# Sonocaddie V350 Plus



## GB72 (Jan 3, 2011)

I put alot of research into GPS units before taking the plunge, alot of it coming from forum feedback. I was quite specific in what I was looking for, no annual subscription for a start so no Skycaddie. Also did not want to pay large amount for course downloads so that put the Caddielite out of the running. At first I thought that the Golfbuddy Platinum was the only way forward but was a bit put off by the cost then up came the suggestion of the Sonocaddie (think BobMac suggested it). The V350 plus model ticked all of the boxes in that there was no subscription for UK courses and the plus model comes pre-loaded with all 24000. It also only costs a one off Â£25 payment to have unlmited access to the global courses. The price is also dropping with the V500 model due soon so at Â£220 the cost was in the right price bracket.

Setting it up was a breeze. Insert CD, plug into PC and register and off you go. 

Whilst I have not yet had a chance to use the more advanced features yet (it will store stats on a detailed 'scorecard' etc) I have now taken it out on 2 courses so can at least comment on the basic functions. 

First things first, I arrived at the course, switched it on and it had found enough satellites within a minute or 2. I chose the option to locate the nearest course and in seconds it had found the right one. A quick click on the course and the hole I was starting on and we were underway. The unit provides all of the essential information. It has distances to hazards, front, back and middle of the green, lay up points etc. All appeared accurate on both courses tried and I did notice that I was hitting more greens today as I trusted the GPS. There is also a simple 'mark' button where 2 presses will give details of your shot length that can be saved and downloaded. 

Another nice touch is that the unit asks you to rate the accuracy of the mapping at the end of each round and uploads this feedback when you plug into a PC.

On a more practical level, the buttons are large and easy to use, the screen is well lit, the battery life seems decent and it also comes with a plug in charger so no need to have a laptop to power it up. It is also pretty compact and I felt happy having it in my pocket rather than clipped on to a bag as many do. 

So far then I am confident that I have made the right choice but time will tell. Certainly I am looking forward to using the more advanced options to see if they help my game


----------



## bobmac (Jan 3, 2011)

think BobMac suggested it
		
Click to expand...

He certainly did .
Glad someone's paying attention.


----------



## fundy (Jan 3, 2011)

nice review GB, still not taken the plunge here, expect I will wait for spring now, may have erred not buying the V350 before Amazon sold out it seems


----------



## HomerJSimpson (Jan 4, 2011)

WHen I was looking about 3-4 years ago these GPS devices were quite new and SC had stolen a march on the market which is why I went with them. However looking at what else is out there now something like this would definitely have appealed. Also like the look of the new Cally device


----------



## fundy (Jan 4, 2011)

The Cally has become very cheap ahead of their next release, downside being you then have to buy the detailed maps per course and that can soon get very expensive it seems


----------



## GB72 (Jan 4, 2011)

That was a major factor for me. If the course maps cost more than a couple of quid then I could not see myself paying for them and anything in the Â£5 to Â£10 per course would be a no. And whilst I can see the benefits of Skycaddie I just cannot get over the fact that it becomes useless if I stop my subscription.


----------



## kid2 (Jan 5, 2011)

GB......I know that its fairly basic which is what im after just like you....But did you get to check out the V100....

I can get one here pretty cheap and i know that it only holds something like 10 courses but it seems pretty good....Any info?


----------



## GB72 (Jan 5, 2011)

No, never checked out the V100. I really felt that I would only make the most of it if I had all of the courses I could ever want available on day one at no cost so this was what sold me.


----------



## StuartD (Jan 7, 2011)

If I were in the market for a GPS device, I would not touch sonocaddie. Used there Iphone app, which uses the same course maps, and found it to be terrible with features missing on every hole (See my Sonocaddie Iphone app review) It appears that they are very slow to update there database when changes to a course have been made. Itâ€™s not too much of a problem if its your own course as you can make the changes but it can spoil your enjoyment of a course you make a visit to. For the amount of away days I play I would rather go down the skycaddie route and pay the subscription


----------

