2 bushnells in 5 years...

[Sourpuss]

i really liked both the bushnell's i have owned, i liked the pin seeking feature and the vibration or jolt feature but both stopped working around the 2 1/2 year mark, bummer. i took both back to place of purchase and was instructed to contact the manufacturer. called the manufacturer and was asked about date of purchase and was then told i was no longer under warranty and there was nothing they could do. so long story short, has anybody compared Nikon Coolshot Pro Stabilized? their warranty is 8 years and the leopold GX-5i3, people seem to be very happy with their product.

[scott_Donald]

I was under the impression that Leopold has shortened their warranty?

 

I am about to replace my 10 year old Bushnell 1600 Pro with the Bushnell XE. hope it lasts as long!

[cardoustie]

I had 3 Bushnell's fail in 4 years ... switched to Nikon 7 years or so ago ... zero problems

[bradski]

I have 2 top of the line bushnells and the pro stabalized. The stabalized feature takes a couple holes to get used to. That being said it is a high quality model that I believe is manufactured at a camera plant in Japan. So far it is durable and I'm sure will last much longer than a cheap model built in China. Works just like my top of the line bushnells when it comes to accuracy

[Sourpuss]

thanks guy's!

[cristphoto]

I've had two Bushnells over the last seven years (V2 and V4). I sold the V2 to a friend and its still working fine as is my laser. Frankly I have no problems with Bushnell. To the guys that had units fail, did you store them in your bag and leave the bag in the trunk? I would think excess heat would shorten the life.

[SnoopyDog4]

I have a 9 year old Nikon in my golf bag in the garage, that i keep as a back-up in case I rush out the door and forget to grab the COOLSHOT PRO which I keep inside. The 9 year old Nikon is still on its original battery, and this bag with the rangefinder has traveled in an airline case, all over the country.

Nikon bumped up the warranty on the COOLSHOT PRO to 5 years - which, for me, was a confidence closer when considering their new technology with laser stabilization. Inside of 150 yards the stabilization makes only a minor difference, as most people under age 50 should be able to hold it stead, but beyond 150 yards the stabilization is amazing. It is my understanding that the PRO unit is built in Nikon's camera lens factory - the only place that has the tech to build the stabilization.

I have a 2 year old Leupold also. Leupold also builds a sold, unique rangefinder. My only concern with replacing the Leupold with a new Leupold (aside from the fact that they don't have stabilization) is that Leupold has appeared to pull back in the golf channel. I have been told that they switched all their dealers/golf shops over to a distributor and then prices went up.

Lastly, the Nikon COOLSHOT PRO gives both the slope adjusted distance and the straight distance, nearly instantaneously, and at the same time. No need to "hold the laser stead on the flag for 2-3 seconds to get the slope reading" as suggested by the Bushnell V4 owner's manual.

[earleyrc]

I just bought the Pro Stabilized this spring and I'm thoroughly impressed. As SnoopyDog mentioned it doesn't make that much of a difference inside 125-150 yards if you have a steady hand, but when you are 180 out it's super slick. The slope is nice, but wasn't a must have for me. It came down to the warranty & being 100% waterproof at $100 less than the Bushnell X2 was a no brainer. Also, it works better in low light than any other range finder I've seen.. not that I play a lot in twilight but if you are ever trying to squeeze out an extra hole or two during the week it's a plus.

[kiwihacker]

I've had the Bushnell V2 for about 6 years and my only complaint is it eats batteries alive if I leave them in the unit when I'm not using it. Apart from that no problems.

[Sourpuss]

my bushes stayed in my bag in the car, day and night. i just ordered the nikon, sounds like everyone is happy. if that goes bad i will give the leopold a shot

[DLiver]

Just don't get a Leopold. I have had several and they all have been back to the factory repeatedly. My buddies have had the same experience.

[Sourpuss]

so i ended up buying the nikon, played 18 holes and like everyone said the it takes a bit to get used too but works well, light, small and space saving. it would be nice if it had the jolt like the bush i think it will just take a little more time to be 100% satisfied.

[Twohey]

I had a Leupold G4X for about 3.5 years and it was working fine until I lost it.

Picked up the G3X-i2 and that lasted only 2.5 years before the LED started to fade and it took another year or so before it became unreadable. There's plenty of posts here about the LED screen fading after a few years...

 

Leupold's warranty is 2 years on RFs. After that, service response is still good, but the legendary no-cost replacements are no more. They'll just offer you 60% off MSRP on a new one from them. Their MSRPs are inflated, but if you take it, it'll still come out $100+ below retail depending on which model you select.

 

I'm now testing out the Bushnell Pro XE...