The Truth About XP Deus V3.2-V5.X, page 14

14. Summary/Conclusion

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When the XP Deus metal detector appeared on the market in 2009, it was not just a modification of some existing detector with a couple of additional advanced features. It was a real, mind-boggling novelty for its time.

The XP Deus represented a parade of the cutting-edge innovations that set not just one, but a few new standards for a 21st century metal detector: a fully wireless operation, selectable-VLF-frequency platform, incomparably effective Target Separation, unmatchable Tonal Discrimination, upgradable-via-internet firmware and ultra-lightweight body design.

Slowly but truly detectorists began to recognize the XP Deus as a breakthrough in the field of coin shooting and relic hunting, that could meet all the requirements of the metal detecting reality existing at that time.

Most Deus users were willing to put up with a steep learning curve, some flaws in the Deus' components and design, XP's way of turning the users into field-testers of the raw firmware, and XP's firmware-patching becoming a norm (the first four versions - V1.2, V2.0, V3.0 and V3.1, were released within 2.5 years).

The coin/relic hunters turned a blind eye to all negative aspects of being a Deus fan because they greatly benefited from using this metal detector, especially after the version 3.2 came out. I was one of them, and like other happy campers believed that XP would continue perfecting the Deus' coin/relic platform. With appearance of the "Gold Field" preset program in the version 3.2, everybody thought that it was a "final touch" in making the Deus the most versatile machine of all.

Nobody could even imagine that the "Gold Field" program was the first step towards the end of the Deus V3.2 - a true coin/relic platform. When XP released the HF white coils with a firmware version 4.0, the existing Deus platform was transformed into a gold-prospecting one as primary. This resulted in its coin/relic constituent being affected by all the inevitable trade-offs.

The regular coin/relic hunters became the "hostages" of the gold-detector market in Africa and the Middle East. And XP began its "epic" of endless bug-fixing, firmware updating, creating feature creep, and conducting indirect compulsion of the Deus users to buy mediocre pinpointers and more coil-detectors.

The optimized-for-gold-prospecting versions 4.0 and V4.1 have not turned out to be fully compatible with the legacy LF coils, and therefore require some fiddling with settings. As a result, many regular coin/relic hunters using the LF coils experienced significant drops in their finds-rates.

With versions 4.0-4.1, the users of the legacy LF coils would face three options:

• 1) upgrading to the V4.0 or V4.1 and trying to make it work without a big loss in detection depth or Target Recognition;
• 2) upgrading to V4.0-V4.1 and buying additional 9" HF coil-detector if it is suitable for the local metal detecting conditions;
• 3) going back to the V3.2 and bringing back the highest finds-rate. Many regular coin/relic hunters chose the option #3.

When XP released the version 5.0 (followed by the V5.1 and V5.2) along with the X35 LF coils for which it was designed, the users of the legacy LF coils got three following options:

• 1) upgrading to the V5.X if one uses the Deus LITE setup and, in V5.X, can adjust some 'Expert' features via a headphone controller, and then trying to make it work without reducing the Deus performance too much;
• 2) upgrading to V5.X and buying additional x35 LF coil-detectors; thus, replacing the legacy LF coils;
• 3) staying on the V3.2 to continue detecting without any issues until the legacy LF coils need to be either re-equipped with new batteries (this would require sending the coil(s) back to XP or XP dealer and, therefore, having some downtime, or doing the cut-and-glue work by oneself) or replaced.

The latter may be a problem because XP discontinued the legacy LF coils in September of 2018! Even if to assume that the long-time Deus V3.2 fans or those fresh Deus buyers who want to use the V3.2 with the legacy coils constitute the smallest percentage of all Deus users, this XP's business decision is still unfair to them. The legacy coils should never be discontinued!Now, if one desires to use the legacy coil(s) with the true coin/relic platform (V3.2), one has no choice but to purchase a used coil (preferably made in 2017-18) on the Internet.

If one can afford the option #2, one should just forget about the V3.2 and, like all current buyers of the XP Deus V5.X, use the gold-oriented platform with the X35 LF coils which add an extra inch to operating detection depth. They seem to be fine according to those who have already tested and used them.

With the current metal detecting reality becoming more challenging every year, in order to have real metal detecting fun, a detectorist has to pay some extra money for it. Nothing is wrong with this old principle implemented in business plans of most metal detector makers. It is just that XP uses this principle as an expedient to make profits more vigorously than any other manufacturer. This is why a big problem for XP has started looming on the horizon...

Those potential buyers of the XP Deus who keep an eye on the latest technological advances currently appearing on the market have recently got a question: whether the Deus V5.X full package is really worth paying much more money for it than for any of the latest detectors released by innovative manufacturers such as Minelab, First Texas (a manufacturer of Fisher F75+) and Nokta | Makro? Their machines are twice cheaper than the XP Deus and not only incorporate the same advanced features as those of the Deus, but also offer new, more advanced technologies that are required for the current metal detecting reality.

And these capable machines do not require any brainstorming, time-consuming adjustments of program settings in order to fine-tune them!

As the metal detecting reality always changes for the worse, and the competition between detector makers gets only fiercer with time, everyone in the metal detector industry knows that if a company is at the leading edge of technology but does not do a thing more to maintain its status, it is just a matter of time (usually 10 years) until competitors leave this company in the dust, and for the long while. This happened to a few companies before.

Now the "novelty" of XP is wearing thin with the long-time Deus fans. In fact, XP has not introduced a single breakthrough innovation since after it introduced the Deus to the market in 2009! And since March of 2017, every XP's update has been just a bug-fix of a previous update; and major updates being filled with more features and accompanied with new coils to keep the Deus owners buying.

It seems that the XP wireless technology of a single-VLF-frequency detector has peaked. In November of 2018, XP released its latest model detector - XP ORX, which is just the old, slightly expanded Depar DPR 600. XP should come up with an up-to-date, multi-frequency detector as soon as possible because Minelab with its latest, cheap multi-frequency metal detectors has already started to eclipse XP!

Whatever happens, those regular coin shooters and relic hunters who would like to continue enjoying metal detecting with the Deus but do not want to use the gold-prospecting platform and have a room full of coils (detectors), simply stay on the version 3.2. Some Deus fans, mostly coin cache hunters, still use the version 2.0 providing the greatest detection depth!

In this article, I purposefully omitted any setting-values of most features and modes in my customized search programs mentioned on previous pages because such info would be out of scope of this already lengthy write-up. My intention was to provide as much information as possible on what has been going on with the XP Deus and XP Metal Detectors, and the latest breakthrough in the multi-VLF-frequency technology, that has recently appeared on the market.

This inclusive article is to help both beginners and seasoned detectorists make an informed decision in regards to improving their metal detecting experiences. It can be done in many ways one of which is to acquire the most sophisticated metal detector and master it all the way through.

But this approach involves a high risk of spending too much money, wasting lots of time, and having regrets about it later. I hope my article enlightens you enough to avoid that. The more knowledgeable one is, the easier it is to follow common sense. No offense was intended.

Happy hunting!

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Author Info

Sergei UpstateNY

Sergei UpstateNY is the founder, designer, content writer, photographer and editor of MetalDetectingWorld.com. His main specialization is field testing of metal detectors and accessories provided by manufacturers in exchange for detailed test reports and articles published on this website. His extensive experience spans coin cache hunting, coin cluster hunting, coin shooting and relic hunting. Occupation: potato digger in farm fields.

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