Garrett Ace 250
Street Price $250 - Beginner, coin
Number of Reviews: 86
on 13 pages.
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Also in this price range:
Whites Prizm II
Garrett Ace 250
Silver Doller nickle iron is a ring on this machine!
Ace 250 disliker in CA USA -
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.
Feb 28, 2008
16 people found this review helpful.
Garrett Ace 250 is a gem!
Woody N3TUF in Aston,PA -
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!
Feb 28, 2008
8 people found this review helpful.
Great machine
billy in NY -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.
Feb 20, 2008
15 people found this review helpful.
New Garrett Ace 250
Shooter in Uniontown, PA. USA -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!
Feb 18, 2008
11 people found this review helpful.
Ace 250 For the money, simply amazing
Slamaxe in Coeur D' Alene, ID -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!
Feb 02, 2008
6 people found this review helpful.
Here is what I think after useing it awhile
Charles Paris in Indiana -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.
Sep 10, 2007
95 people found this review helpful.
Good for the money
Patrick in FL -
Have about 100 hours in with ace 250 beach and park hunting.
First off this is a coin shooter. If your into recent clad this is the machine for you. For a new comer this can be pretty impressive as is its turn on and go capabilities and I suspect this is what has lead to the numerous positive reviews. The reality is any lower end detector will do the same.
Beach hunting;
Machine does fine for dry sand as will any other machine in its price range. At first I was impressed with its wet sand abilities with a few quick clad finds but as time went on I discovered it had the same falsing and pinpointing problems in wet sand as any other machine in its price range.
Park hunting;
If trashy forget about it unless you disc out all but the higher coin range. Unfortunately you have then disced out most all gold. For less trashy areas it will do fine.
This is not a jewelry machine and lets face it that's what we all want after the novelty of digging all the clad wares off. For this I would recommend saving up the money for a machine with a numeric vid and wider range of notch discrimination unless of course you are a "dig it all" type and then your fine with the ace.
Bottom line is for an introductory machine you cant really go wrong with it. Reasonable price and performance.
For now it is also holding its value nicely so if you find that the hobby is not for you you can recope a large percentage of your money. If you find your in the hobby for the long term I suspect you will eventually want a better machine. This is true no matter what introductory machine you start out with.
Sep 05, 2007
24 people found this review helpful.