Gps Hand Held Navigation

Price:$357.84

Garmin Approach G5 GPS-Enabled Golf Handheld Product Reviews

I’ve owned a SkyCaddie SG3 for some time and, weary of its annual fees, glacial operating speed, and pedestrian display, I decided to go color. I purchased the Garmin Approach G5, but its display is very difficult to see in normal outdoor conditions. So I also purchased the Callaway uPro. I played an entire round on my home course, with all three GPS units mounted on the cart. My findings:

Build quality: All three units are rugged, with great fit-and-finish. The Garmin gets the nod, because it’s waterproof. The Callaway is water-resistant, and you can purchase a watertight skin for an outrageous $24.99 to protect it further. The SkyCaddie is not recommended for use in the rain.

Size: The Callaway uPro is the smallest and thinnest, about the size of an LG Chocolate phone. The SG3 is similar height and width to the uPro, but much thicker and heavier. The biggest of all is the Garmin, the size of an iPhone and four times as thick. It’s wide, heavy, and not good for the pocket.

Accuracy: The three units properly mapped my home course, agreeing on nearly all distances (within 6 yards of each other) and hazards.

GPS acquisition: The old-technology SG3 takes forever to acquire GPS, sometimes more than five minutes. Both the Garmin and the uPro acquire satellites almost instantly. The uPro has technology that, once it locks onto satellites, it really keeps them. After locking on, I took the unit indoors, and even put it in my pants pocket. It never had to re-acquire. Advantage: uPro.

Getting courses: The Garmin wins handily. All 10,000+ available courses come preloaded in its 1GB memory. No annual fees, no paid memberships. The Garmin Approach G5 offered every course I cared to search. Of course, your mileage may vary.

To make the most of your SkyCaddie, you need to pay for an annual membership on their website, and download courses individually. Some SkyCaddie memberships allow you to download as many courses as you want from all over the world…however, the unit’s paltry memory will only hold a few at a time. The uPro also requires that you sign up on their website (no annual memberships, though). With the uPro, Basic Mode (an alphanumeric color screen that resembles that of a SkyCaddie) is free for unlimited courses. For Pro Mode (the nifty aerial photography view of each course) you pay for only the courses you wish to play, a la carte. Your first Pro Mode course is free.

Information: All units show distances to the front/middle/back of greens. The SG3 also shows hazards on the same screen, but it doesn’t give you hazard carry distances, like the uPro does. The Garmin shows the entire hole, including hazards. But showing the entire hole means that the illustrations of hazards are tiny, as is the accompanying yardage text. Coupled with the Garmin’s dim display, it’s pretty useless. Curiously, the Garmin apparently doesn’t consider trees to be obstacles, so they’re not represented at all on the graphical display. The uPro (in Pro Mode) shows every tree and hazard – in fact, the entire hole, as photographed from satellite. It’s like viewing my actual course (including my house!) from above. There’s absolutely nothing like it.

On the home screen, both the SG3 and the uPro also give you the time of day, battery strength, and GPS signal strength. The Garmin gives you none of the above. You need to briefly press the power button to see the time. It also shows a battery icon, but that never moved during my round.

Battery: The Garmin and SG3 both take AA batteries, whether alkaline, NiMh rechargeable, or lithium ion. With any AA type, both units easily complete at least two rounds. The uPro uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Unlike SkyCaddie models that use internal lithium ion batteries, which are a real horror show to replace (SkyCaddie recommends you send the unit back), the Callaway uPro battery easily drops in. Callaway says it takes three hours to charge, but it didn’t take me anywhere near that long. UPro battery life is 6-12 hours, depending on how bright you set the display’s backlight. With my display settings (see Display, below), I easily completed a round with plenty to spare. As far as battery preferences go: For some, constantly recharging and changing out AAs is a grind. For others, recharging (and eventually, re-purchasing) internal lithium-ion batteries ($27 for the uPro) is just as bad, especially considering that the battery can leave you high and dry mid-round if you forget to charge it the night before. To each his own.

