Review: uPro Golf GPS

[kfowler]

I just picked one up this week. Played with it yesterday. So far my impressions are good. I'll right a fully review after I get another round in or so.

[bobped]

Hi guys,

I saw the uPro up close during a demo day at a local driving range, was very impressed, and I'm leaning toward buying one (the only thing stopping me has been dedicating enough time to do a thorough analysis of all available GPS, to make sure I wouldn't be missing anything if I did buy it). Here in San Diego my buddy and I take the variety approach (btw, doesn't work with women, so don't try it!), we basically play a different course each week. Luckily for us, uPro appears to have mapped pretty much every course in Southern California, and the two that I've played that they haven't mapped are scheduled for next month. Sweet!

I do have four quick questions which I didn't see discussed on this thread, hoping one of you current users can answer them.

First, on the uPro online course finder ( http://coursefinder.uprogps.com ), there is a column titled "Estimated Availability", and the values I've seen in this field include "Version 1.0", "Version 1.1", "Requests:1" and then calendar dates (eg. "11/25/2008") for the courses scheduled to be mapped. I was wondering what the "Version" info is, is that the version of that specific course map, i.e. used to track changes in the course maps, as they evolve over time, or does it refer to a version of uPro software that is needed to use the map, or something else? And does "Requests:1" mean that only one person has requested it? I didn't see many of these, and all the ones I did see indicated only 1, no larger numbers.

Second, there is also a "Rating" column on the course finder, but I haven't seen anything but 5 stars on the courses I've looked up. Are there any other valid values? What does 5 starts mean? Any idea what data they use to fill in the "Rating" column? Is it based on user opinion, uPro's opinion on the quality fo the satellite images, or something else?

Third, Sky Caddie touts this Intelligreen feature, which looks pretty nice, as it updates the distances to the front/center/back of the green, based on your angle to it. Have any of you rated the uPro's abilities with respect to this feature? Does the Sky Caddie have something uPro doesn't here? As a single handicapper hoping to head toward scratch (on schedule for my 5 seconds of fame during the first round of a qualifier for the senior tour in ~3 years!), I think one of the most critical aspects of GPS is the ability to plan smart shots around the greens (key is sometimes missing to the right spot on the green, even when your approach is from an interesting place), and that Intelligreen feature looks like it would do quite nicely. Thoughts?

Finally, has anyone done any research on the company itself, and with this market already saturated a bit, whether or not it will be here even next season, let alone 5 years from now? I've heard bad things about SkyCaddie, but with Natalie Gulbis, Butch Harmon and others touting that brand on TV the company itself is clearly stable, and seems likely to be around a while, bad customer service or not.

BTW, I am not personally affiliated with Sky Caddie, or know anyone who is, so sorry if I'm coming off sounding that way... I have no bias toward any parcitular GPS (although the SkyCaddie would definitely come home with me if Natalie came with it!).

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

[mruseless]

First, on the uPro online course finder (

The version numbers indicate revisions. I have personally requested revisions to 3 or 4 courses, and they have always gotten it done in a couple weeks or less. When the revision is posted, it comes up as a new version number. I had not noticed the "requests" thing before, but I would assume its the total number of requests...

Second, there is also a "Rating" column on the course finder, but I haven't seen anything but 5 stars on the courses I've looked up. Are there any other valid values? What does 5 starts mean? Any idea what data they use to fill in the "Rating" column? Is it based on user opinion, uPro's opinion on the quality fo the satellite images, or something else?

If there are no ratings for a course, it defaults to 5 stars. Kind of stupid, but that's the way it is. So just ignore them until they get enough customers to put real ratings up.

Third, Sky Caddie touts this Intelligreen feature, which looks pretty nice, as it updates the distances to the front/center/back of the green, based on your angle to it. Have any of you rated the uPro's abilities with respect to this feature? Does the Sky Caddie have something uPro doesn't here? As a single handicapper hoping to head toward scratch (on schedule for my 5 seconds of fame during the first round of a qualifier for the senior tour in ~3 years!), I think one of the most critical aspects of GPS is the ability to plan smart shots around the greens (key is sometimes missing to the right spot on the green, even when your approach is from an interesting place), and that Intelligreen feature looks like it would do quite nicely. Thoughts?

They both do the same thing, but this is one place the SkyCaddie's system is a little better. SC has a graphic of the green that rotates so it matches your view of the green. The uPro gives you front, middle, and back of the green, but it doesn't rotate the view. If you look on the satellite image view, you will see a little red diamond that indicates your location, but the image itself is not rotated. So what I do is turn the uPro unit itself until it matches my view. I don't need to do that, but sometimes it helps my visualization a little bit.

Finally, has anyone done any research on the company itself, and with this market already saturated a bit, whether or not it will be here even next season, let alone 5 years from now? I've heard bad things about SkyCaddie, but with Natalie Gulbis, Butch Harmon and others touting that brand on TV the company itself is clearly stable, and seems likely to be around a while, bad customer service or not.

I can't help you on that one, except to say that sales seem to be strong based on conversations at my local GolfSmith, and customer service is good. Those are good signs.

[bobped]

Thanks for the quick reply. After I posted I read what I had written and realized answers to these questions weren't really going to sway my decision, so I went down to golfsmith and bought a uPro last night, and stayed up late last night getting it set up, so I could use it for my round earlier today. I was very pleased with the unit's performance (although my round was impacted by sleep depravation!), here are some more detailed notes of my experience and thoughts.

