GP EXTREME

Hi everyone,
I'm thinking of buying a GP Extreme soon and would like to get people's opinion of this model.
Thanks, TED

Hi Ted, a very capable machine. I just hope I can get to appreciate my 4500 as much as I did my extreme. If I had any brains I should have kept it as a backup machine.
It paid for itself, for my 4500, our two quads, all my camping equiptment and covered the cost of fuel and food on most trips out.

I sold it last year on Ebay to a lady who bought it as her first detector, her feedback was to the effect that she was extremely happy, having found a 10g nugget on her first day out. Right then I knew I should have kept it!

I would say that it is the best value for money detector you can buy. The only time you will feel a need to upgrade is when you know the extreme intimately and want to squeeze more out of it. Its a great machine to do your apprenticeship on as it lets you hear the change in the ground that newer models mask due to their better technology. This might sound odd, but its not. A new bloke will often ask. "how can you tell the depth or sort of ground I am detecting" The extreme will teach you this knowledge with the signal response it gives you (not necessarily on a target). Sure the newer machines can do the same thing but you have to make them do it where the extreme does it naturally.
If it helps I will try to draw an analogy. A builder of the old school would use a hammer and nail and could tell the hardness of the timber by the feel of hitting the nail with a hammer, a builder using a nail gun will get the nail in but doesn't feel the timber as well as the builder with the hammer.
I hope this makes sense.
I miss my extreme a little like remembering the loss of a pet. boy we had some good times together.
Brett.

Hi Ted
There are extremes and extremes there are some great ones around and some that are not up to standard.A friend of mine has one of the not so great ones.Its damn noisy a hell and its a wonder his ears dont bleed.If you can test a few before you buy from a hire shop.My advice would be to for the gp3000 if you can they are slightly dearer but well worth it.
Cheers Dig

Some of the early Extremes had problems, just like some of the early 4000-4500 had problems. I bought 2 new Extremes off Barrie Johnson in 2002 and they were both great machines.

Tell your mate to send it to Minelab for service, it will also come back great.

While your advise re the 3000 is not bad, I know a full timer in Maryborough who had a great Extreme and traded it on a new 3000 and was not very happy with it.

Thanks everybody for your input. I'll have a look around and see what I decide to do. I have thought about getting a 4000 or 4500 but all the "bells and whistles" are a bit scarey. I have had a 2200D for quite a while now and a 2100E before that and at the time I I found the changeover toi be quite easy. Cheers Ted

If you have that sort of background then go straight to the 3500. You will love it.
Brett.

I cannot figure out why Minelab doesn't just quit making the lesser SD 2100 v2 and SD 2200 v2 units altogether which where great detectors in their time do not get me wrong, but are a waist of time for Minelab to continue making now and then instead make the GP 3500 in their place new available right now with a warranty, with the new lightweight Lithium Ion battery w/built in sound booster-amplfier, for those people like Ted, older people(some seniors), non-computer savy people, those who get fed up easily with technology, and others who want the best dial-knob and switch analog machine without bells, whistles, and digital confusion.