Busnell 1600 (tourny edition) or GX-3?

asong77 · February 22, 2012

You guys are making me regret my purchase of the GX-1 from Amazon yesterday for $250. ;)

The reviews seemed to be very positive for both the GX-1 and the GX-3 (with the OLED in the GX-3 being the big difference) so I thought I'd save a few bucks and go with the more basic model. I really would have liked to go for the GX-2 or GX-4 model but I'm afraid my fellow members would frown upon me having a non USGA compliant slope aid. Who wants to get DQ'ed from the 4th flight club championship due to a technicality!

I'm anxious to retire my smart-phone GPS app and be able to measure my distances on the range, distances to doglegs and hazards, etc!

I have the GX 1 and the GX 3. I am a caddie so it sees a lot of use. The GX 1 is a good purchase. It works just as well as the GX 3. But the red OLED screen and the small size of the GX 3 is awesome. If you don't mind spending the extra money, I would send the GX 1 back and get the GX 3. If not, no loss. The GX 1 is very nice also.

Back to the case with the clip. I got my GX 3 in the fall, and the case has no clip. IS that case just for that newer GX 3? It would be great Leupold would send me one of those.

I posted this in the other GX-3 thread but here you go:

I couldn't be happier with my GX-3, especially the size and the best-in-class OLED display, not to mention Leupold's legendary customer service and warranty. The one thing I dislike about it is the magnetic closure case...the magnet isn't very strong, and though I take a cart for most of my rounds, when I do walk, both the case and rangefinder is just not conducive to attaching to my bag.

I called Leupold customer service last week to inquire about a better case for my GX-3, and they sent me a different case with a bungee closure, as well as a plastic carabiner clip (I believe they started packaging this particular case with newer GX-3s after numerous people have complained about the old magnetic case) and it's so much better. Best of all, what was the cost? Nothing...they sent it out to me for free.

It's slightly larger than the magnetic case, but it has a small velcro side pocket for storing extra batteries, and a front bungee closure that's pretty secure. Best of all, it also has a pretty robust plastic clip so you can attach it to virtually anything, in addition to the belt loop (which I can't imagine anyone using). I've attached pictures below...if you have the original magnetic case, I strongly suggest you guys give Leupold a call:

Original magnetic case:

Replacement case:

Side battery pocket:

Plastic clip:

GX-3 in replacement case:

Case Comparison:

ALTSean · February 24, 2012

I received my GX-3i yesterday and am looking forward to trying it out tomorrow morning!

I was expecting / hoping to get the "newer" case Asong showed in his post, the one with the carabiner clip, but I got the "older" magnetic case. I'm going to give them a call and see if i can't get the one with the carabiner clip as I like to walk and have the range finder clipped to the outside of my bag. I don't know how I would use the magnetic case, except for putting into and out of a pocket all day and that would get old and lead to me losing it!

ALTSean · February 28, 2012

I called Leupold this morning to inquire about the "new" case / case with the carabiner clip. The first guy could not find it, but took down my name and number and about 15 minutes later, a second guy called me back. He was helpful and had found the case and said they would send it to me. He claimed the case with the carabiner clip is the older case and I explained to him the flaws of the "new" magnetic case. The only downside is that I had to pay $5 for shipping, but the case was free and the customer service was great. I hope the Leupold folks will listen to our feedback and provide a better case from the get go so the range finder can me attached to the outside of a golf bag like most of want to do.

baseballfrk8998 · February 29, 2012

[quote name='ALTSean' timestamp='1330453669' post='4396239']
I called Leupold this morning to inquire about the "new" case / case with the carabiner clip. The first guy could not find it, but took down my name and number and about 15 minutes later, a second guy called me back. He was helpful and had found the case and said they would send it to me. He claimed the case with the carabiner clip is the older case and I explained to him the flaws of the "new" magnetic case. The only downside is that I had to pay $5 for shipping, but the case was free and the customer service was great. I hope the Leupold folks will listen to our feedback and provide a better case from the get go so the range finder can me attached to the outside of a golf bag like most of want to do.
[/quote]

I'm surprised they made you pay at all.. They shipped mine out the next day for free with no problems..

My only complain about the new case is the lack of a carabiner clip that keeps me from attaching the case to my bag. I really like the magnetic part better than the bungee on my carabiner because of the ease of opening and closing the case.

GolfRich3 · March 1, 2012

[quote name='addage' timestamp='1329670572' post='4323565']
What are the differences between the gx3 and gx3i? As far as I can tell, the only one is that the i gives readings in tenths of yards. I got me 3 in December before I knew the i was coming out, although I did get a good deal $300.
[/quote]

There's a good review on my-golf-spy-dot-com.

The newer "i" versions are a little faster and accurate to 6-inches & 1/10 of a yard.