New iGolf Neo Model

[neilk]

Attended the PGA Show today.

 

I spoke to the igolf rep at their booth and good news especially for steve. Look for a firmware update for the Neo in 2-4 weeks. It will add new features like the ability to recognze what course you are at with out having to select it among other upgrades.

 

Also the sync software will be upgraded. He showed me how it looked and worked, I think it is a big improvement.

 

Does anyone have any updates on thie new version of firmware?

[chas521]

Attended the PGA Show today.

 

I spoke to the igolf rep at their booth and good news especially for steve. Look for a firmware update for the Neo in 2-4 weeks. It will add new features like the ability to recognze what course you are at with out having to select it among other upgrades.

 

Also the sync software will be upgraded. He showed me how it looked and worked, I think it is a big improvement.

 

Does anyone have any updates on thie new version of firmware?

 

Funny you should ask. I recently wrote to Igolf and asked them the same question. Their reply was that you will hear of anything in the Igolf newsletter. I just don't feel too confident.

[Ronzo]

Funny you should ask. I recently wrote to Igolf and asked them the same question. Their reply was that you will hear of anything in the Igolf newsletter. I just don't feel too confident.

 

I asked their customer service rep the same question. They stonewalled in the same manner. I took it a step further, and called the sales office and left a message. The Sales Manager actually called me back about two hours later and said that the firmware is in development but that it is nearly completely debugged. They don't do customer beta testing, according to what he told me; their own non-technical employees are their beta testers. They also have an internal policy of not overhanging the market publicly, so that's why the customer service reps take such a hard stance.

 

For a small firm, I understand it. My firm operates in much the same way. If you do otherwise, you quickly get a reputation for promising and then not delivering.

[chas521]

Funny you should ask. I recently wrote to Igolf and asked them the same question. Their reply was that you will hear of anything in the Igolf newsletter. I just don't feel too confident.

 

I asked their customer service rep the same question. They stonewalled in the same manner. I took it a step further, and called the sales office and left a message. The Sales Manager actually called me back about two hours later and said that the firmware is in development but that it is nearly completely debugged. They don't do customer beta testing, according to what he told me; their own non-technical employees are their beta testers. They also have an internal policy of not overhanging the market publicly, so that's why the customer service reps take such a hard stance.

 

For a small firm, I understand it. My firm operates in much the same way. If you do otherwise, you quickly get a reputation for promising and then not delivering.

 

Thanks for the follow-up. I know that I appreciate it as well as many others out there in cyberland.

[Pilk]

Just picked up a Neo from Oceanselectronics on ebay. 114.95 - 9% cashback, free shipping...so about 104 shipped. I had gotten a Golf Guru Color for Christmas and realized right away it was too much work for me on the golf course. The buttons are were in a poor place.. the unit was too big to drop in the pocket, it wasn't intuitive at all and I just wasn't going to use it. I sent it to ebay (hey, they hold their value!). Began the research on golfwrx and realized the size, simplicity and cost made the NEO my best option. I just want distance to the f/c/b and a few hazards or dogleg numbers would be nice. I don't care for the download membership but hey, for $140 total I'll probably wear it out and by that time something new will hit me. It will be used 95% of the time on our poorly marked home course.

[bogeyjosh]

I too just bought one of these on ebay. It arrived today and the setup was super easy. I was able to download 4 courses and sync it to the neo very quickly. i can't wait to try it out tomorrow afternoon.

[leftylucas]

I just got my Igolf Neo yesterday and the screen was always blank. I chatted online with their support team to find out I have to pay to ship it back to them and receive a lovley "refurbished" unit instead. HUH!!!

Yep, so I paid for a new unit and will get a refurbished one instead, nice. I will get an additional 4 months warranty though.

I asked that they pay for my membership to download courses to compensate for getting a refurbished unit but that was refused. They also told me that if I did not like it to go to through the reseller. That is odd customer service in this tough economy and in very competitive market. .

I asked that a manager review the situation but I am quite sure it will go nowhere. SO my buddy who also bought one right after me is laughing at me and using his unit right now and I have to ship mine back for the privilige of getting a nice refurbished one. :black eye: :russian_roulette:

I am so lucky!!

[stevestrike]

Why not simply return it to where you bought it? Then buy another one, or another product altogether.

[bogeyjosh]

i tried out my neo sunday at true blue plantation in pawley's island. i was a little worried about the neo since it did not have all the "bells & whitsles" that other gps units have. i can say though that i really enjoyed having this unit with me. i found that all i really needed was the front, back, and center readings. one quick glance at it and there it is. all my buddies were wanting their yardage as well. i found that the neo was VERY accurate and only on one hole was the reading not correct. on that hole there are two greens that they alternate, and it gave me the reading for the green on the right, instead of the one on the left that was in play that day. although it's no biggie in my book, hard for the gps to know which green is in play when there are two. i'm very happy with my unit and would reccomend it to anyone looking for a gps unit that is simple to use.

[chas521]

i tried out my neo sunday at true blue plantation in pawley's island. i was a little worried about the neo since it did not have all the "bells & whitsles" that other gps units have. i can say though that i really enjoyed having this unit with me. i found that all i really needed was the front, back, and center readings. one quick glance at it and there it is. all my buddies were wanting their yardage as well. i found that the neo was VERY accurate and only on one hole was the reading not correct. on that hole there are two greens that they alternate, and it gave me the reading for the green on the right, instead of the one on the left that was in play that day. although it's no biggie in my book, hard for the gps to know which green is in play when there are two. i'm very happy with my unit and would reccomend it to anyone looking for a gps unit that is simple to use.

 

Nice course. Played there a few years ago.

