Sonocaddie v300

[hacker1]

I also have an imac and have to use my son's laptop to do all of my foldering. They need to come out with the imac version software soon! Pc stands for piece of crap anyway. But I do not know any decent gps units that do support mac os. I'll put my mac next to anybody's pc anytime! But then they would just go buy an imac. But gps is not alone. Many software companies do not have mac os formats. It costs a lot more to format for something so complex! But I will never have another pc again. Once u go mac, you never go back! :cheesy:

[hacker1]

I wanted to share with you my experiences with the Sonocaddie V300. Prior to my purchase, I did a fair bit of research. I wanted a unit that provided an electronic score card capability in addition to golf gps functionality. Needless to say availability of mapped golf courses in my area was also a must. The Sonocaddie seemed to fit the bill. All reviews I read were positive, the unit allows you to record your score, and when I looked up golf courses in my area on their web site, they all showed up.

 

 

 

I will start with the positives. The unit is well designed. The color screen is readable under most if not all lighting conditions. The user interface is well laid out, therefore the usability of the unit on the golf course is very good. About the only thing that is missing from the design of the unit is the intelligreen feature supported by some units such as the Sky Caddie.

 

 

 

That is about it as far as the positives comments I have. On to the negatives.

 

 

 

I said earlier that when I looked up golf courses in my area they all (or at least most) showed up in Sonocaddie’s data base, the problem is that for most of the golf courses in my area the data base records are EMPTY, there is no mapping information available, nada. Not a problem you say, as indicated on their web site, all you have to do is send a request to have your favorite golf course mapped. I did just that. This is when I was exposed to Sonocaddie’s customer service which can only be described is abysmal. It often takes them 7-10 days to respond to an e-mail, their response if often cryptic, obviously I was dealing with people whose first language is not English, making it difficult to communicate.

 

 

 

Next I will comment on the quality of gps mapping information they have available. Again generally speaking the information is abysmal. Most yardages are off by 20+ yards. The information on some holes is incomplete, for example key points of interest like yardages to greens are missing. Clearly they have not taken care to make sure that the quality of gps they make available is top grade.

 

 

 

Finally a few words about the documentation and companion software they supply with the unit. Again, both are terrible. The documentation is just about incomprehensible, its written so poorly that often you have to read sections over and over again to decipher the content. The companion software is rudimentary at best, and worst of all the software has bugs.

 

 

 

In summary, my rating of the Sonocaddie V300:

 

Unit: 8/10

 

Course data: 2/10

 

Documentation: 3/10

 

Companion Software: 3/10

 

Over all rating: 2/10

 

 

 

My recommendation: the Sonocaddie v300 is not worth the premium price it retailers are charging.

Sorry to hear about the no local courses for you. Bummer. Hopefully by now, they have taken care of that for you. If so, how long did it take to get your request fulfilled? And yes, the user guides are rather vague. But if your courses were not mapped, how accurate would or should the gps coordinates be? I have not had one problem with my unit. Distances are spot on every time I double check. 2 of my courses did not have the scorecards logged, but it's only a click of the thumb on the scorecard feature. I did seem to have a problem with the downloading software at first, but has now smoothed out. I contribute this mostly to my son's piece of crap (pc) being full of spyware. Hope everything worked out for you, because this is honestly a work of art. At least when everything is right. And mine is. Other than yours, I don't remember any other negative feedback.

[chrisfx811]

Well, the business center at my apt complex has Pc's and I was able to DL ~ 17 courses that I plan to play in the near future.

Some are mapped pretty well, and some are VERY basic, and missing some key checkpoints that I would like to see.

This was kind of my complaint with the Garmin unit... the maps were too simplified on courses I knew.

 

I do appreciate how I can add points on the v300 myself, which I don't believe you can do with the g5, so I guess I will have to spend some time editing some of the courses I play.

 

It may be a little frustrating when I play a course for the first time, which is one reason I wanted an informative GPS in the 1st place. However, since all of the GPS devices have their shortcomings, I still think I can work with the v300 to get it the way I want it.

