Hi all

thinking of actually using some of the vouchers that Chris has kindly donated to my cause in the last few months. Noticed on Golfsmith they had a 20% off all nonclub items so had a look at a Sonocaddie V100 Pocket GPS.
Cost wise its ok, however Golfsmith wanted to charge me $42 to post it to the UK and then I would have to pay 19¼% tax when customs says hello.
Also has anybody had any joy with one and will it work over here in the sticks?

Kevin

Ouch! Kev that's a bit of overhead on the overall cost. It should work but you should check the manufacturer to see how many internaltional courses they have mapped. I know SkyCaddie has some but I don't know how many. I'd check that before I took the plunge. Hmmmm, so I guess there isn't a Golfsmith in your neck of the woods huh?

Kevin; As with ANY GPS system, you need to research which courses they have mapped when you play. If they don't have your courses mapped, it's not worth much, if anything. I'd say check with all the GPS makers and see which if any have your courses mapped. If you can't find any with your courses mapped, then buy a good laser range finder. They work on ALL courses.

I recently heard of a few new GPS companys coming out with new toys. so be sure to check out ALL of your options.

I bought the Golf Buddy.. after doing some research and talking to friends that have differant GPS units.. i decided on this one... it's a one time purchase, no annual fees.. nothing.. and if a copurse isn't on the program, i just email them and it's up in minutes.. just plug into my computer with the usb cord, it also tracks my scores for each round and saves them on the computer, which is cool... good luck, just my 2 cents...

Pomp, keep in mind that companies that produce maps that quickly are doing it via aerial maps and not actually going to the course and mapping it off by walking the course. I'm not saying it's any less accurate but it's just different. Sky Caddie maps each course by walking off every hole and each hazard on each hole.

But you're right, having no fees is nice. Good luck with it.

For what it's worth to anyone. I've got a Golf Guru, and they don't walk any courses. One of my playing partner's dad, has a Sky Caddie. When we have compared yardages, we are never more than one or two yards different. It would seem those aerial maps are pretty darn close to those that are made by walking the course. And a whole lot faster and cheaper to make. When I got my Guru, none of the courses I played regularly were in their database. I just scanned the score cards for the courses I wanted maps for, and sent them with the address of the course to Golf Guru. In a day or 2, all my courses were added to the database, and are working fine.

I use FreeCaddie on my smartphone. You actually map the course yourself using google maps which is kind of weird but it actually does a good job.

I wouldn't say it is nearly as accurate as the other standalone GPS devices but it works great for what it is.

You should try it out if you have a smartphone then you may not need a standalone golf GPS

I've bitten the bullet and ordered the GPS unit - seeing that Golfsmith very kindly reduced the price of both item and postage!
so hope to see it within the week and next time I play (14th Nov - and no I am not counting ) I will see how it goes.
would have ordered via this site but had to do it via email to get the discount - sorry Chris.

Congrats on the purchase. Let us know how it works. Should be a lot of fun to use the gps the first time.

Have just it delivered (Fedex didn't ask for any money - so keeping schtum.... )
they have a special offer at present for UK users for free course updates (which I have kindly taken up!)
I am playing 9 holes on Saturday (yeah allowed out at last!) so will give a quick review Sunday..
So all in, it has cost me £25, which aint bad - so thanks Chris! (again)

first thoughts though - is its small - I mean really small, so it fits nicely into the pocket. Have also download some courses onto the system, which again - very very easy.

Good for you, enjoy your first run with it!

I was just reviewing GPS units and the Sonocaddie V100 seemed to have some good features for the price. I was also impressed by the IZZO Swami 1500. For under $100 you can get a pretty accurate GPS.

I have only been able to use a cart mounted GPS so far, but would love to have one in my bag. It's on my Christmas wish list.

I hope it improves your game.

I like mine, it's a GolfGuru unit. Works very well and is very handy on the course. I like the MARK feature where I can Mark my position on the course when I tee off, and them Mark it again when I get to my balls to see exactly how far I hit my shots. Comes in quite handy.

I think they're all better than nothing. The key is what information you want and in what format. The less expensive typucally have less markers that they give you yardages too, or less courses, or less "features' like marking shot distances, etc. The key to me is to find one that you like the price on that also has courses in your area. Then decide if the various features that the models have are useful or not.

For example, for me, Color was NOT even part of the consideration. I don't care if it's color or BW so I wasn't willing to pay extra for color screens.

Scott, I have the original model of the Guru GPS. I went to theire site and now they have model 4 available, Full color display is only part of the udgrade, It also has Aerial Views of the course. You can LOOK DOWN on the course and see what the hole layout looks like from above. If you only want the standard course maps, they are FREE. But the aerial map cost extra. You pay for them per course map. So if you only play a few courses most of the time, it might be nice to have a few aerial maps for the course you play 90 % of the time. Since they DON'T charge any yearly fees to download standard maps, buying one or two aerial maps is still less then what the SkyCaddie charges with their yearly fees.