Display: The SG3 is monochrome, so it doesn’t stand a chance. Its display is dim and boring, but it does give you a button on the side for a backlight. The screen sizes on the SG3 and uPro are nearly identical. The Garmin’s touchscreen display is nearly iPhone-big, and drop-dead gorgeous…when you’re at home. Take it outside, and it washes out to the point of uselessness. Worse yet, to save power, the display times out a few seconds after you touch it, making it even dimmer. You touch the screen to wake it up, but when you touch the screen, the unit thinks you want to measure a distance, so the measurement feature pops up. You need to hit the “Done” button to exit that. There’s no way to increase the screen timeout or disable the screen dimming feature. Also, since the Garmin is a touchscreen, it’s a massive fingerprint magnet, so it only looks pretty for the first hole. The uPro wins the display contest handily, with a bright and functional screen. You can play two ways: graphically (Pro Mode), showing the course via aerial photography, or with big, bright alphanumeric text (Basic Mode). Since golf courses have very low contrast (lots of green color and not much else), I defaulted to the Basic Mode for easy readability. For the aerial view, you can always hit the Pro Mode button on the side of the unit, as it’s much more useful around the green. The uPro’s default setting is to power-save the display after (I think) 45 seconds. Unlike the Garmin, which dims its display, the uPro goes blank until you hit a button, which is an enormous buzzkill. Fortunately, you can get around this. You can change to a longer timeout, or disable standby altogether. As the uPro has a very bright display, what I did was take the backlight down to 25% (from a default 70%), and disabled standby completely. I easily completed a round with plenty of battery life to spare this way. The uPro and the Garmin use a reflective LCD technology that actually makes the display brighter in direct sunlight. The uPro’s version of this technology worked far better than the Garmin’s. The only time the Garmin display looked remotely readable was when you aimed it directly at the sun.

Just for fun, I took along my iPod Touch 2G, to compare all the displays outdoors. I figured that the iPod’s conventional LCD wouldn’t compete with the reflective technology of the Garmin and the uPro. Wrong. The iPod destroyed both of them. It wasn’t even close. So, if you have an iPhone (the iPod Touch won’t do GPS), you may want to look into the golf GPS apps at the App Store. If you do decide to use an iPhone, just remember, it won’t stand up to being dropped, kicked, and tossed around like these three ruggedized units, and it for sure ain’t the least bit water-resistant.

Hole-to-Hole: The simpler SkyCaddie wins here. It automatically advances to the next hole. If there’s any confusion (you’re playing past the current hole, for example), it’ll ask you if you want to move to the next hole. If you’re starting on Number 10, for example, the SkyCaddie makes that selection easier as well, with a grid from which you can select holes via cursor. The Callaway Auto Hole Advance is kind of a drag. If you’re anywhere near the green, Auto-Advance jumps to the next hole. You can’t measure your 40-yard pitch to the current green. And when they say Auto, they mean Auto. In Auto-Advance mode, there’s no way to back up to the current hole, or any previous hole, for that matter. The only way out is to go to either Manual Advance, or Manual A
dvance With Prompt (it asks you to press the center button to advance). Hitting a button on each hole is tedious. The Garmin Auto-Advances sequentially, but if you jump around (skipping a couple of holes to get around slow play), you need to touch the screen arrows for each hole advance.

Settings: The Garmin gives you almost nothing to customize, as it is both very intelligently designed and extremely automated. It would have been nice to be able to crank the screen brightness, or at least extend the timeout. Both the SG3 and the uPro give you a host of settings to mess with, including screen brightness (contrast only with the SG3), hole advance preferences, and much more.

Cost of ownership: The Garmin and uPro are color, so they’re not cheap. If you want to compare apples to apples, you could go to the color SkyCaddie SG5, but be advised that the SG3, SG4, and SG5 are virtually identical in functionality, screen size – basically, EVERYTHING – so you’re paying almost $150 more for color alone, which is the cost of a whole 20-inch color TV. (My SG3 is discontinued, so now I’m quoting price from the replacement SG4.) Couple that with the amazing wow factor of both the Garmin and the uPro, and the top-of-the-line color SkyCaddie SG5 is a terrible deal. To the SkyCaddie’s cost of ownership, add their totally outrageous annual membership fees. SkyCaddie also charges ridiculous sums of money for stuff like plastic cart mounts and batteries. The Garmin wins here, hands-down, with all available courses preloaded into memory. No fees whatsoever! For accessories, RAM Mounts makes a rock-solid, relatively reasonably-priced cart mount for the Garmin. The uPro, while not requiring you to pay for a membership, makes you download each course. They’re all free, if you want to use only Basic Mode. But if you want what makes the unit famous and awesome, which is Pro Mode video previews and flyovers of each hole, you need to pay. If you go for a 20-course package, for example, that’s $60. It’s still cheaper for most people than SkyCaddie, because there’s no annual fee. And the more courses you buy, the cheaper it gets per course. However, uPro accessories such as cart mounts are rarely discounted, and you’ll pay more for their little plastic add-ons than you would pay for a complete multi-handset cordless phone system or a new DVD player.

