Product: Upro Golf GPS

Developer: Callaway Golf

Developers Official Domain:

http://www.uprogps.com

Retail Price: $399.99

Review By R N Catherwood

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The Upro Golf GPS, a modern technology-driven GPS system, is a serious challenger to its competitors in spite of being a relatively newer candidate in the Golf GPS market. With a rich feature set, a size as tiny as a mobile phone or an iPod, an awesome quality of graphics and display, an on-demand course data download and a provision of up to three different views, the Upro Golf GPS system is one of the winners in today’s market.

The Upro Golf GPS has two different modes. The basic mode – the normal option – is equipped with the hazard and green views. It can show an accurate distance to the different hazards to the current hole and the distance required to clear these hazards. It also shows the distances to the front, back and center of the current green. The pro mode – the advanced option – is equipped additionally with smart view. This provides three distinct views to the golfer. The first one is, for the current hole in play, the preferred landing area. The second one is a focused view of the current green in play. The third one is the Eagle’s eye view of the entire track right from the current tee up till the green, enabling one to formulate an overall game plan.

Compared to its other competitors, the Upro Golf GPS system does not require one to pay an annual fee. Instead, as and when needed, it provides a facility to download the course map as required by the user against a fee. This results in a considerable cost saving.

With other finer technological ingredients forming a part of it, the Upro Golf GPS system is a proposition hard to resist for an avid golfer.

Developer: Sonostar

Developers Official Domain:

http://www.sonocaddie.com/

Retail Price: $399.99

Review By R N Catherwood

Sonocaddie V300 Golf GPS"/>

The right GPS system is critical to golf. With state-of-the-art GPS properly used, a golfer can make a great deal of improvement in their quality of game. With more and more golfers at all different skill levels being able to chop a significant time off from their game, the GPS technology has already started playing a critical role in golf. The Sonocaddie V300, a relatively newer entrant into the market, is one such GPS which has had significant impact over the golfers of late.

The Sonocaddie V300 golf GPS system is equipped with the best of modern features and a large bright screen. The overhead hole images appearing on the screen makes it appealing. It gives the user an immediate feedback no the last shot, and also the distance to pin from any location on the golf course. This assists greatly in club selection for upcoming shots and also for swing evaluation.

In addition, the Sonocaddie V300 GPS has taken the traditional scoring feature for game and score tracking a leap ahead. One can see the total score, fairway hit, green in regulation and number of pars and birdies using the system. With a capability to store 30 courses in its internal memory, the Sonocaddie V300 GPS is a system that has already acquired thousands of fans worldwide.

Developer: SkyGolf

Developers Official Domain:

http://www.skygolf.com

Retail Price: $459.95

Review By R N Catherwood

SkyCaddie SG5 with Free Accessory Pack"/>

As a golf GPS system that assists the golfers at every skill level, the SkyCaddie SG5 boasts of a brilliant track record. With the patented IntelliGreen technology auto-rotating the shape of the green to match the angle of approach, measuring the full depth of the green becomes extremely easy. The SkyCaddie SG5 can calculate the exact distance to the front, back and center of the green, and also of any other point amid. One can find the yardage by simply toggling to the exact pin location. It is also capable of showing the targets and hazards on all of SkyGolf’s 16,000 courses, all professionally mapped.

The SkyCaddie SG5 has a feature to include a ball mark, using which one can trace how far one hits every shot, displaying the hazards as well as the distance required to clear each of these hazards. Each SkyCaddie can display up to 40 targets per hole. The battery life of the SG5 is remarkable.

Another novel attribute, namely Intelligreen Pro, would make available all the contours and tiers on the green, including exact distance to each. It would further provide the depth of each tier by cursor movement upon the contours line of the screen.

The SkyCaddie SG5, the one of the four handheld rangefinders in the SkyCaddie GPS family, has emerged as a GPS device of choice for many a golf-lover due to its features and its ease of use, and is clearly one of the most recommended golf GPS devices that exist today.

Golf GPS units are available in two forms – course-integrated and handheld. The device units that golfers carry are the handheld devices, since they are often more comfortable with their own devices and since these devices provide direct assistance in playing the gamupro,e.

While looking to find a good golf GPS unit, one should look out for certain features that are compulsory for such a unit to have. The features to look out for include the following.

- Accuracy of distance computation from the current position to holes, hazards, green etc.

- Should be able to tell the distance to cover every hazard. Should be able to calculate the exact distance to the front, back and center of the green, and any other point in between.

- Accuracy and clarity of display with possibly a good-looking and easy-to-use graphical interface support. The display should support every light condition.