 

One of my regular courses rerouted 2 of their holes last year, and the v300 map is out of date. I just submitted a request to Sonocaddie, so I hope they can have that rectified in a reasonable amount of time.

 

I must admit, price was a big factor in my decision, as I got my v300 on ultra clearance @ Dick's and the 1 time fee of $30 makes it a no brainer. I just hope Sonocaddie is around with all the GPS competition heating up.

 

I do think a Garmin unit, with uPro's maps, and the ability to edit points would be the ultimate unit, but this v300 is a pretty nifty package. Maybe if Skycaddie adopts a 'hole view' capability.... that would be a huge + for them as well.

 

Couple of questions for seasoned v300 users:

a. When you map a new hole/course do you give up the hole view since you can only add reference points?

IOW, if I were to remap the #1 & #10 holes on the course that is out of date, would I lose the hole layout view since the new hole is not along the same land the old holes were?

 

b. Iirc, is it 10 total reference points per hole that can be stored, but only 1 per row as they're laid out on the edit screen?

 

c. I notice on Sonocaddie's website, some of their maps are submitted by users. Any experience with those?

[hacker1]

Well, the business center at my apt complex has Pc's and I was able to DL ~ 17 courses that I plan to play in the near future.

Some are mapped pretty well, and some are VERY basic, and missing some key checkpoints that I would like to see.

This was kind of my complaint with the Garmin unit... the maps were too simplified on courses I knew.

 

I do appreciate how I can add points on the v300 myself, which I don't believe you can do with the g5, so I guess I will have to spend some time editing some of the courses I play.

 

It may be a little frustrating when I play a course for the first time, which is one reason I wanted an informative GPS in the 1st place. However, since all of the GPS devices have their shortcomings, I still think I can work with the v300 to get it the way I want it.

 

One of my regular courses rerouted 2 of their holes last year, and the v300 map is out of date. I just submitted a request to Sonocaddie, so I hope they can have that rectified in a reasonable amount of time.

 

I must admit, price was a big factor in my decision, as I got my v300 on ultra clearance @ Dick's and the 1 time fee of $30 makes it a no brainer. I just hope Sonocaddie is around with all the GPS competition heating up.

 

I do think a Garmin unit, with uPro's maps, and the ability to edit points would be the ultimate unit, but this v300 is a pretty nifty package. Maybe if Skycaddie adopts a 'hole view' capability.... that would be a huge + for them as well.

 

Couple of questions for seasoned v300 users:

a. When you map a new hole/course do you give up the hole view since you can only add reference points?

IOW, if I were to remap the #1 & #10 holes on the course that is out of date, would I lose the hole layout view since the new hole is not along the same land the old holes were?

 

b. Iirc, is it 10 total reference points per hole that can be stored, but only 1 per row as they're laid out on the edit screen?

 

c. I notice on Sonocaddie's website, some of their maps are submitted by users. Any experience with those?

I mapped 18 temporary greens the other morning before I played, and it took me about 45 mins. for all 18 greens. The second green option came in handy on that one. I don't know how it works if you map an entire hole, but you could call sonocaddie and get a quick answer, I'm sure. The editing is a breeze. You can add targets in any slot box as long as it is vacant. 2 targets would not be in the same place anyway, would they? It takes about 5 seconds for the whole "add target" procedure. You could have three targets horizontally in a row, and the left, center, and right boxes would show up as left, center, and right on the hole view. Don't worry if it looks a little off on the edit page, bc when you record the position of the new target, it spaces the icon pretty accurately distanced between other existing targets on the hole view. The left, center and right positioning, I had to play with as far as layout position to look right on the hole view. No experience with user mapped courses. I would venture that they would only be as accurate as the user who mapped it. And tell us what deal you got on the v300. You said 50% off, but what did it come to? I think you are going to be happy with the v300 anyway. To me, it is worth the $300+ that it use to be. Most sites are charging way more for it still.

[hacker1]

Oh yeah, forgot to add, it took 45 minutes to add 18 new greens to it, but only because of riding time and waiting for people to get off of some.