Extras: Each unit has (or will soon have, in the uPro’s case) the ability to track scores and aggregate player information. I don’t use any of that stuff. No amount of button-pushing or touch-screening could beat the ease and speed of marking stuff down with a pencil.

Wow Factor: The SkyCaddie is deadly dull, with zero Wow Factor, but highly functional. One would think the Garmin, with its big, beautiful touchscreen, would win. However, the screen is just too dim to view the image-based interface in normal outdoor lighting. The Callaway uPro, with its unique video flyovers of every hole, is the winner. While the flyovers may not be great outdoors (golf courses are green-on-green-on-green, so there’s little contrast), they’re great for previewing new courses in your home before you travel. Beyond that, the uPro comes with several preloaded video tutorials to help you get the most from the unit, and an earbud is in the box, so you can listen to the video narration. Voice Recognition, to allow you to change settings, holes, etc. by voice command, is built into the Callaway uPro, and they say it’ll be activated by late 2009.

Summary: Not one of these units is perfect, but the Callaway uPro is the runaway winner. It’s simple to use, highly customizable, deadly accurate, super-fast, and gorgeous to view. 2nd place goes to the SkyCaddie, even with its monochrome screen, pokey operation, and 20th Century technology. The Garmin comes in last, even though it’s the most sophisticated, intelligent, beautiful, automated piece, made by people who really know GPS. The thing is just too dim to use outdoors.

My son and I used this on a local course for the first time and it performed great. No more looking for markers or taking the time to walk off an estimate (er, OK – especially when I’m not in the fairway). We have some large greens thankfully and being able to simply move the flag on the device for a much more accurate reading is super. Also, those few great drives I had – the G5 made it simple to get the exact yardage (did not break any records though). Only 1 of my 7 (regular home area) courses is not programmed in yet but I see it’s on schedule in the next update. If yours isn’t, simply let Garmin know like I did. Great unit, now if only my golf got better
Update note: Today (4/26) I downloaded Garmins latest course database to the device and now all my courses are available.

It’s Sunday night as I type this review. I have had my Garmin a total of three days now. It arrived on Friday, so I put in batteries, connected it to my PC, downloaded the OS upgrades and most current course file (about a 76MB file). I played with the preview function, using it to check my local courses, and also checked out Warwick Hills, where Tiger was storming back on day 2 of the Buick Open. Very cool being able to preview 1000s of courses across the country!

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early and took it out to a course I had never visited before to see just how well this investment would pay off. Looking at the top-down, color view of every hole from tee to green, I knew everything I needed to know to reach the green in regulation–it didn’t matter that I hadn’t been here before.

On a par 5 with a sharp left dogleg, I used the Garmin to determine the distance to the middle of the left bend. I touched the screen and pinpointed a spot 190 yds to the center of the fairway, with bunkers on the left. I grabbed my 3I hybrid and let ‘er rip. Perfect shot! Right in the center of the bend, and a straight shot at the green 250 yds away. A 3W got me to about 50 yds, and then a (lucky) little pitch and I was up and down for birdie!

A few holes later, the Garmin showed me a par 4 that goes out straight and level for about 200 yds. There the fairway ends and it’s about 100 yds up a hill to the right with about 20 yds elevation difference to the green. Again, I grabbed my 3I hybrid and whacked the ball about 190 yds just short of the fairway’s end. Then I grabbed my PW and knocked the ball up the hill to the elevated green and 2-putted for par. Sweet!

