Use my Skycaddie or Buy a Bushnell? On a budget

[HabitualPINseeKER21]

Hey guys well golf season is in full effect so I'm regularly playing 2-3 times a week. I currently own a skycaddie that needs its subscription renewed. I haven't used it for awhile due to the fact that I didn't play alot last summer. This summer is a different story, I have more free time and my golf scores have been improving so I caught the "bug". I'm a college student so I don't really have the money to drop it on a rangefinder. I see the Bushnell Tour V2 going for $220-250 range, thing is I bought my new driver, shaft and a new wedge recently so I'm kind of tapped for now.

 

The question I wanted to ask is, is there a huge difference between a rangefinder and a gps to the point where I should drop $200 plus rather than just renew my subscription? I'd love to get opinion and thoughts on golfers who have used both. It's $29.95 for 1 year subscription to skycaddie but I figure in the long run maybe saving up for the rangefinder is a better plan? I'm kind of torn right now so please help me lol thanks

[OspreyCI]

I have been playing with a GPS app on my phone for a few seasons now and my playing partner has been using a laser for the same amount of time. So, I use the laser sometimes for fun, but I like the GPS much better. I have read all the threads on here about lasers and GPS and after all that I just bought a Skycaddie.
Yes, the laser is nice for exact distance, but the GPS gives me front middle back which allows me to have confidence pulling the right club. His laser may say 160 but the GPS says 150, 165, 180. Those 3 numbers let me know what club to hit after looking at the pin color or pin sheet. I can easily see how good the laser is and how good the GPS is, but I vote for the GPS in your financial situation and because , for me, the GPS gives so much more information.

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

The only real question is whether your SkyCaddie serves your purposes well enough to be worth 30 bucks over the upcoming year. My first-generation SkyCaddie was unreliable, often giving totally off-the-wall yardages or just quitting altogether. So after my first year I never re-upped. I've heard that the newer ones work pretty well, by comparison.

If you really, really would rather have a laser than a GPS then that $30 renewal is as good an excuse as any to buy one. But that 30 bucks is a drop in the bucket compared to $240 to buy a Bushnell. So the two decisions are really unrelated.

But if your GPS works decently and you're just feeling an itch to try "the other side" with a laser for a while, pay the 30 bucks and put the whole thing off until next year. Sounds like that's what would keep your budget in line at the moment...

P.S. To answer the question you actually asked, I own a laser and a GPS unit (both Bushnell, as it happens). They are so thoroughly complimentary (meaning "totally different") that you can't really consider one to be a substitute or replacement for the other. The laser gives you one number...exact, precise distance to the flagstick...which GPS can't tell you at all. The GPS gives you a whole bunch of numbers which the laser can't give you. So you just have to decide if distance to the flag or those other numbers are what you need to enjoy the game most.

[Lamo70]

Its all about wants vs needs. You want a laser, but need yardages at a cheap price. Stick with the gps for now as it gives you what you need and the price is right.

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

Something about "yardages at a cheap price" reminds me of the time a buddy was playing in Scotland with a caddie. He asked for the carry distance across a gully and the caddie replied "Well, it's pretty far". Now that's a cheap yardage at any price!

[coreyl]

just a heads up. if you let your subscrition expire, 1 year does not equal 1 year with skygolf. they go from your original activation date, and it could end up costing you a few months. i just went through this with them...they are a shady company. i said scew'em, and bought a laser.

[TM_HOYER]

Since you use the word "cheap", I would say pay the renewal. It will take seven or eight years of renewals to equal the cost of buying a laser. But I will also say if you play the same course all of the time, you will probably get better use of the laser. Once you get used to a course, you know what you need to hit off the tee, you will use the Skycaddie less, and yardage to the pin will be of more interest to you. But if you use something like Golfnow to book tee times at various courses to save money, the Skycaddie will be of better use.

[duffer888]

i prefer a rangefinder, but there are times i wish i had a gps. and i feel like a tool using a rangefinder inside 75yds.

use the gps until you graduate and get a job. it's cheaper.

[bama59]

[quote name='duffer888' timestamp='1341507980' post='5221388']
i prefer a rangefinder, but there are times i wish i had a gps. and i[b] feel like a tool using a rangefinder inside 75yds.[/b]

use the gps until you graduate and get a job. it's cheaper.
[/quote]

Hahaha!! Heck, this is one of the reasons I have been wanting to get a laser. For some reason I can't judge distance that well. Sometimes it looks like a 40 yard shot when it might be closer to 60.

[OspreyCI]

Roll Tide....sorry...couldn't help myself.

