45 of 62 people found this review helpful:

Review by: Jed Murphy

User Experience: Newbie

Submitted on: Mar 19, 2008

User Rating:

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I have been detecting three months and this is my first detector (the Garrett ACE 250.) Most of my time is spent searching for coins and jewelry at parks and playgrounds, but I also have spent some time detecting on the NC coast.

As I said, this is my first detector and the learning curve could not have been easier. The factory preset hunting modes make it very easy for a beginner to get this machine up and running. Turn it on, select your mode, and start hunting. That's it! I have found many coins, gold and silver ear rings, two 14k rings and one silver ring to date. On the beach, the Ace 250 is very quiet in the dry sand but a little more challenging in the wet sand, but with a little practice, I did pretty well in the wet sand also. Depth seems to be good for an entry level detector. I regularly find coins in the six inch range. The Garrett bell tone for coins is my favorite feature. You hear that tone and you can pretty much count on having found a coin. I also highly recommend the optional Sniper coil. My coin count went up due to the fact that it is much easier to work around metal objects. The initial setup on this machine could not have been easier, you can be up and running in under fifteen minutes.

I would highly recommend the Ace 250 to anyone just getting into detecting. The number of features you get for the money are a great value. This is considered an entry level detector, but from I have seen, will hold it's own against many mid level machines.

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42 of 58 people found this review helpful:

Review by: Michael Fuson

User Experience: 4-6 years

Submitted on: Mar 18, 2008

User Rating:

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The Garrett ACE 250 is a modern, state of the art metal detector. It is tough sleek, light weight and easy to use. The ACE 250 is a turn on and go unit. It packs the punch of high dollar machines, that detectorist dream of. This all comes at a fraction of the price.

It is a coin finding magnet. With the Garrett bell tone, you know when a coin is below the ground. The ACE is powered by 4- AA batteries. These batteries will give you 30-40 hours of hunting pleasure. Even without a ground balance feature, the 250 does a great job in most types of soil. I have found targets at 8 inches deep with the 250. The probable target Id is very accurate. As with all detectors, practice and time in the field will make you become able to know what the ACE is telling you.

The 250 has 5 separate hunting modes. Four of these are preset Modes and one you cam make custom to suit your hunting needs. The ACE will save the mode you are in when you power down the detector and return to that mode at start up. I have recently purchased the sniper coil for the 250. This little coil netted me 2 (14K) gold rings, in the first week. And the best part is that they came from areas in which I have hunted with other detectors.

I was sold on the 250, when I first laid hands on it. It is light weight and well balanced. I am hard of hearing and the ACE 250 is the loudest detector I have used. The one feature that makes the 250 my first choice when I head out is the pinpoint feature. The pinpoint is dead red on. The ACE 250 will tell you what it is and where it is, what else do you need in a Metal detector? I have recomended the 250 to several first timers because of the small learning curve and the great results that Garrett built into this great little yellow machine.

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29 of 32 people found this review helpful:

Review by: Dale Thesenvitz

User Experience: 6 months to 2 years

Submitted on: Mar 18, 2008

User Rating:

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On September 2007, I purchased a Garrett ACE 250 metal detector. I wanted to join the metal detecting hobby (it is a hobby for me, not a profession) and I needed a machine that was easy to use, accurate, and would not cost an arm and a leg. Therefore I took a trip to Kellyco, which is only 70 miles away, and purchased my first machine.

Since, I knew very little about metal detecting, I purchased the ACE 250 with the Deluxe Sport Package. I wanted the larger search coil and some of the tools of the trade. This purchase was also a do or die purchase. If I did not buy it then, I never would of bought it. I had already read Charles Garrett’s: “How to Find Lost Treasure” book and had some ideas of where I wanted to go searching.

Like all new toys, I put it together before fully reading the owner’s manual. But that came a real close second along with watching the DVD for the ACE 250. There was so much information in such a small book, I said to myself “could this be as good as they were saying?”

My level of enthusiasm was much greater than my motivation, so after looking at my ACE 250 in its carrying case (or storage case) for some time, I finally picked it up and walked out the door to a local park walking distance away. With all my tools of the trade in my car, in minutes I’m there, scoping out the small park, trying to visualize where the large diamond ring would be.

So it was time to put the headset on and turn my magic money making machine on. I told myself I must not be discouraged if I do not find what I want to find. After all, a metal detector detects all metals!

The controls on the ACE 250 are easy to understand, especially after reading and viewing the DVD two or three times. Now what did the book say: Use the All-Metal Mode for the first ten hours or so, do not get discouraged and dig every target! Walk slowly but not to slow and swing the metal detector in a straight line, not a curve. So much to remember, so much fortunes to find.

After about forty-five minutes of searching (hey, it is a small park) I stopped after finding: 1) a penny 2) a paper clip 3) a piece of a Pepsi can. I figured it would be best to stop since I did not want to think what the fourth item would be since all I found started with a P.

Now remember, do not get discouraged and keep trying. There is lost treasure everywhere!

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25 of 28 people found this review helpful:

Review by: Jeff Bryant

User Experience: Newbie

Submitted on: Mar 19, 2008

User Rating:

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Being new to the metal detecting realm, I enjoy finding everything from coins to relics. That was the reason I chose the Garrett Ace 250. It is metal detector so easy to use it makes a novice like me look like a "ole pro".

When you power it on it is ready to start detecting, there are no knobs to adjust for the ground balance or fine tuning. If you are hunting in a "trashy" area, like I do most of the time you can choose what type of treasure you are looking for like coins, etc.. The feature I like the most about the Ace 250 is the bell tone, when you are in coin mode.

When you are looking for coins, and the coil sweeps a coin the tone has a bell sound to it that makes it have more of a distinguished sound to let you know that you detected a potential coin. Then when you use the pin-point mode to narrow down the location the screen on the detector will show what the object is and approximate depth. Believe me I need all the help I can get when it comes to digging the treasure up! Also the ACE 250 is very reasonably priced.

This was a very good selling point to me since I am on a limited budget. Since I have purchased my ACE 250 and used it for approximately six months now I have found a lot of coins (one being a mercury dime) and two rings just in area parks. I would recommend the ACE 250 to anyone that is new to metal detecting like myself and is looking for a very easy machine to use and an inexpensive way to start this hobby.

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43 of 66 people found this review helpful:

Review by: Michael Hammersley

User Experience: 6 months to 2 years

Submitted on: Mar 17, 2008

User Rating:

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I bought this ACE 250 unit to search for civil war relics. I first practiced with it in local parks and found lots of coins. The Ace 250 is easy to use and have found lots of metal. I like all the features of it and find it very versatile. Have not found any civil war relics yet but feel very confident I will hit on some soon. I would recommend this unit for the newbie in metal detecting.

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