Eventually, it’s the 18th hole (par 4) and the grand finale–there’s water on the right and fronting the green, with bunkers on the left of the fairway and behind the green. The center of the green itself is about 260 yards off, and while the other 3 golfers in my foursome decide to break out their drivers and go for it, I used the Garmin to determine the best lay up point–about 180 yds to the widest part of the fairway past the water. I grabbed my 4I hybrid, plopped the ball perfectly in the fairway, and I had an easy wedge shot to the green to par the hole, while two of my compadres were flailing away in the bunkers, and the other was digging his ball out of the deep rough beyond and left of the green (I was willing to share my Garmin with them, but they’d all played the course before and “knew” what to do!).

Those are the three “highlight” holes of my first round at this course. The Garmin does everything but hit the ball–that part is still left for me to do, and, unfortunately, I don’t always hit the ball so perfectly, or there would have been more highlights!

Nonetheless, the Garmin was the perfect aide for course management, and I know it saved me several strokes. Even though I had never visited this course before, each time I walked up to the tee box I was filled with confidence because I knew exactly what club to use and where to aim. I could see the shape and depth of every green, and I knew where my margin of error was when making my approach.

Sunday morning, I got up early again and took the Garmin out to a course I have visited several times before. Unfortunately for me, my shots were rather inconsistent, to say the least, and I shot a miserable round. However, that was entirely my fault–the Garmin was still an excellent guide throughout. On the rare occasion I did hit my shot straight and true, my distances perfectly coincided with what the Garmin was telling me. And again, each time I made an approach shot, I knew the depth of green and the locations of the hazards, and whether I should err long or short, left or right.

Additionally, I should mention that I’ve had a competitor’s golf GPSR for a couple years now. It’s been adequate for the job and was half the initial purchase price of the Garmin, but it was severely lacking in many ways because it:

– required an annual subscription to download courses;
– only held 10 courses in memory at a time, so I would have to connect to my computer and download courses if venturing out of my “home” area;
– only showed distances to a handful of landmarks, e.g. bunker, end-of-fairway, water hazard, etc.;
– had a monochrome LCD;
– was NOT a Garmin (I admit, I have a pro-Garmin bias, as I’ve had two of their hand-held GPSRs and an in-car unit, all of which I’ve been impressed and satisfied with)!

On the flip side, the Garmin:

– does NOT require a subscription;
– provides a touch screen (no confusing manual buttons that do different functions at different times);
– holds THOUSANDS of courses across the US;
– shows the ENTIRE hole from tee to green with bunkers, hazards, and distances clearly marked;
– has a COLOR display;
– allows me to target specific locations through the fairway, with distance to the target from my current location and remaining distance to the green from the target.

Both units were basically equivalent in the following ways, both good and bad:

– display shape of green;
– display front, center, and back green distances;
– allow movement of pin location for more accurate estimate to pin itself;
– last about 2 complete rounds using AA rechargeable batteries;
– allow measuring of shot distance;
– do not display trees or other obstacles;
– do not display elevation changes.

I am incredibly satisfied with my initial experiences with the Garmin Approach this weekend. I’ll be using it on many more outings this summer and fall, but I especially look forward to visiting more new courses. Now that I’m no longer restricted to 10 courses in memory at a time, I can pick up and go anywhere on a whim, and with the great top-down view of the entire hole from tee to green I’ll know exactly where to aim and what club to hit, as if I’ve visited the course dozens of times before.

A few other notes:
– I did not use the scorekeeping function–I prefer to use a real scorecard to track some stats.

– Need to change batteries in the middle of a round? The unit will remember what “page” you were on and return you to it.

– Manually navigating the holes when previewing a course is a bit awkward–there are “next” and “previous” buttons on the page, but no way to jump from, say, the 1st hole to the 14th without pressing the “next” button 13 times. I think Garmin could improve this by popping up a menu if the user were to press and hold the “next” button for example. This would also be a big help if the course you’re visiting decides to flip the front 9 to the back 9, so you can start on the right hole.

– In the Settings page, the unit lets you enter what type of batteries you’re using, e.g. alkaline, NiMH rechargeable, etc. Curious…

– When previewing a course, go to the “about course” (hole number) button to see the address and phone number of the course, convenient for making your tee time!

