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[Saintee Davie]

I've currently got a Sky caddie watch which only gives front middle and back distances. It's starting to play up and might be on its way out. Tempted with a Bushnell range finder but are they worth the money and would I actually gain anything from the extra money spent?

[Precision Pro Golf]

We are having a promotion right now if you trade in your old GPS Wearable you will get $50 off a new GPS Golf Band which is the lightest band out there with 35,000 preloaded courses, shot distance tracking, and auto course and hole recognition from Precision Pro Golf. More details can be found on our website.

 

For more information about the GPS Golf Band in the Golf WRX review here.

 

[jslane57]

Range finders are an interesting tool IMO. I've got one and have to be quite careful. It gives you the exact distance to whatever you aim at. And it only works if you have a clear view of your target. If you laser a back or front pin and think in your mind that is the middle distance, you may find yourself over or short of the green. And do you ever have blind shots? Laser doesn't work there. I will keep by range finder in my bag, but will also be getting a GPS (if even just on my phone) for a better big picture...

[phil75070]

I've used both. The best GPS devices are dedicated handheld units where you can move the pin around on the green. The problem I have with devices that give only Front-Middle-Back (FMB) is that those are fixed points as far as I know and are not defined as to exactly where they are. They certainly don't give you FMB on your line of play. Plus, the biggest drawback even with the handhelds which have the room to use the best GPS technology available is that they are only accurate to +/- 3 yards and you don't know whether a given reading is up to +3 or -3.

 

Lasers are great for exact distance to within +/- 1 yard, some to even 1/2 yard. Drawbacks include blind shots, some difficulty at times picking up distances to hazards or other points that are not the pin, and, unless they have a specific mode to address it, getting any kind of realistic distance in rain or trying to shoot the pin through the spray of sprinklers that may be between you and the pin.

 

I have used Bushnell in the past. The best one but the bulkiest was/is the Pro Compact 600 which has a multitude of modes. I have also owned the Tour V2 with Slope but it recently stopped working so I bought an inexpensive alternative (CaddyTek Caddyview V2 w/ Slope) that has two modes, pinseeking and scan and seems to work as good as the far more expensive Bushnell.

[Noodler]

I've used both. The best GPS devices are dedicated handheld units where you can move the pin around on the green. The problem I have with devices that give only Front-Middle-Back (FMB) is that those are fixed points as far as I know and are not defined as to exactly where they are. They certainly don't give you FMB on your line of play. Plus, the biggest drawback even with the handhelds which have the room to use the best GPS technology available is that they are only accurate to +/- 3 yards and you don't know whether a given reading is up to +3 or -3.

 

Plenty of currently available devices provide F/M/B for your actual line of play (including GolfBuddy and Garmin). In my experience, actual accuracy is far better than +/- 3 yards.

[WBGolf]

Ya I've been very happy with golf gps. I don't have a smartphone so need a handheld unit. I have a rangefinder that isn't golf specific I have in my bag but I'd say I use GPS 90% of the time