S1 v G5 - Garmin GPS Help appreciate before tonights purchase!

DaveyG

DaveyG

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Birthday week and I am finally going to get a GPS device.

Always felt there is too much guess work in my distances and have wanted to get a Garmin watch for ages now... It is the cheaper of the two listed in the title but the G5 isn't at a bad price now (obviously due to G6 release) and I was wondering if anyone can recomend either of them? Particularly if you have used both.

I like the idea of the watch for ease of use as its just a quick but obviously the devices themselves have alot more to offer.

Any advice appreciated.
 
I have the G5 and it is a great piece of kit. It has lots more features than the watch, you can touch any part of the screen to get a yardage to that point and also from there to the green. Also good to see preview of a hole and distances to hazards before you tee off. I would defo recommend it to anyone considering a GPS.
 
cant comment on the G5, but I had a Skycaddie SG5 which does loads and very accurate, however, changed to the S1 and find the S1 does exactly what I want ie gives me front middle and back yardages and easy to mark out a good drive, plus no subs...and waterproof.
 
I use the G5 and its a great piece of kit, one of the better features is when you zoom in to the green it shows separate distances to any hazards around the green and you can move the flag to its actual position on the green and get the correct yardage.

For general distances to middle of the green you just have a quick glance at the top corner.

One thing to consider is that its powered by AA rechargeable batteries that have to be taken out of the unit to charge so you will have to buy a separate charger. You can use normal AA batteries but the screen is dull and you will use 2 every round, the rechargeable ones can last about 3 rounds.
 
I have the S1. As darthvega says it is limited to front, middle, back.
For me that is what I am looking for 99% of the time, and the trade off of convenience of wristwatch and low cost, versus extra features swung it for me.
On unfamiliar courses there are times when checking distance to a hazard would be handy, can't do that with an S1.
Still, I'm very happy with it.

Battery does about two rounds, if I remember to click end round then turn it off when I've finished.
 
I've had both and would still go for the G5. I found the S1 while brilliant was a little restrictive. No hazards, dog legs etc. it's just as quick to pull the G5 out of my pocket as I am walking up to my shot as a glance at the wrist. Also S1's are a bit prone to fogging up inside the watch in cold weather making them almost unreadable. I got rechargeable batteries for my G5 and I get two rounds easily off a charge which is 4 rounds really as I charge 2 pairs at once.
 
I bought a Garmin last year, cheap as chips and works perfectly, it tells me I have 100 yards to go, I hit it 90 anyway, seriously its well made, durable runs on rechargeable batteries and compares yardage wise with a friends Sky caddie and a Bushnell rangefinder
 
Update for anyone who is interested...

Went to AG tonight and as always the service was shocking from a bloke I cant understand is even employed.

Came home and ordered the S1... Told the missus who called me a dickhead and said welldone ruining my suprise! Just sent my cancellation email so hopefully they pick that up early and don't process it. Chuffed as she is already taking me away for golf! Shes still not talking to me for being so impatiant.
 
DaveyG said:
Update for anyone who is interested...

Went to AG tonight and as always the service was shocking from a bloke I cant understand is even employed.

Came home and ordered the S1... Told the missus who called me a dickhead and said welldone ruining my suprise! Just sent my cancellation email so hopefully they pick that up early and don't process it. Chuffed as she is already taking me away for golf! Shes still not talking to me for being so impatiant.
Click to expand...

That'll learn you.

Always a rollocking in our house when someone splashes the cash before Christmas or a Birthday.
I dropped a hint or 2 for a S1 before Christmas (leaving the pages open of GM in the upstairs library on the adverts) amazingly she went out and bought the S3 which has loads more info on it, and an excuse to play all round the world, caught me by surprise Christmas Day that's for sure.

Those needing rechargeable batteries my boss went to Maplin and bought their 4700ah (?) batteries and charger for his at a reasonable price and being the high amp hour they do last a lot longer than standard rechargeables.
 
I got fed up with recharging AA batteries so just buy them in bulk. They last 2 rounds and I carry a pack of spares and change them when necessary. Saves time and recharge costs.
 
I've got the Garmin G3 which I bought at a steal last year. Whilst its a great piece of kit I am getting seriously bored of charging batteries

Considering selling it to my dad as he loves it and is refusing to pay his sky caddie subs, then I think I'm gonna buy the new S3 watch as an early birthday present to myself before the baby arrives as after that affording a new one will become a no no with hid!
 
Just to throw another one in the mix,

I sold my Garmin S3 last week and bought a Motorola Motoactv and I think the motoactv is great.

I have only used it on a couple of courses so far and found it to be accurate and has plenty of features. But the best thing about it is, you can sync it with Motorola's servers and review your score, track where you were when you hit the ball and see where you walked on the course.
It has had mixed reviews online, but having used both this and the S3, I would say the Motorola is miles ahead.

Also, the Motorola has been discontinued, which might put some people off, but the plus side to that is you can pick them up for as little as £70 on ebay.

Also, if you can be bothered to do it, you can create your own course mappings, adding distances to all the hazards, lie up areas, etc..

If you just want the same features as the Garmin, i.e. distance to green front centre and back, then you can use it like that as well.

motoactv.jpg
 
Last edited:
nxw1969 said:
Just to throw another one in the mix,

I sold my Garmin S3 last week and bought a Motorola Motoactv and I think the motoactv is great.

I have only used it on a couple of courses so far and found it to be accurate and has plenty of features. But the best thing about it is, you can sync it with Motorola's servers and review your score, track where you were when you hit the ball and see where you walked on the course.
It has had mixed reviews online, but having used both this and the S3, I would say the Motorola is miles ahead.

Also, the Motorola has been discontinued, which might put some people off, but the plus side to that is you can pick them up for as little as £70 on ebay.

Also, if you can be bothered to do it, you can create your own course mappings, adding distances to all the hazards, lie up areas, etc..

If you just want the same features as the Garmin, i.e. distance to green front centre and back, then you can use it like that as well.

View attachment 5278
Click to expand...

I have been debating whether to buy the S1 or S3 but this MotoActv looks like it might be a cheaper alternative. How did you check if your course was included in their mappings? I've searched their website but cant find anything, any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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