in conjuction with Threshold, When target is found the discrimination indicators at the top of display will tell you the conductivity of the object also is more presice with coil centred on object, I also flick between custom discrimination and weed out unwanted objects on site.
Pinpointing: Excellent, but you need to start this slightly away from the object as will cancel signal if right above to start with.
Surface cancellation: Works great on trashy areas, Also advise smaller coils in these areas as multiple targets can make the display iratic.
Bad points (Not Many)
Weight, Not for the weeker person.
No backlight on buttons Needs abit of guess work in the dark. (Thankfully theres not many buttons)
Overall Rating
John Joyce from
Dudley, England.
4510
Garret 2500
October 04, 2008
I purchased my Garret in May of this year and I can't understand why my old
bounty hunter 505 will pickup smaller and deeper targets, for a $1000 this
unit should have alot more detecting power, even with both units in all
metal mode, the Garret has alot of nice features but what really counts is
its ability to detect small and deep targets which it does not do, my next
unit will be a minelab never another Garret Really old technology that does
not perform!!
Overall Rating
George from
Phoenix,AZ
2916
Garrett GTI 2500
September 10, 2008
I have gti 2500 supremeI'm from Italy, I found gold spoon weight 15g gold 24k
11 coins metal rame medieval Roman coins 3 gold sesterzius weight 6g 24k
and total 340 euros on the beach 1€ 2e 20cent 50cent coins
found medieval arc axe
Overall Rating
Sanakin from
Italy
1739
Second top of line garrrett.
August 16, 2008
I had the older version of this forget the number..1000?? I wanted to get
back into the hobby so went with the 2500. I am in Canada and our coins are pretty close to junk so its discrimination is not as spot on as it would be with american coins.I dig some trash but better to dig some than to miss some good stuff.
I am getting more used to the detector. Found a buddy last week that had same one from another city staying at my lake and he really helped me out. We had a lot of fun finding things. Had a decent day .Each found a ring. My ring was not that great but day before found a nice gold ring. Didn't find really old coins but we weren't hunting really old areas.
The pinpointing works very well. The voice is great I really like it. The imaging is usually very accurate for depth and size of the object.
Detector is a bit heavy. Bought this accessory called swingy thing and going to try that out. Also think I put a gun or guitar strap on my old garrett detector. Could always do that. I am gettting used to the weight though and hunting for several hours is no big deal. Taking off the battery pack can help a bit. And you can play with what hole the rod is in as well.
I don't understand some of the really bad reviews. They must have had dud detectors. Mine is working great. My old one also had no problems with it. I had a minelab something or other think excalibur and that thing was super heavy. Not very easy to use either. Basically no discrimination from what I remember.
I may try the other non imaging coils out at some point. I don't understand why garrett can't make the sniper coil image.That would be great.
The only real improvement I can see over the 2500 would be if you could get actual xray type imaging of the object in the ground and that technology is likely a ways in the future.
I really don't see any cons for this thing.Its pricey but like the features. Voice to me is not a gimmick. It keeps me company! LOL
Just wish could change the voice like on my gps. And even sexier australian accent girl like on my garmin would be even better.
Overall Rating
Allan Brounstein from
Regina,Saskatchewan,Canada
349
Finally got a good one
August 11, 2008
After going through two of these and a bad 10x5 schorcher coil Garret
finally sent me a good detector! How amazing, pretty good service from
garret but I should not have had two bad detectors in the first place.
Garret needs to look at there quality control more closely. But the
service dept. replaced all of my bad equipment, now that I have one that is
working properly I am fairly impressed with this green machine, it has
really good depth better than my fisher coinstrike but they are both very
good detectors. I think most all high end detectors work about the
same it is just the features that are different, this green unit really
discriminates out the trash very well, one thing about a more expensive
unit is that they will pickup much smaller targets at greater depths, just
the other day I found a piece of metal at over a foot with my five year old
bounty hunter 505, but the green unit will pickup a lot more targets that
the B H will miss if your unit is not doing better than your bounty hunter
then send it in for a retune. I have read reviews about the green one not
detecting very deep, mine does very well to my surprise, after all the
initial problems I had with Garrets machines I am now very satisfied with
there product.