[leftylucas]

Update, the manager reviewed my chat with CS and decided to reimburse me the cost of returning the defective item back to them. I will still not get a new unit but at least it is not going to cost me any extra dough. Hope the next one works or I will flip my lid!! :russian_roulette:

[leftylucas]

Why not simply return it to where you bought it? Then buy another one, or another product altogether.

 

The reseller made it clear that the warranty was being offered by Igolf and not him, I guess he knew what was up.

[stevestrike]

That's good that they are fixing it, but bad that you had to go through all that. Who was the reseller you bought it from? (So I can know who to avoid in the future).

[spruancedd-963]

My brother in law works for Sirf so I tried a neo. I believe the device is great. Fast small, etc..... but the technology they use to map courses is not very accurate, at least not in my case. I tried it on my home course and of course I stood in the middle of the 1st green and it told me I was 39 yards away! I had similar experiences with other holes on the course.

 

I believe they use satelite imagery to map a course, as opposed to Sky golf who actually walk the course. So if the

imagery is off (or old!!) your screwed unless you want to walk the entire course and re-map it.

 

I sent the neo back and bought a new Sky Caddie. Spot on.

[leftylucas]

That's good that they are fixing it, but bad that you had to go through all that. Who was the reseller you bought it from? (So I can know who to avoid in the future).

 

I think the fact that they provide a refurbished unit in place of a brand new one is not "good" at all. I got lucky that it did not cost me $ to ship it back to them. The reseller made it quite clear that the warranty was from the manufacturer and I do not blame him, after all my buddy's unit works fine. This is not a great experience and I still do not have the unit yet (2 weeks). My buddy finds it quite amusing though, always asking me what the yardage is compared to his Igolf.

 

I asked them to ensure that the unit is fully functional before it left the shop, I really do not know what I will do if it is not functioning when I get it. Go back to pacing things off I guess.

[DoglegRight]

I've posted this in the past, but I would love to see a simple silicone sleeve for the Neo. You see them for MP3 players and cell phones, why not the Neo?

[Ronzo]

The belt case for a cell phone fits my Neo very well. Remove phone, silence and put in bag, insert Neo. Simple, cheap, effective.

[jimbellows]

I wonder if the price will go down anymore

[signats]

Firmware v2.0 is now available from igolf!

 

http://www.igolf.com/neo/firmware_update.html

[Wayneo]

Firmware v2.0 is now available from igolf!

 

http://www.igolf.com/neo/firmware_update.html

 

According to them ONLY FOR PAID MEMBERS. You must login and they decrement the count so a user can only do it once, so at first glance a paid member (like me) cannot share it with others.

[chas521]

First of all, I don't see any difference from the old firmware. What happened to the automatic course locator? Second of all, my paid membership expired less than a week ago so I don't think it's fair not to allow all owners to be able to download anything new [especially when nothing has really changed]. There should be some "grace" period. They took forever to put out an update. This is NOT an upgrade!

[bellken]

I updated my Neo, and, the 1st screen is different. I like it so far in the 2 minutes I played with it.

 

I could not the new sync application installed, but, I will give another try tomorrow morning. I had to get to work.

 

update: I got the new sync application installed, it helps to unzip the files before installing. It looks much nicer.

[chas521]

First of all, I don't see any difference from the old firmware. What happened to the automatic course locator? Second of all, my paid membership expired less than a week ago so I don't think it's fair not to allow all owners to be able to download anything new [especially when nothing has really changed]. There should be some "grace" period. They took forever to put out an update. This is NOT an upgrade!

 

I HATE TO REPLY TO MY OWN MESSAGE BUT I SURE HOPE THAT IGOLF READS THIS FORUM BECAUSE THEY NEED TO DO THE RIGHT THING HERE! No other site charges for updates!

[stevestrike]

How is the update done? Do you download a file? Can someone send the file to me?

[bayway]

How is the update done? Do you download a file? Can someone send the file to me?

 

Your yearly paid subscription must be current to download the update, or you have to re-subscribe......don't feel this is the right approach at all but that is how they are going about this Firmware upgrade. Also, to prevent any sharing they are limiting each person to just one download....and you just hope it works. Personally, I'm in standby mode until another week or so before proceeding, especially with the possibility of limited support over the long Easter weekend if issues arise.

[stevestrike]

I haven't been very happy with iGolf for some time now, and I've stopped recommending their products. This is just icing on the cake.

[efduffer]

It appears that this is an update that adds no new functions and thus no value to the unit. Just some niceities.

 

So basically, if you bought this unit and paid the subscription fee over a year ago, the effective price has gone to $185 to get this update? I say that because I have downloaded almost any course I will ever play in the foreseeable future and have no need to re-subscribe, probably the category 90% of owners of this unit fall into.

 

I understand the desire to recoup development costs, but really, this is bad form on their part.

[mrfitz]

I haven't been very happy with iGolf for some time now, and I've stopped recommending their products. This is just icing on the cake.

 

I'm curious as to why you are unhappy with iGolf. I haven't had any dealings with their support folks (other than the beta mac team, and that was a joke, but it was beta). The neo works good for me and I have the working sync software on both the mac and the xp machine.

[tch_a]

Igolf requiring that existing users effectively pay for a firmware update smacks of greed and poor business practice. Seems to me that most consumer electronic providers do not charge existing users pay for a software upgrade. This approach is not reflective of a company that values their customers or who have concern about their brand image.

 

Whomever is heading their marketing group is selling them short!

[stevestrike]

Go back and read this thread. From releasing a product with serious operational problems, to not offering simple new features for free or even for pay, they have been a step behind the game the whole way.