iGolf Neo GPS; any thoughts?

[JeffGallo]

I've been looking for a range finder, and i have decided to go for a GPS unit, mostly for ease of use and expediency on the course. I play pretty fast, and play most of the courses around me pretty regularly so taking out a laser finder and measuring may be slightly more accurate but in the time it takes i could find a marker, and guess pretty close. The GPS unit is a lot easier i worked with a friend's SG5 and found it delightful, but i dont have that kind of money to blow.
SO the iGolf Neo at $150 is a good buy, and their subscription rate is good, the database has all of the courses i play, but i wanted to know if you all have any thoughts on the GPS systems in general or the use of that particular one vs say the SG2.5 from sky golf?

Thanks everyone!

[sssmokin]

I don't know anything about those GPS units.............but just wanted to say that I got last year's model GolfLogix GPS from Amazon.com for $200, and it's fantastic. I did a review on it in the Equipment Reviews forum if you were interested. Wi-golfer picked up the same one on eBay for even less.

[Wi-Golfer]

As Sssmokin pointed out I have the Golflogix & love it. Have used it 3 times so far & it's so easy to use, no buttons to push, etc. Just glance at it & you know what the yardage is. Highly recommend this unit.

[VtDivot]

Used my guru today. Really great.

Loaded with features (intelligreen, stat and score tracker, edit pre mapped courses, map your own courses etc) What really won me over was the customer support... they are amazing.

Long thread on it over at WRX.

[mkrolewski]

I use the Golf Guru. Really enjoy it.


I really enjoy being able to get a distance to the green no matter where you are on the course, rough, woods, etc. At least up here in the great NW, there are a lot of minimumally marked courses, and a fair number of holes with improper markings.

It is useful on the par 5, knowing the distance to the green or hazards is really great.

I enjoy being able to get the close distances (under 30 yd). And with F/C/B, it is possible to guestimate the distance to the pin.

While on a new course the other day, the 100 yd marker looked a little close. The GPS said 75 yds. Luckily we used the 75 as it was the correct distance. Would have skied the green and landed in a marsh.

There is still room for lasers -- finding spots that are not mapped, how far to a tree or opposite side of the fairway for a recovery shot. But the GPS (at least the Golf Guru) gives you continuous distance, so a measurement takes only the time to read the screen. To laser each pin, and maybe the front or back edge could really take time.

For the home course, you can add in all those "typical" spots eg corners, layup areas, etc.

About the Golf Guru:

Took a round to get used to the buttons, etc.

Great size, fits into your pocket, smaller than my Treo/Palm, very light weight.

Love the mark feature ie tracking ones shot distance.

Easy to read. Fabulous satellite connectivity, never lost the GPS signal in 5 rounds. Like the fact you can track all the way up to and onto the green. The green-sense feature is very useful as it gives you the front, center and back of the green from your position relative to the green, similar to the intelligreen from SC.

The mapping feature allows 30 targets (to and clear) and the perimeter of the green. And now you can add targets to the company downloaded courses.

[mddubya]

Along this same thought, I have a Blackberry Curve phone. Has anyone tried the GPS Golf program for phones? I've thought about getting it but haven't found anyone who has tried it.

[ualtim]

I only have one round with my Golf Guru GPS, but love it so far. I used to be strictly laser, but I find using the GPS is a lot faster and gives you information that you can not get with a laser such as distance to the front of the green, distance to the back of the green, distances around corners, ability to measure shot distances, and a few others. I still carry the laser for the odd object or two that is not yet in my course databases, so its kind of the best of both worlds runnung around with a GPS and the laser.

[MCDavis]

Originally Posted by ualtim

I only have one round with my Golf Guru GPS, but love it so far. I used to be strictly laser, but I find using the GPS is a lot faster and gives you information that you can not get with a laser such as distance to the front of the green, distance to the back of the green, distances around corners, ability to measure shot distances, and a few others. I still carry the laser for the odd object or two that is not yet in my course databases, so its kind of the best of both worlds runnung around with a GPS and the laser.

GPS and range finder?

I bet you used a pocket protector in jr. high school, didn't you?

[Skiddlydiddly]

I was looking at the Neo info on the igolf website. Seems like alot of value for the cost.

Course info is stored locally, so once you have the courses you need, no need to maintain your subscription.

Or, if you wanted to do all the mapping yourself, no need for a subscription at all, since you can map as many as you want.

Less than $200 for a GPS that you could, in theory, use forever without a subscription (even if the company died/stopped supporting it), sounds good.

Anyone actually used one of these particular GPS'?

[ualtim]

Originally Posted by MCDavis

GPS and range finder?

I bet you used a pocket protector in jr. high school, didn't you?

I have had the laser for a few years now, just upgraded to the GPS.

I was not going to carry the laser anymore, but it came in handy a couple of times even with the GPS so I will probably carry it on the bag for a while longer.

Nope, I did not believe in school work in Jr High, I got by with as little work as possible and still got B's.