Which GPS unit? (My brain hurts!)

[Robschil]

I've been researching GPS units here and on other forums and my brain is fried! The wife is buying me a GPS for Christmas and I need some of this forums expert advice. I've looked at all the comparison charts on digicaddie and think I know about most existing features. What's the going opinion on:

1. Built in battery v. rechargable AAA

2. Intelligreen-type feature

3. storing courses on PC v. on unit

4. $150 v. $499

5. no download fee v. per 100 download fee v. annual fee

6. Company history and future

 

I'm leaning towards the igolf units (neo or caddie II). The Guru seems a little too new and untested.

 

Thanks for your help with this.

Bob

[h2ohzrd]

I've been researching GPS units here and on other forums and my brain is fried! The wife is buying me a GPS for Christmas and I need some of this forums expert advice. I've looked at all the comparison charts on digicaddie and think I know about most existing features. What's the going opinion on:

1. Built in battery v. rechargable AAA

2. Intelligreen-type feature

3. storing courses on PC v. on unit

4. $150 v. $499

5. no download fee v. per 100 download fee v. annual fee

6. Company history and future

 

I'm leaning towards the igolf units (neo or caddie II). The Guru seems a little too new and untested.

 

Thanks for your help with this.

Bob

 

Too new and untested? How did you ever get that idea? I suggest you do a search for the Golf Guru on this forum to see all the posts regarding it.

 

I've had mine for 6 months and love it. Here's my opinion on your specifics above:

1. Built in battery v. rechargable AAA - rather have recharge feature. Easy to do and the GG lasts 2-3 rounds on 1 charge. No Batteries to mess with.

 

2. Intelligreen-type feature - very useful but not sure that's what GG calls it

 

3. storing courses on PC v. on unit - for GG, it's stored on the unit (actually, it's web stored). No charge for courses...1 flat fee. And if your course isn't listed, request it and you'll get it in about 10-14 days.

 

4. $150 v. $499 - GG green screen costs <$250

 

5. no download fee v. per 100 download fee v. annual fee - no DL fee works for me.

 

6. Company history and future - GG has an excellent support history. If I new what the future will be, I'ld be a brazillianaire.

 

If I had it to do all over again, would I buy a GG? Yeah, probably. The only unit I saw that might change my mind would be the Upro with it's flyover feature. But, I found Upro to be hard to see in bright light - I tried it on the course for a full round.

 

My suggestion is that you do a search on this forum and look at past posts to help you clear your head.

 

[phil75070]

I echo what h20hzrd said about the Golf Guru. They had some issues ealry on but they were related strictly to the self-mapping features. That has all been corrected. Their equivalent to SkyCaddie's Intelligreen is now called "Smart Green". The difference is that the points rotate around the green instead of teh green rotating to your orientation. The marking feature is a big improvement over most. You actually store the distance along with the club and the location of the shot (tee, rough, fairway, etc.) for later review.

 

No membership fees or fees to download courses with the Golf Guru; 20 courses can be stored on the grayscale and 200 on the color unit. With SkyGolf, the annual membership fee is non-transferable even if you upgrade to another of their units, and downloaded maps won't work if you don't renew your membership.

 

I left my unit on by mistake the other night and the next morning it still had about 20-25% charge. I have easily gotten three rounds of use out of it. The Golf Guru uses iPod type batteries which are easily found and not very costly to replace when necessary. The rechargeable battery for my SG2 was costing me about $50 every other year.

 

I like to add my own targets to course maps and that was probably the main reason I purchased the Golf Guru and I could not be happier with my choice.

[PingG10]

Looks like you've got a couple of positives for the GG unit-I'll give you a couple on the iGolf units.

 

No built in rechargable to worry about-a couple of AAs and you're on your way-if you want rechargability you can go the route I went-buy a package of AA rechargables-I use the Energizer Nimhs myself and the charge unit-I get 3-4 rounds per charge and I've always got a charged set in my bag.

 

You "own" the courses once you download them. So there is the upfront cost of a membership but at the end of the year you can choose not to renew-the courses you've downloaded remain resident on your PC (or Mac-w/the Neo anyway) and do not expire.

 

Very quick satellite lock-I don't need more than 10-20 seconds once I turn my unit on for it to lock the appropriate number of satellites to get distances-my buddies SG2 takes much, much longer. Another buddies SG5 seems quicker than the SG2 but slower than my GPSCaddie II.

 

Easy to read display-simple, intuitive controls.

 

Very easy to add additional points-good labeling and very quick.

 

A negative from some peoples perspective is the lack of the "Intelligreen-SG" or "Greenzense" feature-the iGolf's only give F/C/B on green-I really don't see the huge benefit but that's me.

 

No auto hole advance on my unit-but like the "intelligreen" feature, I don't see the huge benefit in it.

The customer service and website are a bit weak.

[WishICouldPlayMoreOften]

Bob,

 

Unless you're going to be able to play a lot of golf in the next 3-5 months, I'd recommend you wait to see what happens to some of the companies and units currently on the market. It will be a miracle if some of them don't disappear by spring so buying a unit now is a gamble you'll be taking, especially since golf GPS is a luxury item that will probably get hit hard by declines in consumer purchasing. I think only standalone (courses all on unit at time of purchase) make sense right now.

