Sonocaddie users

[SiberianDVM]

I've had my Sonocaddie V300, the color one, for about a week now, and I have mixed feelings about it, so I'm interested in knowing how other users feel.

I like the way the unit looks and operates, but the maps online suck. Really suck. Some of the courses I play have no info at all. Some are years out of date, and on all of them the yardages are off and have to be replotted as you play.

One couse, Bartram Trail, is not in the database, and I asked them to map it. They then asked me to send them a course layout picture and a scorecard. I did. Then they asked me to mark on the map which holes were which!!! So I did.

Maybe when I have played more of my courses and manually edited all of the yardages, I will like it better. Still, if I were to use this on a vacation where I would only be playing a course once, it would be near useless.

NOTE: this is a multiple choice poll, so select all that apply

[Harry Longshanks]

Sibe-

I have the Sonocaddie V2. I've been very happy with it. I've checked it with a laser rangefinder, and it's almost always dead on. The course sprinkler heads and yardage markers are occasionally wrong, however.

I haven't had any trouble with unmapped courses. You shouldn't have to manually map the courses. As I understand it, the V300 (unlike the V2) has an annual fee. That fee should cover accurate yardage mapping.

As for the visual maps, my guess is that they are still getting up to speed, as it is a relatively new product.

[MGP]

I have a Skycaddie SG3 for about two years now. I love it, it's been really reliable and the SkyGolf 4-star course mappings have proven to be extremely accurate for me. No update speed or accuracy issues and I've used it on probably a dozen different course of all kinds of terrain and conditions. I use NiMH rechargeable batteries so battery life isn't an issue, it gets about 2 rounds out of a charge and I always keep a spare set of charged batteries plus a set of AA alkalines in my bag as a backup.

Interestingly, I've played a few rounds with guys that had other GPS systems that mapped courses from satellite photos and they had some instances where they weren't nearly as accurate when we compared side-by-side. I don't have a problem with the yearly fee since I am getting great mappings for the courses I play. I suspect over time that SkyGolf will have to drop that business model since so many other GPS companies are moving away from that.

I do kind of like the Golf Guru also, I would love to get my hands on one and try it.

[SiberianDVM]

The V300 still has the lifetime membership: I selected the Birdie for $29.95.

Mostly I am unhappy that some of the mapping was done with maps that are several years old. Forest Hills has undergone major changes within the last 5 years and that is not reflected on the onscreen display.

I can edit the hazards and yardages to make them accurate, but I cannot edit the picture display, so a hole that is actually straight still looks like a dogleg on the screen.