Overall Rating
Richard from
Alltown America
197
Absolute junk
July 19, 2008
After owning this unit the GTI 2500 for a two month period it would not
function very well form the day I opened the carton so I sent it in for
service to garret, instead of repairing it they sent me back a new unit
which works very poorly to, this unit has no depth detection in any mode,
cannot dicrim. between aluminum and iron, and if anyone out there thinks
this is a good detector then you obviously have have never used another
detector in your life, I could do a better job of detecting with a magnet
on a string. That was a $1000 poorly spent, I think the FCC should investigate their claims about there over priced junk,e ven my really old Pioneer 505 Bounty Hunter works better than the GTI 2500, it has lots of bells and whistles but that is just to keep you distracted from its poor preformance...I should have bought a whites mxt my mistake...
Overall Rating
Dean from
Pasco, Wa
5253
GTI 2500 - Three years after...
June 19, 2008
You newbies looking for a fast-response, easy-to-use machine better stick
to the Ace 150 or 250 (if Garrett is the brand you're considering). If
you're brave newbie, then go ahead and read...For those seasoned hunters and rookies willing to put in field-time looking for relics and older coins, this is the machine you want to learn.
I often say to people that hunting with a Garrett machine is the equivalent of "Hunting for Dummies"... Why? Because once you assemble the thing, and read the manual, you are well on your way to finding coins, and relics.
Okay, the TID feature takes some learning. Don't expect the GTI 2500 to always tell the absolute truth (what machine does?). Proof of this is my collection of 200 year old ox shoes. But, I've learned the machine's language, and now can tell exactly what to dig, and what not to.
Iffy and jumpy signals? This is not due to a flaw in the machine, rather than the items's size and orientation in the ground (coin on edge, for example).
The rule of thumb seems to be: If it rings sweetly in both directions, dig it.
I hunt for Colonial relics and coins in New Hampshire, USA. After nearly three years with the blasted thing, I can say it performs rather well. After you learn it, all you have to do is put yourself at the right place, and you'll clean up.
Pros:
-Good TID on old and new coins up to 7-10 inches' depth.
-Long battery life (use lithium batteries for upwards up 35 hours' hunting!)
-All Metal mode goes DEEP!
Cons:
-Heavy machine. Older people, or those with weak arms (or arm/shoulder injuries) should consider another machine.
-The "Treasure Talk" feature is a fancy redundancy. It is just plain confusing.
I'm waiting for Garrett to pack the same power an features into a lighter, more ergonomically balanced machine. Hopefully, this will happen soon!
Julio "Jules" Razquin
Overall Rating
Julio "Jules" Razquin from
New Hampshire
12437
GTI YA YA
June 09, 2008
This a much better detector than my minelab eureka gold, it is heavier but
I would rather heaft around my Garret GTI 2500 with loads of usefull
features than use the minelab with no features the search coil is not even
waterproof, after swinging the 2500 for 2 1/2 hours I had no problem with
the weight, still one of the best detectors on the market,you can purchase
six different coils for this guy I have four, I will purchase the large
dual coil for the garret next, now that is some real depth 15-20 feet that
no one else can match that with a hobby detector. Garret just has the best
options that no one else has, it seems a little klunky when you first pick
it up. But this unit found some very small targets that I did not think
that it was capable of, it suprised me with its preformance!!!!
Overall Rating
The Prospector from
Everytown,USA
507
The Garret GTI 2500
June 06, 2008
I have been using this 2500 for a while now,at first it felt a little
clunky and old fashioned but after using it in all of its different modes
and settings I am very happy with its preformance, this guy picked up very
small pieces of galvanized metal,the area I was working in had almost no
coins and lots of construction debree, so I expected to find lots of screws
and nails but not as small or as deep as the detector found them, also it
picked up very small pieces of galvanised wire, for some reason all the
detectors I have used with target ID thinks that galvanised is a coin.The thing that is really great about the garret is that you can switch
between all of its modes very fast and set up a custom mode to switch back
and forth with, this machine can cope with any ground any where in the
world, it is very easy to learn and use, I swung this guy for 2 1/2 hours
with my left arm with a pulled muscle in my forearm and had no problems
with its weight,I don't know why people are crying about its heft, it is
easy to get use to.I own a minelab eureka gold and the targets that they
find in all metal mode are the same except the Garret has alot more
features to find or reject the target, the eureka has almost no features,
it is a much better detector than the minelab, and it has six coils
available for it, that are waterproof, the minelab coil is not waterproof,
all in all this Garret is a great Detector, if you are looking for very
versital unit then this it!!
Overall Rating
Dennis Levon from
Boise,Id
658