KeefG
Journeyman Pro
Re-posting this as, for some totally inexplicable reason, my original review disappeared 
I was given this unit to test by the mag (how lucky am I?
) as I was already in the market for a unit anyway after using Vig's sonocaddie a few times and finding it absolutely invaluable!
The unit arrived and, first impressions were it looked nothing if uncluttered and uncomplicated. After a quick 2 min scan of the destruction manual I had it plugged in and on charge and ready to download my local courses onto it....after a 10 minute battle with the software, which isnt the most user friendly, trying to get my PC to talk to the unit I was on the GolfBuddy download centre and ready to start downloading, at this point I was more than pleased to notice that the unit already had squillions of courses on it and all of the courses I normally play were already on. A quick browse on the unit and I discovered that it really did already have thousands of courses, and of all the courses listed in the UK there was only 2 new additions.
Anyway, the unit was eventually fully charged and I couldnt wait to get out on the course and see what it was made of, a game was arranged with Vig at Mid Yorkshire where we would compare the results of his sonocaddie and the course he had mapped personally, and my stock map.
Onto the 1st tee, I switched the unit on and it automatically finds the course you are at which is another nice touch, a quick comparison with the sonocaddie finds that my unit is 3yds out which is spot on. A quick check of the pre-mapped hazards tells me where the bunkers are and also a distance to a 150yd layup, which again is a cracking piece of info.
The one feature the sonocaddie has over the GolfBuddy is a map of the entire hole you are playing, not a major issue though. On the GolfBuddy you have a picture of the green and a slidebar down the screen which shows you roughly where you on the particular hole.
After a couple of mishaps trying to add my own hazards & waypoints onto the unit but not knowing how to save them, I eventually figured it out.
I played a full round with the unit and can honestly say it saved me some shots, I was eyeing up approach shots thinking 8 or 9 iron, looking at the GolfBuddy and realising a PW would be better etc and it really does make a huge difference to your game, I would go as far as saying invaluable!!
Another excellent reason to buy the GolfBuddy is its battery life, I played 4 rounds before I got a warning that the battery was low....somewhere close to 16hrs of use off a single charge.
All in all, a truly fanstastic piece of kit, and if I had the money and was faced with a choice of units I would have absolutely no hesitation in purchasing one over any of its rival brands.
I was given this unit to test by the mag (how lucky am I?
) as I was already in the market for a unit anyway after using Vig's sonocaddie a few times and finding it absolutely invaluable!The unit arrived and, first impressions were it looked nothing if uncluttered and uncomplicated. After a quick 2 min scan of the destruction manual I had it plugged in and on charge and ready to download my local courses onto it....after a 10 minute battle with the software, which isnt the most user friendly, trying to get my PC to talk to the unit I was on the GolfBuddy download centre and ready to start downloading, at this point I was more than pleased to notice that the unit already had squillions of courses on it and all of the courses I normally play were already on. A quick browse on the unit and I discovered that it really did already have thousands of courses, and of all the courses listed in the UK there was only 2 new additions.
Anyway, the unit was eventually fully charged and I couldnt wait to get out on the course and see what it was made of, a game was arranged with Vig at Mid Yorkshire where we would compare the results of his sonocaddie and the course he had mapped personally, and my stock map.
Onto the 1st tee, I switched the unit on and it automatically finds the course you are at which is another nice touch, a quick comparison with the sonocaddie finds that my unit is 3yds out which is spot on. A quick check of the pre-mapped hazards tells me where the bunkers are and also a distance to a 150yd layup, which again is a cracking piece of info.
The one feature the sonocaddie has over the GolfBuddy is a map of the entire hole you are playing, not a major issue though. On the GolfBuddy you have a picture of the green and a slidebar down the screen which shows you roughly where you on the particular hole.
After a couple of mishaps trying to add my own hazards & waypoints onto the unit but not knowing how to save them, I eventually figured it out.
I played a full round with the unit and can honestly say it saved me some shots, I was eyeing up approach shots thinking 8 or 9 iron, looking at the GolfBuddy and realising a PW would be better etc and it really does make a huge difference to your game, I would go as far as saying invaluable!!
Another excellent reason to buy the GolfBuddy is its battery life, I played 4 rounds before I got a warning that the battery was low....somewhere close to 16hrs of use off a single charge.
All in all, a truly fanstastic piece of kit, and if I had the money and was faced with a choice of units I would have absolutely no hesitation in purchasing one over any of its rival brands.