[HabitualPINseeKER21]

[quote name='coreyl' timestamp='1341503556' post='5221012']
just a heads up. if you let your subscrition expire, 1 year does not equal 1 year with skygolf. they go from your original activation date, and it could end up costing you a few months. i just went through this with them...they are a shady company. i said scew'em, and bought a laser.
[/quote]

Whaaaaat?!?! that's complete bs.

[quote name='Fourmyle of Ceres' timestamp='1341500859' post='5220712']
The only real question is whether your SkyCaddie serves your purposes well enough to be worth 30 bucks over the upcoming year. My first-generation SkyCaddie was unreliable, often giving totally off-the-wall yardages or just quitting altogether. So after my first year I never re-upped. I've heard that the newer ones work pretty well, by comparison.

If you really, really would rather have a laser than a GPS then that $30 renewal is as good an excuse as any to buy one. But that 30 bucks is a drop in the bucket compared to $240 to buy a Bushnell. So the two decisions are really unrelated.

But if your GPS works decently and you're just feeling an itch to try "the other side" with a laser for a while, pay the 30 bucks and put the whole thing off until next year. Sounds like that's what would keep your budget in line at the moment...

P.S. To answer the question you actually asked, I own a laser and a GPS unit (both Bushnell, as it happens). They are so thoroughly complimentary (meaning "totally different") that you can't really consider one to be a substitute or replacement for the other. The laser gives you one number...exact, precise distance to the flagstick...which GPS can't tell you at all. The GPS gives you a whole bunch of numbers which the laser can't give you. So you just have to decide if distance to the flag or those other numbers are what you need to enjoy the game most.
[/quote]

Thanks for the explanation. I have an earlier model of the skycaddie(skycaddie SG 2.5), got it from my dad after he upgraded his skycaddie. Yeah there were moments where the yardages just didn't make sense to me.

[quote name='TM_HOYER' timestamp='1341504667' post='5221126']
Since you use the word "cheap", I would say pay the renewal. It will take seven or eight years of renewals to equal the cost of buying a laser. But I will also say if you play the same course all of the time, you will probably get better use of the laser. Once you get used to a course, you know what you need to hit off the tee, you will use the Skycaddie less, and yardage to the pin will be of more interest to you. But if you use something like Golfnow to book tee times at various courses to save money, the Skycaddie will be of better use.
[/quote]

I don't play just 1 course but I do play like the same 3-4 courses around my area with golfnow.

[Rebel420]

I dont have a range finder, however use GPS. I am wanting a rangefinder as I feel it would be invaluable at the range to range my club distances. Likewise the rangefinder would be great to get distances to point on fairway etc. one thing the gps will give you is distance to the green when you have a blind approach. The course I played today, I found the gps invaluable on 5 of the 9 greens. The 2 holes with doglegs were easy enough to guesstimate just from the course map (dogleg was just beyond halfway into a 450 yd hole). Would the rangefinder helped me any? Yes. But if I had the choice of one or the other, I would take the GPS

[prestiege]

i started with sgx then bought a laser. preferred the laser and sold the gps. we've been playing a lot of newer courses this year and i really missed the gps on blind shots or when i sliced into the next fairway and im obstructed by trees to getting a good lock on the laser. i bought another skycaddie. tried the upro mx+ first and it cant even touch the sgx, returned it for a sgx. the 29.99 a year is well worth it for the sgx even if they never come out with the id tags. extend your subscription and keep looking for a laser

[HabitualPINseeKER21]

[quote name='prestiege' timestamp='1341640532' post='5231256']
i started with sgx then bought a laser. preferred the laser and sold the gps. we've been playing a lot of newer courses this year and i really missed the gps on blind shots or when i sliced into the next fairway and im obstructed by trees to getting a good lock on the laser. i bought another skycaddie. tried the upro mx+ first and it cant even touch the sgx, returned it for a sgx. the 29.99 a year is well worth it for the sgx even if they never come out with the id tags. extend your subscription and keep looking for a laser
[/quote]

I have the SG 2.5 it's like the lowest model lol Yeah I get what you mean, I absolutely hate hitting blind approach shots.

[golfdad907]

I would consider an alternative to Tour v2. Upgraded mine, for like 220 to a Nikon (Callaway) and am most impressed. Faster targeting, nicer case, just a better product and I used the v2 for about 3 years, maybe more.

I still like my SG5 as it gives more targets (or non-targets) at a glance, and only use laser for like Par 3s and for fun.

[HabitualPINseeKER21]

Haven't renewed the skycaddie subscription yet. I'm stalking the For Sale forum, hopefully find a rangefinder for a good price. I'll sell a couple things....... to get the funds