– The ability to target anywhere on or about the fairway is EXCELLENT! Most GPSRs just give you the distance to the green (front/center/back), but that does you no good if you’ve got a tree or other obstacle in the way. Knowing what the distance is to any part of the hole can really save your bacon when you find yourself blocked and need to get back to the fairway.

– The map will zoom in automatically as you are playing the hole, showing your current position (a golf ball) and the remaining fairway to the green, so you are not stuck with a view of the entire hole as you approach the green.

Bought the unit after reading good reviews here. I downloaded the latest database and was pleased to find that it covers all local courses. Very easy to use with touch screen, still have not had to read the manual yet after 5 rounds Knowing exact distance (to target, hazards, etc) seems to help build confidence and my game has improved significantly. Played a local private club today (Fazio design), the Approach G5 was so convenient and accurate that our caddy ended up using my GPS instead of his laser range finder. Have not tried Lithium batteries yet, Energizer Max AA lasted 27 holes, Duracell Coppertop lasted longer, 2-3 rounds. Only thing I have not figured out yet is that since my home club has 27 holes, I had to quit each time after first 9 and restart the round by choosing another 9 hole course instead of playing 18 continuously. Maybe time to read the manual

Update (7/1/09). Tried Lithium AA batteries from Energizer, after 4 rounds the indicator still shows 3/4 power left. Also, the latest database has 9400 courses!

I received the Garmin Approach G5 GPS golf unit from my husband as a gift several weeks ago. We had debated between this unit and the Upro but finally decided on the Garmin because it seemed more intuitive and quick to use on the golf course. It only has one real button used to turn it on or off (also used to lock/unlock the screen) and everything else is controlled via the touch screen.

I had checked and most of my local courses were already mapped. I’ve used it for at least 10 rounds and have found it to be very easy to use and the distances are quite accurate. It acquires satellites quickly. I like the ability to place the flag where it actually is. I also like to be able to measure my shots (although I always think I’m hitting a longer shot than I actually do but that’s not the unit’s fault).

I really enjoy keeping score on the Garmin – also a very intuitive process.

I have played rounds where someone in my group has used a rangefinder and I find the Garmin to be just as accurate and much quicker to use – I just look at the screen to see the distance to the flag without having to line it up or press any buttons.

The screen is easy to read in sunlight even with my polarized sunglasses.

I have been using rechargeable AA batteries and find they last over two rounds.

I like the sturdiness of the unit and don’t feel I have to be delicate with it. Occasionally, I have placed it in my pocket and have not found it to interfere with my swing.

I found a few bunkers missing in the mapping of my local course and I sent a request to Garmin from their website to correct these. I also requested two courses (which I play occasionally) to be mapped.

Overall, I am really enjoying using this unit and have found it very helpful in determining distances that I was semi-clueless about before.

Update: There were some bunkers missing on the Garmin G5 mapping of my home course. I had contacted Garmin sometime in June to indicate which holes should be corrected. Today I downloaded a new course update (7/1) and found the bunkers on my course had been corrected. Very good response by Garmin.

I played my first round with the Garmin Approach G5 today. I was very satisfied.

Strong points:
–finds satellites quickly
–lists golf courses by order of how far you are from them…closest first…makes finding local courses easy (you can also type in names, but I don’t see why you’d do it this way)
–automatic hole advance worked flawlessly
–tap-screen feature to zero in on the green and the area around the green (incluing traps and stuff) was very helpful…I used it on most holes
–distances to hazards like traps was very helpful…it’s good knowing that you can aim at a trap (because you know you can’t reach it)
–tap-screen feature to “place” the flag on the green is very useful…greens can be quite large, and there can be a 1-club difference between hitting to a front flag rather than a rear flag…I credit it with getting me a par on a long par-3 by indicating to use an extra club for a rear pin position
–with July’s update, there are 4400 courses mapped out
–all courses are stored in the device, not on your PC
–monthly course updates are free, never(?) a subscription fee nor disabling of courses you’ve already received…this makes up for the initial high price of the unit, in my opinion
–course downloads are handled by Garmin as a “purchase” of an item that costs $0.00, very straightforward once you understand that’s what’s happening
–once the unit is registered and you “purchase” this month’s course updates, the downloading process itself took only about 5 minutes, which seems remarkable for 4400 courses
–color screen easily visible in bright outdoor light
–very sturdy and waterproof
–only one physical buttton (on-off switch)
–all other functions are handled by the touchscreen, and everything was pretty intuitive
–measuring a shot was easy and fun (I do hit my 3-wood as far as I thought)

