what gps system is the best out there?

[inthesun]

i see there are scattered posts that people have gps for golf but which one is really the best for the $. any opinions?

[dr222]

I had for xmas from my wife the sky caddy 4, live up here in the northeast, so have not had much chance to use it till a few weeks ago, I have to say it works like a dream, easy to set up, it is spot on with the yardages, have yet to get used to all the features, but that’s just a learning curve like any new toy.

 

The few rounds that I have used it with my buddies, they are now all looking at me when there at there ball and asking how far, I have to say that I do mess with them now and then, LOL.

 

I did buy the adapter so I can attach it to a push cart or ride cart that works great to.

 

I did have a bushel hand held range finder a while back, I found that very unsatisfactory as it was difficult to pick out the target and if you had a unsteady hand forget it, that was back on Ebay quick

 

Hope this helps

[Bomb and Gouge]

I have an SG5 and have absolutely NO COMPLAINTS!

 

I really like being able to track how long my drives are and getting yardages on the green to any spot I want.

 

If you look hard, you can find them for $350.00...and I highly recommend it!

[golfdad907]

I have an SG5 and have absolutely NO COMPLAINTS!

 

I really like being able to track how long my drives are and getting yardages on the green to any spot I want.

 

If you look hard, you can find them for $350.00...and I highly recommend it!

 

100% agree...SG5 is one sweet little device.

[blkdiamond]

I haven't tried any other GPS device, but I am very happy with my Sonocaddie. Perfect size, easy to operate and the best is that there isn't any subscription fees.

[phil75070]

Best value, features to price, Golf Guru is the winner. The SkyGolf products are pretty darn good, but more expensive than most and with an annual subscription fee. The Intelligreen feature alone makes them desirable. However, Golf Guru has a feature very much like Intelligreen; Golf Guru is more accurate as it picks up far more satellites; with Golf Guru you map the outline of the greens yourself if you self map a course; with Golf Guru you will be able to edit downloaded courses in the future; some GPS offerings ONLY provide immovable front, center and back green markings, no hazard information; unless it has changed, if you self map with SkyGolf you can only map FCB of greens; if you stop paying the subscription with SkyGolf the only courses you can use are the ones you map yourself.

 

These are just a few thoughts that quickly come to mind.

 

Forgot to mention, the Golf Guru sells for $249 and no subscription fee. I had used the SG2 for 4-5 years and replaced it about two months ago with the Golf Guru and could not be happier with a unit.

[Dayton]

I'm also interested in the responses to this question as I am in the market for a GPS. Sky Caddie and the Garmin product seem to have all the courses I play available, while the Guru does not. For that reason, I am down to the Sky caddie and Garmin GPS's so if anyone has experience with both of these I would be interested in hearing from you. Thanks

[alcazark]

I have the Skycaddie SG2.5 for 3 months now and I love it..No problems at all and battery last for at least 3 rounds...

[23muc]

Same as alcazark here....SG2.5 for 3 months and works great...no need to spend the bigger bucks on the SG5 unless you really want color.

SG2.5 is perfect size and gets the job done....accurate yardages and shot measurement. Great battery life here as well.

[fishbonez]

Add me to the list voting for Golf Guru. I got mine yesterday and used it for league play last night on a course that's notorius for poor yardage markers (Snohomish, WA). It was spot on with the yardage markers I could find and absolutely helped my game. Fits perfectly in my Bagboy cart storage compartment. Flip the lid open and I'm good to go with no signal loss, even with the lid closed. I've used the SG4 previously and was not impressed. Took a long time to get signal and lost signal on several occasions. Bang for the buck, I don't see how this one can be beat.

[23muc]

Does that mean the Guru gives poor yardage if it is spot on with the notorious poor yardages....or the notorious poor yardages are actually perfectly good yardages??

[fishbonez]

Ok, to clarify - the yardage markers are the correct yardage (therefore the Golf Guru is also correct), they're just in bad locations and hard to find. There are no stakes, no sprinkler heads marked, only ground markers that are half the time marked in the middle of the fairway and the other half on the far sides of the fairway.

[23muc]

That's what I figured but I had to be an @#%# and ask!!

No matter which GPS unit is the favorite of any individual, you are spot on when it comes to poorly marked courses. Any type range finder (laser or GPS) speeds up play and lets you concentrate on the shot at hand and not have you pacing all over the fairway looking for markers.

 

I probably should buy another one to give to that foursome I seem to always be behind wherever I play. Unfortunately I play faster with one while it makes the group in front seem that much slower!!

[phil75070]

i see there are scattered posts that people have gps for golf but which one is really the best for the $. any opinions?

 

After thinking about this and seeing other replies, it really depends on what your criteria is. For me, it would be the one that gives me the most accurate yardages and all of the yardages that I need to help make my club choice.

 

First, I personally would not consider a GPS that did not provide me with at least Front, Center and Back distances to the green on my line of play. Ideally, I want to see the shape of the green on my unit and be able to approximate the pin position and see what my yardages are on that or any other line of play I should choose, not fixed points or yardages strictly through the center of the green. Based on my knowledge of units out there that limits it to either the SkyGolf products or the Golf Guru. There may be others.

 

Then there is the question of accuracy which is also a big issue with those who favor laser rangefinders. Many units don't talk about accuracy, or claim no one's accuracy is better than +/- 3 yards typical, or they fail to indicate the GPS technology used, or how many satellites are potentially used, etc. Here, based on published information, the Golf Guru should be the most accurate. It can potentially use up to 16 satellites, 30% more than any other unit. The Golf Guru also uses WAAS or differential GPS. Research will tell you that practical horizontal accuracy would be .9M or about the same as the advertised accuracy (+/- 1 yard) of most affordable laser devices.

 

However, there is plenty of other criteria that one might want to consider. Other criteria might be the warranty, type of batteries used, battery life, color or gray scale display, initial cost, cost of any annual subscription or other fees for course downloads, number of courses that are already mapped and in the course database, number of courses the unit can hold, can the unit be used to map a course and if so how easy to do so, customer service. What is the "best" for one person may not be the best for someone else depending on their criteria.

 

It is nice to have options!

[1t2golf]

Here's the newest entry into the market. Looks really good.

 

http://www.uprogps.com/

[Gozz]

Another Golf Guru vote here. It locates satellites in under a minute of being turned on. There were only two courses in my area when I bought it (neither of which I play on a regular basis) and they have now mapped 13 more courses for me since mid February. Outstanding customer service to say the least. I would put up against anything at this point.

 

The UPro looks very interesting but at $339.99 plus the price of course downloads puts it out of my market.