No bulk database updates coming for Neo X - bummer

[BlackDiamondPar5]

I got some disappointing news from IGolf about the Bushnell Neo X. Today I was inquiring about when to expect the ability to do a complete database update, and I got the following response:

 

We do not expect a bulk sync option for the Neo X to be made available anytime in the near future do to the slow data transfer rate.

 

I then expressed my disappointment to igolf and got the following response:

 

 

If there is concern regarding what courses are on the device we recommend downloading individual courses to the device prior to playing a round. This ensures the data on the watch is as up-to-date as possible.

 

 

Any GPS device with reasonable battery life, good features, and a reasonable price is going to have to make sacrifices in some areas. The bulk data transfer of 29,277 courses to the device requires 1.5+ hours and a stable connection. As you know most wifi connections are not stable and drop regularly. If this happened during the data transfer it would cause major issues. This issue would affect over 90% of our customer.

 

 

Please note that the Garmin watches have similar limitations and a higher price point. A device that delivers on your requirements would have unacceptable battery life or be much larger and have a much higher price point. I have seen some higher end proto type models that would have retailed for $499.00. That is not the target audience for Bushnell or iGolf.

 

Hopefully the future holds affordable technology that can deliver everything we want in a gold GPS watch including a reasonable price. At this point that is not the case.

 

I then offered iGolf alternative solutions that I believe would be very helpful to Neo X customers. I was told they would pass the following suggestion on to their Executive team.:

 

1. Publish a list by state or region of all courses that have been added or updated, and the date the updates were made. This would allow customers to perform individual updates to courses in their home state or the state/region they intend on visiting.

 

2. On the iGolf website, in the course update section, put the date of the last update for a particular course. This way, when we log on and search the igolf website, we would know if a particular course had been changed recently.

 

I think #1 is ideal. They could push a quarterly list to registered users of all the course that have been updated. We then as customers, will now be informed of courses we need to update.

 

If others on this WRX think this is important, then I encourage you to write igolf support at "[email protected]"

[highergr0und]

How many brand new courses do you play in a year, and how hard is it to download them as needed?

[BlackDiamondPar5]

[quote name='highergr0und' timestamp='1377655055' post='7756745']
How many brand new courses do you play in a year, and how hard is it to download them as needed?
[/quote]

.

Isn't the value of having over 25K course on your GPS is you just show up some place and you've got a map?

I don't mind doing individual updates so long as I know what needs to be updated. But currently we have no visibility into whether something has been updated or not, and the only way to be sure is to update every course I may possibly play, even if they don't need updating. That is hardly a good solution and far from customer friendly.

Also if I take a trip to "name the state" and I may have no idea where I'm going to play till I check things out. Then I show up at a course only to find out it's not on the GPS or there was an error in the original map that has since been corrected. What good is it to show up expecting to have the course on your device, only to find it's not there?

I understand that for technical reasons they may not want to provide a bulk update. (Although it's interesting that Garmin does). However Bushnell/iGolf can easily solve the issue by providing a quarterly list of all the courses that have been updated to their customers.

[ED68]

[quote name='Andy L' timestamp='1377654881' post='7756717']
I got some disappointing news from IGolf about the Bushnell Neo X. Today I was inquiring about when to expect the ability to do a complete database update, and I got the following response:

[i][size=2][url="http://www.igolf.com/mobile/iphone"][color=#1F497D]We do not expect a bulk sync option for the Neo X to be made available anytime in the near future do to the slow data transfer rate.[/color][/url][/size][/i]

I then expressed my disappointment to igolf and got the following response:


[i][size=2]If there is concern regarding what courses are on the device we recommend downloading individual courses to the device prior to playing a round. This ensures the data on the watch is as up-to-date as possible.[/size][/i]



[i][size=2]Any GPS device with reasonable battery life, good features, and a reasonable price is going to have to make sacrifices in some areas. The bulk data transfer of 29,277 courses to the device requires 1.5+ hours and a stable connection. As you know most wifi connections are not stable and drop regularly. If this happened during the data transfer it would cause major issues. This issue would affect over 90% of our customer. [/size][/i]



[i][size=2]Please note that the Garmin watches have similar limitations and a higher price point. A device that delivers on your requirements would have unacceptable battery life or be much larger and have a much higher price point. I have seen some higher end proto type models that would have retailed for $499.00. That is not the target audience for Bushnell or iGolf.[/size][/i]


[i][size=2]Hopefully the future holds affordable technology that can deliver everything we want in a gold GPS watch including a reasonable price. At this point that is not the case.[/size][/i]

I then offered iGolf alternative solutions that I believe would be very helpful to Neo X customers. I was told they would pass the following suggestion on to their Executive team.:

[color=black]1. Publish a list by state or region of all courses that have been added or updated, and the date the updates were made. This would allow customers to perform individual updates to courses in their home state or the state/region they intend on visiting.

2. On the iGolf website, in the course update section, put the date of the last update for a particular course. This way, when we log on and search the igolf website, we would know if a particular course had been changed recently.[/color]

I think #1 is ideal. They could push a quarterly list to registered users of all the course that have been updated. We then as customers, will now be informed of courses we need to update.

If others on this WRX think this is important, then I encourage you to write igolf support at "[email protected]"
[/quote]

Sounds like some great ideas. Will certaintly write to them suggesting the same.

[byrness]

Just picked up a Neo X today...I know what you mean. Checking each course I play individually (and remembering all of them), was a pain in the rump.

[BlackDiamondPar5]

I just wanted to share with everyone that I had a good experience with iGolf requesting an update to two maps. One map didn't have any hazards on the Neo X. I submitted a request via the iGolf website map request process. I received a response from them very quickly informing me that they rec'd my request and would inform me within a couple days that the map had been updated. Sure enough a few days later I rec'd another email stating that the map had been updated and was ready for me to download.

The other issue I had was that one of the maps on their website was corrupted and couldn't' be updated. I then went to the course and found that the map wouldn't even load on the watch, even though the watch said I was there. I informed iGolf of this issue and back and forth with a couple emails and they corrected the issue and I could download the fixed map.

So the good thing is that they respond quickly to mapping requests and updates. The bad news is that no one will know either of these courses have been updated, hence the reason for me starting this thread and asking people to contact both Bushnell and iGolf as we need a means of knowing when a course has been updated/added so we can proactively download the updates.