A couple of drawbacks:
–I walk and carry my clubs, and was not satisfied with using the belt clip to attach to my bag; I was afraid it would snap off
–Clipping the belt clip to your belt makes the unit hang in an unuseable position…you’d have to keep unclipping it
–It seems a little too big to put in your pocket without noticing it
–So I’ve ordered the separate slipcase with caribiner clip to hold it to my bag…I think I’ll feel more confident with that setup
–Got just one round out of pair of batteries…you’ll definitely want to order a couple sets of rechargeable batteries and a recharging device
–Quick-start booklet contains little information…it tells nothing about the initial steps of registering your unit online, how to find the serial number, or how to order course updates
–That said, the website has all the clues you need, although a few were hard to find and not entriely intuitive

Overall, my first impression is very positive. I formerly used a first-generation unit from iGolf, which just gave distances to the green. On this unit, the course map showing the shape of the hole, distances to hazards, closeup of the green, and ability to place the pin anywhere on the green were big improvements.

I’ve used the Garmin approach for several rounds so far. I generally score in the low to mid 80s on average difficulty courses (slope 124-126). I have not had experience with any other golf GPS device. My decision to purchase the Garmin Approach was based on golf course map availability for my area, durability in wet weather, screen view on bright days, and the reviews of others. I live in Chicago and found that every course I could think of in the area, city to suburbs, was included in the list of courses mapped. Once I had the Garmin Approach out on the golf course, my first thought was to gain the trust of the GPS. As I played my first round with the Approach I continually made comparisons to the yardage markers on the course, and found the displayed information on the GPS to be very accurate (within a yard or two). I paced off several hundred yard lengths and compared the number of paces to the GPS and, again, the device was very accurate…or vice versa, my paces were very accurate in comparison to the GPS : ). I’ve gone through this routine for every course I’ve played so far, with similar results. I have not had any issues with viewing the GPS display on bright days. As other reviews mention, the Garmin goes through a set of batteries in about two rounds so rechargeable batteries are a must. I purchased a set of four Enloop AA rechargeable batteries (the Approach requires two AA batteries) that claim up to 1,000 recharges per battery. That works out to be roughly 80 years of use out of a four pack of batteries if you play 50 rounds a year….suffice it to say, battery life is not a problem if you use rechargables. The auto hole change has worked flawlessly on every course. Green size is displayed accurately and the ability to move the pin to the actual location on the green is extremely helpful as many greens could be 30 or 40 yards deep….or more. As has been mentioned in other reviews, the touch screen is great and the menu is intuitive. I often use the movable crosshairs to locate a target that is 100 yards from the pin as this is the ideal position for a full 60 deg. wedge into the green for me. The shot measuring feature is easy to use and works well. Once you have set the shot measuring feature to start measuring your shot, you can navigate back to the course view so that you can study the map to plan your next shot (or help others in your foursome with yardages) while you walk to your ball. When you get to your ball, switch back to “measure shot” and it will display your shot distance. I choose not to use the belt clip (or carabiner clip) for the Approach because the device is small enough to put in my pocket or throw into one of the small pockets in my bag.

The Garmin Approach G5 is an extremely useful tool and I am pleased with the accuracy of the information it provides. I can’t claim that it has lowered my scores but I will say that it has changed my club selection on many occasions as I am still in the habit of determining club selection in my head based on the center-of-green. With the adjustable pin location, the GPS lets you know exactly how large the greens are and often times I will change my club selection by one or two clubs. No more guess work on distances, or where to hit the ball (or where not to hit the ball) on errant shots into the rough or next fairway. Sand and water hazards are displayed accurately. All said, I am extremely pleased with the Garmin Approach and ultimately I believe most serious golfers will have a golf GPS in their bags as prices drop.