[chrisfx811]

Well, It was on clearance @ Dick's for $229, and 1 Dick's in my area had a sign offering an additional 50% off clearance GPS systems. So I got the Sonocaddie for $115+ tax. Even with the 1 time $29.95 fee, I barely broke the $150 mark for this unit.

 

As much as I was leaning towards the uPro, I couldn't bring myself to pass up this deal, even if the uPro would have ended up being $250 after rebate & coupon. I still would have bought the large credit package for Pro mode courses, and that would have brought the price back up over $400.

 

I do plan on spending a few mornings and/or evenings walking my regular courses and really mapping out the points I find most important, and that's a big plus for me with this unit.

 

Hacker, is it 11 targets per hole?

[hacker1]

Killer deal! Blew my $185 out of the water. $215 after subscription. I read in the manual a maximum of 10 reference points can be recorded per hole. But really haven't had to add many, so don't know if that counts the ones already mapped for you. All my courses are pretty accurate! There has been a tree added and a bunker erased, and my temp. greens added. That's it on two outings. Will try another course Friday.

[chrisfx811]

Well, played 2 rounds with it this weekend.

The stock maps are pretty decent. The one for the Fort golf course in Indy had most of the important targets mapped out. I edited a few greens, and added a few points which was a breeze.

 

Yardage always seemed to be pretty good, and it was exceptionally helpful as The Fort has some seriously deep greens (35-40 yds).

Being able to have yardage to a hazard, and to clear a hazard is an awesome feature.

 

1. Editing maps and adding points is ridiculously easy, and really makes this unit shine.

2. Battery life seems awesome. I had it on for a 4+ hr round, with backlight set at 15 seconds iirc, and the battery bar barely moved.

3. Build quality is great. the rubberized edges give it a solid feel, and the belt clip is sturdy.

4. Screen is easy to see in bright sun or shade. The hole view does mandate that the numbers be a little on the small side, but with that much info available, it's expected.

5. 10 points can be mapped per hole, and even if they are added out of order on the edit screen, they still show up on the hole layout in the appropriate spot, which tells me that the unit recognizes the actual coordinates of the point being plotted rather than the order it's listed on the edit screen.

Each line of the edit screen has 3 spots open, for left, center, and right but only one spot per line can be plotted. However, there are plenty of rows to add points.

 

The only things I wish were a little better:

a. I wish the shapes of the fairways were a little more accurate, especially on a course with tree lined fairways and narrow points.

b. An intelligreen type feature would be icing on the cake, but guesstimating based on the distances to the plotted front and back of green weren't too tough.

c. green views aren't nearly as accurate in regards to shape as the Skycaddie, and certainly short of the uPro's pro mode, but they were ok.

d. I wish there were a few more choices of icons, but if you know what you mean when you add the point, I guess it's not a big issue.

 

When you map a tree on the left or right side, it tends to appear as though it's on the fairway, even though in most of the cases I used it, it was trees off the fairway, but again, it would be easy to figure out just by looking at it.

 

The v300 does darn near everything I had hoped for, and I only have minor gripes. Skycaddie needs a hole view function, and a better way of showing points on the hole than their current abbreviations and chart style layout. I much prefer the v300's display.

 

The uPro is really falling off my radar, as the demo units I have looked at freeze up easily, and require too much button pushing to obtain info.

 

The G5 just needs to add custom point mapping, and perhaps increase the size of the hole views to make use of that huge screen.

[hacker1]

Well, played 2 rounds with it this weekend.

The stock maps are pretty decent. The one for the Fort golf course in Indy had most of the important targets mapped out. I edited a few greens, and added a few points which was a breeze.

 

Yardage always seemed to be pretty good, and it was exceptionally helpful as The Fort has some seriously deep greens (35-40 yds).

Being able to have yardage to a hazard, and to clear a hazard is an awesome feature.

 

1. Editing maps and adding points is ridiculously easy, and really makes this unit shine.

2. Battery life seems awesome. I had it on for a 4+ hr round, with backlight set at 15 seconds iirc, and the battery bar barely moved.

