… on a few of my favorites: http://golf.suite101.com/article.cfm/golf_gps_rangefinder_options

It works OK for me. I’ve had it for a couple of years, and it’s worked OK. There have been a couple of minor issues that have resolved with firmware updates (like the ability to more easily reset the GPS – necessary if it’s powered off for a prolonged period, for whatever reason).

The subscriptions seem like nickel and diming to me but from a business perspective they probably need to keep revenue coming in to avoid folding. But still, it’s kind of cheesy that I downloaded the few local courses that I play and yet I have to keep paying for those each year. I tried paying for a year service to get the courses I need and then just not paying subsequent years and found that the unit eventually stops functioning.

In fairness, though, they have continued to update the unit with new features as time has gone on, so there’s at least some sign of the subscription fees providing some future benefit, but probably not enough to justify the cost. For a player that travels a lot or just generally plays a lot of courses, it’s much more worth it. For me, I play most of my golf on two courses, so it’s not as valuable.

Hardware-wise, it’s OK, but the connector for attaching the cable for charging/communication is really a clumsy design. I’ve read people having broken it, but I wouldn’t consider it fragile. It’s just not as simple as it should be to hook the cable up.

I’d say that my overall impression falls somewhere between neutral and positive, closer to neutral. I haven’t compared with other models on the market, so I don’t know if they have similar down sides. I’d consider upgrading to the SG5 because the display seems more pleasing and there are some nice features, but probably not for the price it’s selling at now.

Personally I don’t use one, but being in the golf equipment business we have sold many more of the Callaway uPro than any other model. Sky caddie used to be # 1 but no longer. The boys at Sawgrass seem to agree as the Callaway model seems to be in use more often than others. jumpn/progolf

Skycaddie (4years old) that works great for me. I play a lot of different courses and the Skycaddie works at all of them. I wish it would quit working so I could buy something new. Will probably go to a rangefinder next.

I have the uPro and the Izzo Swami. The Swami is fine as long as you’re playing straight holes. All it gives you is distance to front, middle, and back of the green. If you need to know how far it is to some point in a dogleg, you’re out of luck. It’s an annual subscription and they are pretty quick with loading new courses when requested.

The uPro is fantastic, but it takes some practice to get used to using it. You get so much information that it can slow a round down if you don’t know how to toggle quickly. I got mine as part of an outing this year and haven’t gotten used to it very much yet. They were talking about upgrading the software so you could keep stats, but I’m guessing they dropped that idea so they could include it in the newer version coming out. Only drawback is that you have to buy each course if you want all the course information. They sell packages so you get a lower price the more courses you buy. As far as I know, you buy the package and they don’t put a time limit for choosing the courses you want. Standard course information is free – basic front – back – middle green information, hazards, and you can mark how far you hit a shot.

There is one that has a touch screen that is pretty cool. You can move the flag icon around the green to get an exact yardage to the hole…assuming you have a yardage sheet for a tournament. Not exactly something most of us need, but it’s pretty cool.

Ryan et all,…GPS for all the hype, isn’t the best thing out there to play the game. Golf is all about target. To be precise, that little 4.25" target. You need to know an “exact” yardage to that target and GPS doesn’t do that. A pro will look at the “target” yardage and then choose what “shot” he’s gonna hit to attack his target. Maybe it’s a cut 4 iron, a stock 5 or a “roasted” 6 iron. Yardage to the front, center and back of the green is not enough. You need the “target” number if you’re gonna attack. It’s all about precision. GPS moves the players along qiuickly so the courses love’em. But they do not impact your score like a good range-finder. You wanna play your best ???…, narrow your focus and start being precise ! Your handicap will thank-you……………………………….Z.