The Garmin Approach is in my opinion the best GPS based golf rangefinder available. I have been using it for a month and find it accurate and easy to use. If you need an absolute yardage to the pin, this might not be for you. But for those golfers happy with yardages to the middle of the green there is nothing better. (It is possible to move the pin around in the detailed green view, but its a guesstimate as to where the actual pin is on the green. Useful for large greens or courses you know well.)
The score card, shot measure, and preview course are all great features that work well enough, but don’t buy it for anything other than easy to read, accurate yardages from anywhere on the course to hazards and to the green. You don’t need line of sight to the pin like you do with the laser range finders. And there are NO additional fees.
There is only one problem with this device; it is not rechargeable! This is the only reason I didn’t give it five stars. Alkaline batteries last a round and a half. I purchased two sets of rechargeable batteries, an absolute must. One set will last around two and a half rounds. That this thing doesn’t recharge as easy as a cell phone is a big let down. I guess you can’t have everything.

No downloads. No annual fees. Good battery life. Locates courses nearby. Easy to see screen. Touch screen and no instructions needed! I love it and am selling my (3) previous models to friends. This makes course management so simple when a tap on the screen shows distance of next shot instantly. Playing an unfamiliar course like you know it makes golf more fun.

I didn’t plan this comparison, just turned out that way. After reading a lot of reviews here and elsewhere, I decided on the Garmin Approach as the best Golf GPS device but I also wanted to try a rangefinder and picked up the Leupold GX-II, based on similar reviews. Leupold GX-II Digital Golf Rangefinder
Overall, I find the GPS easier to use for most of what I want in these devices. The Garmin has all the courses I play available and there is no annual fee. (The purchase price is high, but all the course maps are included.) So, if you want to know distance to a trap, to clear a hazard, to get to the middle of the green, that is all there for you with the Garmin at a glance. No need to stop, sight the target (and check a few times to make sure the rangefinder is picking up the exact target you are looking for). So, more convenient and faster for sure. Obviously, the one thing that the rangefinder does better is distance to the pin. With the Garmin (or any GPS), you are guessing where the pin is on the green and estimating distance based on the information you get on front and center of the green. You can move the flag to the location on the green where you think it is, but that is an estimate. For me, that’s good enough. If I am off by 5 yards, that is a lot more accurate than my shot is likely to be. But the Leupold does a great job of picking out the flag (at least inside 225 yards) so if you want accuracy to the flag, it is better. It also will adjust real distance based on slope to the green, altitude and temperature and suggest a club based on what you enter for your normal distances for a few irons. Note that this feature is illegal in tournament play or in rounds that you use to determine your handicap. But it does help you get a feel for how much you need to compensate for that long downhill to the island green, which is 213 yards, but will play like 165. And, if you’re willing to stop and sight your targets, hazards, etc., you do get that improved accuracy. So, convenience – GPS, absolute accuracy – Rangefinder. And I do think these 2 devices work great on the course.

However, during my 3rd round with the Garmin, the battery died and locked up the device after new batteries were put in. This was on a Saturday. Garmin support is not available over the weekend. When I got them on Monday, they promised to send a new unit out that day, 2nd day, so I would have it for my next round. Unfortunately, someone screwed something up, so it wasn’t shipped until after I emailed a few days later, so I started looking at other options for my next round and found Golfshot, a $30 iPhone application. Seemed to have similar functionality to the Garmin, similar number of courses available, and no subscription. I downloaded it and tried it and it was great. Everything the Garmin did plus a bunch of scoring options so you can track clubs used off the tee, fairways hit, greens in regulation, number of putts, sand saves and penalty shots. (The Garmin only allows basic scoring.) Golfshot also shows you a list of the likely interesting distances on every hole (front and back of bunkers and hazards, front, back and center of green) as well as an aerial view. The only drawback is the GPS sucks iPhone battery. They suggest turning off wifi, 3G and bluetooth (which you don’t need on the course) and also to turn off auto-lock so you get continuous information. The other good suggestion is get an auxiliary battery like External Battery for Iphone, Iphone 3g, Iphone 3gs, T-mobile G1, Ipod, Sidekick, Blackberry, Nokia, 5400 Mah. And this will get you through the round with plenty of battery left.

So, if you have an iPhone, Golfshot is highly recommended. For $100 you get the app and the extra iPhone battery. If you have no iPhone, for convenience, the Garmin is good, the Leupold for absolute accuracy. Any of these will help your game.