3. Build quality is great. the rubberized edges give it a solid feel, and the belt clip is sturdy.

4. Screen is easy to see in bright sun or shade. The hole view does mandate that the numbers be a little on the small side, but with that much info available, it's expected.

5. 10 points can be mapped per hole, and even if they are added out of order on the edit screen, they still show up on the hole layout in the appropriate spot, which tells me that the unit recognizes the actual coordinates of the point being plotted rather than the order it's listed on the edit screen.

Each line of the edit screen has 3 spots open, for left, center, and right but only one spot per line can be plotted. However, there are plenty of rows to add points.

 

The only things I wish were a little better:

a. I wish the shapes of the fairways were a little more accurate, especially on a course with tree lined fairways and narrow points.

b. An intelligreen type feature would be icing on the cake, but guesstimating based on the distances to the plotted front and back of green weren't too tough.

c. green views aren't nearly as accurate in regards to shape as the Skycaddie, and certainly short of the uPro's pro mode, but they were ok.

d. I wish there were a few more choices of icons, but if you know what you mean when you add the point, I guess it's not a big issue.

 

When you map a tree on the left or right side, it tends to appear as though it's on the fairway, even though in most of the cases I used it, it was trees off the fairway, but again, it would be easy to figure out just by looking at it.

 

The v300 does darn near everything I had hoped for, and I only have minor gripes. Skycaddie needs a hole view function, and a better way of showing points on the hole than their current abbreviations and chart style layout. I much prefer the v300's display.

 

The uPro is really falling off my radar, as the demo units I have looked at freeze up easily, and require too much button pushing to obtain info.

 

The G5 just needs to add custom point mapping, and perhaps increase the size of the hole views to make use of that huge screen.

Good review. I agree about the minor gripes, but aren't even worth mentioning with performance like this unit provides. Gotta go golf now.

[hacker1]

Okay, I have to add a couple of performance updates. 1st, yesterday I shot a round on Ft. Gordon, and there was a tree on the right side of the fairway, about 200 yards down on a 490 yard par 5. I went to the tree to add target, but slots were all filled on the left with bunkers already. All but one, and on the add/edit page where you select the target and location, the open slot for adding/editing was below the bunkers slots. But, the tree was actually located even with the 1st bunker on the left on the course. I selected the lower slot, thinking this was going to look funny, showing the tree way too close, and when I went to the overhead hole view, the tree was mapped PERFECTLY! So, even if you have to use slots that are too low, or too high looking on the edit page, the coordinates are accurate on the hole view... Sweet! 2nd, and THIS, to me is BIG... The round I played was a marathon round with 5 of us walking, and it took us about 5 1/2- 6 hours to finish. I then went home, and forgot to turn off my v300. So it stays on all night until 10:00 the next morning when I get ready to go back out to the course. Are you with me so far? We tee off at 1:10 and finish at 7:30. The battery died on me at about 7:15. 1 stroke to the last hole. I mean, I only got approximately 28 hours out of this thing? I know, the total "in use" hours was approx. 12 hours, and the "dimmed"( but still on ) hours was approx. 16. But I think I could have at least gotten 3 full rounds in, if I didn't forget to turn it off! I love it!

[doubleBZee]

I have one of these and I love it. Now I have never used anything else, but this is very easy to use. As hacker said, the battery life is good and it is easy to add more point. No there was a course near me that was unmapped. The site said they could have a course mapped within 2 weeks and uploaded. I emailed them the course info and sure enough 2 weeks it was up.

Great Unit

[hacker1]

I'm glad you had some feedback on requested course mapping time frame. Although all of mine are already mapped, I have seen some posts asking how long it took. Thanks for the info, in case I stray too far.

[chrisfx811]

Update from me:
Played 36 holes and and edited points on another 9, all on a single charge, and I still have not reached the 50% mark on the battery indicator. Wow!

