Skycaddie SG4

[asg13]

Any advice before purchasing

i know there are mixed reviews on this...I am thinking about picking one up on ebay or off of wrx but how exactly do you get your desired course to load..i saw something about a yearly membership..can u just purchase 1 course at a time..Maybe i am completely confused on how this works..any help is appreciated..

a little confused on the issue...just wanna be clear

thanks
alex

[bcheeks]

You have to purchase a yearly membership to download courses. Check out the website, www.skygolf.com. It'll show you how much the memberships are.

[bigstunnerdude]

You need a yearly subscription to be able to access the SkyCaddie Course Library and download courses. Without the Subscription you'd have to map your course yourself and this won't give you all the information found on the Professional Mapped Courses. With the Subscription you'll be able to download and store 10 courses at a time your SkyCaddie.

 

Personally from experience with an SG4 I'd say avoid it and get yourself the cheaper and more reliable SG2.5 Model. Its a lot easier to connect to your PC and Re-Charge as well. The connector that comes with the SG4 is a pain in the a**.

[bcheeks]

You need a yearly subscription to be able to access the SkyCaddie Course Library and download courses. Without the Subscription you'd have to map your course yourself and this won't give you all the information found on the Professional Mapped Courses. With the Subscription you'll be able to download and store 10 courses at a time your SkyCaddie.

 

Personally from experience with an SG4 I'd say avoid it and get yourself the cheaper and more reliable SG2.5 Model. Its a lot easier to connect to your PC and Re-Charge as well. The connector that comes with the SG4 is a pain in the a**.

 

I agree about the connector for the sg4, it really sucks. The little prongs broke off the side of mine somehow too, that made it even worse. I just sold my SG4 to a buddy, I found all I used it for was front - center - back yardages on greens. Most of the courses I play I've played for years and occasionly when I do go play somewhere else I can get GPS on a cart if I really want it.

[SwingBlues]

i have the sg3 and the connector does s*ck but I don't download that often. However, the advantage of the SG3 is that you use AAs so if you want to or switch them with recharageable AAs, scr*w the propriety ion-lithium battery in the SG4.

 

The SG2.5 does look nicer and cheaper but I think it's got the same skycaddie battery, i believe.

[phil75070]

I believe the SG3 and SG4 were just Magellan units with custom software and the GPS technology was not actually as good as the older SG2. With the SG5, and now the SG2.5 I think, they went to a more reliable and more accurate technology, more in line with their original units. I have seen a lot of negative comments about the 3 and 4.

[herkyjerk]

Again I land in the minority around here. I have used my SG4 in 6-7 states for over 2 years with never one issue. The connector is idiotic, no reason it couldn't have been a USB or simple male / female like a Blackberry or something but oh well. Mine has never broke or about to. Never had any issue getting a signal, can't play without it! Never really saw many negatives about 3 or 4, just the typical pisssing contest between GPS & laser. I would reccomend the SG4 very highly based on the performance of my unit. I was actually looking at the new color one (feeling whoreish) around Christmas.......

[asg13]

thanks guy..that is why i love this site..immediate feedbac..i still realy have a month before things get going here as far as weather..just getting in the mode lol..i will look at the 2.5 and go from there.how is the battery life on the one that uses aa batteries..

thanks

[bcheeks]

I'm not sure about the AA batteries but my SG4 could make it 36 holes before having to recharge.

[PingG10]

Based on your initial post I'd reconsider getting a unit that has the course information "expire" if you do not renew your yearly subscription-the iGolf GPSCaddie (or Neo) both offer very similar features (less the Intelligreen capability) as the SkyCaddie units but you "own" the course data once you've downloaded it.

[roe]

With my SG3, I get 2 plus rounds on a new set of batteries. Also, I didn't renew my membership for almost a month after it expired and all 10 of the courses I had seemed to be on and functional on my skycaddie. So I am presuming that if you play the same ten courses, you wouldn't have to renew your membership. Just an FYI.

[evergreen]

Check out sonocaddie on ngcgolf.com No membership needed and is the same thing as sky caddie

[WFO]

I've been using a sg4 for almost two years.....no problems to report. The charger is a little funky, but it has held up well for me and really isn't a problem at all. Having to renew the service every year is annoying and it piss's me off to keep spending on it. But, I've really come to depend on it while playing, and feel kind of lost without it. It's been a good purchase for me and I'm glad to have it.

[cujo2344]

Also, I didn't renew my membership for almost a month after it expired and all 10 of the courses I had seemed to be on and functional on my skycaddie. So I am presuming that if you play the same ten courses, you wouldn't have to renew your membership. Just an FYI.

 

Well with the SG2, for about a month after expiration you get the please renew notice.

 

Then after a Month of non renewal the device becomes non functional. It will NOT let you use the device for the 10 stored courses.

 

Not sure if the others are like this, but the SG2 is.

 

 

I have had the SG2 for about 2 years with no problems besides the shorter battery life over time, but it still makes it through a full round without problems. Used to make it through 2 full rounds, but if I forget the reload it dies about 11-12 through the second round.

[PingG10]

During my evaluation (prior to buying the iGolf product) I determined (for SkyCaddies own information) that without subscription renewal the courses on the unit would become non-functional-the datafiles are timestamped in some way. The iGolf datafiles do not "expire" and you "own" a backup copy should something happen to the version resident on the unit.

[roe]

I didn't know after a month they would become inactive. Now I don't have to think about the 10 courses I would keep if I didn't want to pay :)

[asg13]

after doing some research now i am leaning towoards the sonocaddie..has anyone had problems with them..

any problems getting them to add courses from your area..it is showing some courses i play on there website but on some of them it doest have the yardages etc listed..??huh

[narsi]

I have not had any luck with my SG4. There was one round out of 8 that it actually worked and picked up a signal. I would suggest looking into companies that are founded by major GPS companies like TOM TOM, etc.

 

I have called customer care three times and the wait time as always been greater then 25 min. Also, the two times I got through they said they would email me, but never did.