 

That said, I recently did a lot of research on GPS units, and here's what I'd recommend:

1. Decide how much you want to spend and what you really want from the unit. I concluded that price was not the issue, but none of the currently available models does exactly what I want so I'm waiting to see what happens. I have a rangefinder so I'm in no rush.
   
2. Once you decide on exactly what you want, then look for the best value and reputation online of the model you're considering. I did like the SkyCaddie SG5 and Golf Guru Color, but not enough to buy either.
   

Now to your direct questions:

 

 

1. Neither rechargeable or built-in makes a difference unless you don't have time to charge after 1-2 rounds. For smaller electronics, I've always preferred user-replaceable in-unit batteries as long as they're cost/price competitive. The only addvantage to rechargeable AAAs is that you can stop at a convenience store in a pinch if you ever fail to charge your unit in advance. If you don't play more than 2 times a week, built-in makes the most sense.
   
2. Intelligreen works best for low handicappers and people with very precise control over their direction and distance into greens. No use in paying for this feature if Front, Center, or Back is really good enough for your game.
   
3. Storage on PC requires you to commit to connecting your GPS to a PC. The simple deciding factor here is whether you want to frequently post scorecard info (some units do this) or get more course info that your unit typically stores. When I buy, I want a unit that has all the courses on the unit and I decide when to go for an annual update. I don't recommend any unit that doesn't allow you to keep courses that you download so that knocked out the SG units for me.
   
4. Pay whatever price you want for the next 1-3 years, but I think paying more than $300 will probably be regrettable. In that timeframe, I new technology and features are going to be available. Undoubtedly if you want to upgrade or buy a new unit in the future, you don't want to overpay for your first unit now. From what I concluded, the iGolf and Golf Guru products gave me everything I wanted (eg. GPS accuracy, downloaded courses that were mine to keep, low price/value). I'm holding off because I think the budget-end of GPS is going to be getting many of the features currently available on high-end GPS units in the near future.
   
5. Download fees and annual fees are far too costly for what's supplied. I understand tcompanies claiming they charge fees to provide the most updated information, but why don't they simply charge an annual update fee IF you need an update? Most golfers don't play enough courses and certainly not enough new and different courses each year for the annual fee to ever make sense to me. Really, why pay an annual fee if they're not committing to walking and mapping every course every year to give you the latest information? Some courses don't change for several years so what are you getting for that annual fee...
   
6. Company history matters only when it comes to product reliability and service. From that standpoint, standalone units where all the info is on the unit are the safest long-term bet, but I doubt they'll be able to sustain enough sales at the current prices to be safe long-term bets.
   

I've play with GPS units several times, and they are nice. And whatever you do, just enjoy and make the most of whichever unit you pick. There will always be another unit with more or better features. Good luck.

[Robschil]

Thanks to all that replied so far. very helpful info. I have been looking hard at both the GG and the Igolf. I don't need color so all 3 choices (Neo, Caddie II and GG grey) are choices. I like the 1 year warranty from igolf. Thanks again and keep the input coming please.

Bob

[phil75070]

Thanks to all that replied so far. very helpful info. I have been looking hard at both the GG and the Igolf. I don't need color so all 3 choices (Neo, Caddie II and GG grey) are choices. I like the 1 year warranty from igolf. Thanks again and keep the input coming please.

Bob

 

The Golf Guru also comes with a 1 year warranty and an option to purchase a three year extended warranty for $.39.95.

[h2ohzrd]

Thanks to all that replied so far. very helpful info. I have been looking hard at both the GG and the Igolf. I don't need color so all 3 choices (Neo, Caddie II and GG grey) are choices. I like the 1 year warranty from igolf. Thanks again and keep the input coming please.

Bob

 

The Golf Guru also comes with a 1 year warranty and an option to purchase a three year extended warranty for $.39.95.

 

 

And if you pay with a VISA (like Capital One), the CC company doubles your warranty plus you can get an extended warranty for a very cheap price. Check with your CC company first. Most bank CC's have this feature. It's usually the sponsored cards (like Cabela's, etc.) that do not have the warranty.

[Robschil]

Golf Guru Question - They have a pending patent violation lawsuit. If they lose, will they stay in business? Courses are downloaded to the unit (unlike Igolf on PC) so if the website goes away, you only have courses on the unit. Right?

Bob

[phil75070]

Golf Guru Question - They have a pending patent violation lawsuit. If they lose, will they stay in business? Courses are downloaded to the unit (unlike Igolf on PC) so if the website goes away, you only have courses on the unit. Right?

Bob

 

Golf Guru holds the exclusive license for the pioneering GPS golf patent (US#564093) covering handheld consumer golf devices. They are the ones who have initiated legal proceedings against the following for infringing on that patent:

 

1. Altex Corporation,

2. DECA International,

3. GolfLogix,

4. GPS GolfPro,

5. GPS Technologies,

6. Karrier Communications,

7. L1 Technologies,

8. Links Point,

9. SkyHawke Technologies (SkyGolg/SkyCaddie), and

10. Tee2Green Technologies.

 

I certainly do not know if the suit has any merit, but theoretically it is the others who might have to make changes, go away, or more likely pay some form of royalty fees to the Golf Guru folks.