Every so often, I'll map a landmark, and it will show up slightly off from where it should be on the hole view. For example, today I mapped a tree that is on the inside edge of a dogleg, and it actually appeared in the middle of the fairway on the dogleg. I'm guessing the coordinates of the original map for the fairway outline are a bit off.

I remapped most of the greens as I play, just so I know what the reference points are for F & B of the green. They're rarely never off more than 1-4 yds of the stock map, which could be horizontal or vertical, but definitely fall within a reasonable margin of error for me.

I do wish the green views were a bit more detailed, but aside from Skycaddie walking the outline, and UPro showing an actual image, idk how good most can be. Maybe the inclusion of expandable memory and the ability to record a green outline would be a cool feature of a future unit.

I always have between 7-10 satellites, and in the several rounds I've played since getting it, I can't remember a WTF moment of hitting into any unexpected trouble.

[hacker1]

[quote name='chrisfx811' post='1845051' date='Jul 26 2009, 11:20 PM']Update from me:
Played 36 holes and and edited points on another 9, all on a single charge, and I still have not reached the 50% mark on the battery indicator. Wow!

Every so often, I'll map a landmark, and it will show up slightly off from where it should be on the hole view. For example, today I mapped a tree that is on the inside edge of a dogleg, and it actually appeared in the middle of the fairway on the dogleg. I'm guessing the coordinates of the original map for the fairway outline are a bit off.

I remapped most of the greens as I play, just so I know what the reference points are for F & B of the green. They're rarely never off more than 1-4 yds of the stock map, which could be horizontal or vertical, but definitely fall within a reasonable margin of error for me.

I do wish the green views were a bit more detailed, but aside from Skycaddie walking the outline, and UPro showing an actual image, idk how good most can be. Maybe the inclusion of expandable memory and the ability to record a green outline would be a cool feature of a future unit.

I always have between 7-10 satellites, and in the several rounds I've played since getting it, I can't remember a WTF moment of hitting into any unexpected trouble.[/quote]
The only time my hole view was off with editing was when I put a target in the middle slot on a dogleg, and it looked off. But when I slid it over in the inner slot, it was good. I'm guessing you tried that already? Check... I get the same satellites all the time... 7-10, in the cart, on my bag, in the pocket, with little to no delayed fluctuation. I've seen it flicker a 1 yard difference quick and set. I just had SEVERAL WTF moments today hitting into unexpected trouble. That's because I can't seem to get my V300 to hit the ball for me, tho.

[chrisfx811]

Yea, I have the tree set in a left side slot, since it's located on the inside of a dogleg left hole. On my hole view, it appears out in the fairway. I'll check it again tomorrow though.

[hacker1]

Try placing it up or down a slot, also. It seems I may have had to do that one time. Not sure. I would also try marking the dogleg transition, and go back and retry the edit on the tree. Gotta be a way, tho.

[chrisfx811]

Yea, I'll try and tweak it next time out.

I really hope Sonocaddie does well enough to maintain a USDM presence and continue support of the v300.

[hacker1]

[quote name='chrisfx811' post='1845138' date='Jul 26 2009, 11:57 PM']Yea, I'll try and tweak it next time out.

I really hope Sonocaddie does well enough to maintain a USDM presence and continue support of the v300.[/quote]
USDM=?

[AParamedic]

[quote name='hacker1' post='1845157' date='Jul 27 2009, 12:05 AM'][quote name='chrisfx811' post='1845138' date='Jul 26 2009, 11:57 PM']Yea, I'll try and tweak it next time out.

I really hope Sonocaddie does well enough to maintain a USDM presence and continue support of the v300.[/quote]
USDM=?
[/quote]

USDM = US Domestic Market

[hacker1]

[quote name='AParamedic' post='1845266' date='Jul 27 2009, 01:47 AM'][quote name='hacker1' post='1845157' date='Jul 27 2009, 12:05 AM'][quote name='chrisfx811' post='1845138' date='Jul 26 2009, 11:57 PM']Yea, I'll try and tweak it next time out.