- Battery life – this should be long enough, at least 12-13 hours.

- Weight of the device – the lighter the better – Garmin provides golf GPS devices not much heavier than a mere 5 ounces.

- Lastly and most importantly, should work in most of the golf courses around the world, either by downloading the course map on demand or by permitting an annual subscription model including regular updates.

There are two major kinds of GPS systems for golf. One class comprises of the handheld GPS devices, and the others are course-integrated devices. The hand-held devices need to be carried by the golfer to the golf course that they play in, and are often attached with the belt. These golf GPS devices enable finding the distance from the tee till the ball reaches the green.

Most of the advanced golf GPS devices dynamically compute the current position of the golfer, the position of the green at front, back and center and the position of the hazards. Further, they compute the required distance to clear the hazards. With all the computation automatically done and results available at hand, golfing becomes a much more pleasant and charming activity.

It has been shown that GPS systems improve the game of golf by a significant amount. Studies suggest that as we are moving forward, more and more golfers are getting attached to the GPS and are using them to determine all the parameters to play a better game of golf.

The driving distance calculator – an easy-to-use function on the GPS device – lets the user detect and self-adjust the distance to the target in real time as one comes closer to the green at the press of a button. The intelligent green feature would show the shape of the green from the current position, and as one moves, this feature keeps adjusting to move on the screen and show different angles of approach.

The battery life is around 14 hours, which is easily enough for a couple of rounds at one recharge. An alkaline battery backup is provided in case of running down on power.

The Golf Buddy Pro GPS is capable of storing 20,000 golf courses worldwide simultaneously in its memory. New courses and updates in existing courses are free of cost to download. The Golf Buddy Pro GPS auto-acquires to each golf course in the world that one moves to as soon as the device is switched on, given that the course is pre-installed in its memory – a unique value proposition of the Golf Buddy GPS Pro.

Developer: Garmin

Developers Official Domain:

http://www.golflogix.com

Retail Price: $299.95

Review By R N Catherwood

Garmin GolfLogix GPS-8"/>

The Garmin GolfLogix GPS, a product by the world leader of GPS technology Garmin, is a lightweight, precise, user-friendly and durable device. Simplicity, ease-of-use and clarity – the essence of Garmin’s products – mark a positive stamp upon the minds of the thousands of users of the GolfLogix GPS.
Rather than using a flashy and ostentatious display, the device uses a Gray scale display with excellent readability at every level of light conditions.

Its accurate measurement of distance to the holes, hazards, the flags, the green and other important points on the course makes it competitive with all other top-notch golf GPS devices. The added fact that it is just over 5 ounces in weight, that it comes with a bag clip or a belt to make carrying it easier and the fact that it is waterproof makes it indispensable.

One can easily connect the GolfLogix GPS to a personal computer and download up to 20 course maps in less than a couple of minutes. In addition, one can download their favorite course maps for free, and optionally become a member with a low annual subscription charge and thus access more than 15,000 courses all over the world. This is competitively priced against the market, and the accuracy and regular updates of the worldwide golf courses makes it value for money and worth its price.

Many golfers believe the Garmin GolfLogix GPS to be the most accurate in the world today.

Without a doubt, the answer to this question is a most definite yes. A golf GPS unit will improve your golf game. Thousands of golfers all over the world are now starting to lower their handicap thanks to the new technology that is golf GPS. Some people are finding that they are now being able to knock an hour or so off their golf game. This technology is becoming very popular today with golfers of all skill levels.

Thousands of dollars are being spent everyday on equipment like golf clubs, especially drivers or golf balls as these will allow you to gain the greatest distance with your golf shot. Knowing the distance that each club in your bag can achieve is the key. That is where golf GPS systems come into play.

Without a doubt, your golf game will improve using a golf GPS system but only if you use it correctly and fully understand its purpose. The single most challenging part of playing golf is understanding and being able to judge the exact distance to the hole as well as distance on various different parts of the fairways. This includes knowing the distances to all bunkers and traps. Golf management like this is where a game of golf is won or lost as well as being able to effectively lower your handicap and become a better golfer.

A golf GPS system will give you all this data and more. They will give you the advantage you are looking for. Knowing how far you can hit each golf club in your bag has been nothing more than an estimate in the past. Now you can judge this with pin-point accuracy thanks to golf GPS systems.

There are many on the market including the Golf Buddy Pro, Upro Golf GPS, Skycaddie SG5, Garmin Golflogix and the Sonocaddie V300 to name a few. If you look into them in more detail, you will see that each has its own advantages depending on golfer’s independent needs. One thing is for sure, golf GPS systems are here to stay.