I really hope Sonocaddie does well enough to maintain a USDM presence and continue support of the v300.[/quote]
USDM=?
[/quote]

USDM = US Domestic Market
[/quote]
Duuuh... thanks. Unfortunately, state of the art technology will always evolve, no matter what device you buy, giving a 1-3 year window of when the next upgraded model comes out. Hopefully, sonocaddie can take notes from Apple, and maintain the functionality of the v300 as Apple has done with the ipod. The Autoplay model that sono has put out looks and sounds good with auto hole recognition and all, but I haven't seen where it even has the overhead hole view. It may, but I haven't heard of or seen that feature yet. I can't imagine sono replacing that feature on their units when upgrading.

[chrisfx811]

The way I understand Sonocaddie's website, it seems the AutoPlay unit does not have the overhead hole layout. Instead it has the screen that shows the targets and green in columns like the edit screen on the v300. It appears more like the Skycaddie, and if that's the case, it's a big step backwards.

[hacker1]

Yeah, I don't get that one either. I'd much rather look at the entire hole. Occasionally, I look at the green view, but mostly the hole view.

[chrisfx811]

Just played again today, 16 holes, used the mark feature and edited a couple more points, and the battery finally dipped to 1/4 charge.
I'm pretty impressed with how far I got on a single charge. Sonocaddie CS also replied that they updated my course that had 2 new holes. I need to DL the update and check them.

Does anyone know if I will lose the edited points if I Dl the new course?

[hacker1]

I don't know about this one, but please let us know. Did you ever get your target layout (tree) to position right after re-editing?

[chrisfx811]

More rounds under the belt with this unit, and I continue to be impressed.
I have altered and customized several layouts thus far with this thing, and am always amazed at how easy and quick it is to do.
Battery life continues to be impressive. I'd guess I get a minimum of 3-4 18 hole rounds per charge, including editing points.
Stock maps are fairly accurate as well, I just like to change points to suit my game.

For ex. I don't always need distance to the front of a bunker, when clearing the bunker is all that matters.
I've added 100 and 150 yd layup points on a couple of blind doglegs that I like to cut the corner on, as well as the distance to clear the dogleg.
The hill icon is very useful on some courses with key mounds being the aiming points for blind tee shots, or on a couple of other holes where they mark the end of the fairway.

At the price these are selling for @ Dick's, this might be the deal of the year.

[hacker1]

IMO, it is the 'steal' of the year.

[hacker1]

Ok, this is the first question that I've had about the v300. When out on the course, you can keep track of score and stats for that round. But when you want to play another round back to back, does the score/stats from the 1st round automatically get overridden by the 2nd round, as far as logging them in on your account later on? I would guess that there is a way to save both for later upload to my account.

[Deepy]

I wonder what happens if i buy a used v300 and try to create a membership account using the serial number. The former owner has already used it to create an account for his own downlads.. Can i create a 2nd account using the same serial number?

Is the only possibility to backup his selfmapped/modified courses at the sonocaddie's webpage? Or could i create backup files at my own PC? I mean, internet connection is possible almost everywhere, but just in case...

What's the exact meaning of Countrywide Courses? USA? Or could i choose another country to be my 'Home'?

[chrisfx811]

idk, but I access my sonocaddie info with just a login and password.

[hacker1]

[quote name='Deepy' post='1978390' date='Sep 29 2009, 02:39 PM']I wonder what happens if i buy a used v300 and try to create a membership account using the serial number. The former owner has already used it to create an account for his own downlads.. Can i create a 2nd account using the same serial number?

Is the only possibility to backup his selfmapped/modified courses at the sonocaddie's webpage? Or could i create backup files at my own PC? I mean, internet connection is possible almost everywhere, but just in case...

What's the exact meaning of Countrywide Courses? USA? Or could i choose another country to be my 'Home'?[/quote]
If you do not download the software onto a computer, you cannot access the website that accesses the information stored on your v300. All it seems to do by plugging it in to a pc without doing this is charge it. I do not know about the second account question. If you call their customer support and explain that you have bought a used v300, I'm sure they can answer your question. I believe country wide is the U.S. Good question for them also.