BTW, I am a 47 year old software development manager, working for Intuit, maker of Quicken, TurboTax, Quickbooks, etc., so I know my way around software-based products, and am a bit of a gadget lover as well (proud to say I actually own almost all the products that were finalists on "Fore Inventors Only" on the golf channel). I of course own computers, PDAs, cell phones, MP3 players, digital cameras, TIVO, etc. And I have been using Intelligolf for a number of years also, so you get an idea of my background... Anywho...

Here are my opinions on ugolf after 1 round:

1. The sync/course download process is nerve wracking, good thing you dont' need to do that every day! I have cable modem with > 10 Mb/s download speeds, but it still took almost 30 minutes to do my first sync, using 4 courses. I was hoping others who had reported slower speeds were perhaps using slower network connections. The files are actually not terribly large, should download in seconds, not minutes, so not sure what takes so much time. Maybe they'll fix that...

2. The flyover video for the course I played today was a bit faded and difficult to read in intense late morning/early afternoon sunlight here in San Diego. I could see the numbers ok, but it was really hard to get a sense of the layout of the hole. It seemed the image was taken at a time of year when the fairway was pretty brown, so the fairway and rough blended together. And in intense sunlight the image was a bit bland. and the screen is awfully small. But it at least gave me a basic idea of what the hole was about, including where all the trouble is. Another nit is that it doesn't help you get any sense of slope, i.e. where there are hills on the hole. In San Diego, most courses have interesting elevation changes, and the satellite images of course aren't capable of showing any of that. Not sure how to solve that one...

3. I'm not crazy about how the mark feature works, will have to play with this some more. It looks like you get only one chance to measure distance with the mark feature, i.e. you push the button to mark start and then push button again to mark end. I couldn't figure out how to, say, use the mark feature to measure the tee shot distance to both my ball and my playing partner's (I guess they want my buddy to buy his own uPro if he wants shot distance measurement!). I like to track distances of all my shots (using Intelligolf), so this feature was a "must have" for me.

4. I wish it had Intelligolf features, i.e shot tracking and score keeping. I have been tracking a number of statistics of my golf game the past few years, using Intelligolf on a PDA. Now I jot down notes on a spare scorecard, including for each shot the club used, the distance the shot went, fairways hit, GIR, etc. So all the uPro does for this is supply the shot distance, which is helpful, but it's tedious having to write it all down, when the uPro could be tracking all that for me, and then hand-entering it into Intelligolf when I get home. I've heard they're working on support for scorekeeping and shot tracking, guess we'll see how that goes, I imagine it would significantly complicate the user interface, so am sure they're taking some time to figure all that out.

5. Need to get used to the Pro Mode, found myself mostly using Basic Mode, including hazard view and green view. The Pro Mode images were difficult to interpret at times, but I think I'll just need to get used to it. I like how in Pro Mode it can quickly switch between 3 different views. Need to get used to the pan/zoom, felt a bit self-conscious slowing down my group to play around with that stuff. Didn't like the fact that you can't use Mark or advance to next hole with one button push when in Pro mode.

That's pretty much it for now, will post in future if I gain further insights or have anything to share.

[mruseless]

2. The flyover video for the course I played today was a bit faded and difficult to read in intense late morning/early afternoon sunlight here in San Diego. I could see the numbers ok, but it was really hard to get a sense of the layout of the hole. It seemed the image was taken at a time of year when the fairway was pretty brown, so the fairway and rough blended together. And in intense sunlight the image was a bit bland. and the screen is awfully small. But it at least gave me a basic idea of what the hole was about, including where all the trouble is. Another nit is that it doesn't help you get any sense of slope, i.e. where there are hills on the hole. In San Diego, most courses have interesting elevation changes, and the satellite images of course aren't capable of showing any of that. Not sure how to solve that one...

Yup, I agree with you here. I stopped using the flyover after the first couple rounds. Kind of nice, but more eye candy than anything.

3. I'm not crazy about how the mark feature works, will have to play with this some more. It looks like you get only one chance to measure distance with the mark feature, i.e. you push the button to mark start and then push button again to mark end. I couldn't figure out how to, say, use the mark feature to measure the tee shot distance to both my ball and my playing partner's (I guess they want my buddy to buy his own uPro if he wants shot distance measurement!). I like to track distances of all my shots (using Intelligolf), so this feature was a "must have" for me.

This is another area that I think SkyCaddie does better. When you hit "mark" on a SC, it gives you a running total of the distance from your mark. This could be handy for finding a ball too. For example, if I know I hit a 3-wood 230 yards, I can start looking around at that distance. Perhaps I'll email this suggestion to uPro.

4. I wish it had Intelligolf features, i.e shot tracking and score keeping. I have been tracking a number of statistics of my golf game the past few years, using Intelligolf on a PDA. Now I jot down notes on a spare scorecard, including for each shot the club used, the distance the shot went, fairways hit, GIR, etc. So all the uPro does for this is supply the shot distance, which is helpful, but it's tedious having to write it all down, when the uPro could be tracking all that for me, and then hand-entering it into Intelligolf when I get home. I've heard they're working on support for scorekeeping and shot tracking, guess we'll see how that goes, I imagine it would significantly complicate the user interface, so am sure they're taking some time to figure all that out.

The web site says this add-on feature is supposed to be out later this year. But I'm not holding my breath. I also tend to run a little paranoid with electronic scorekeeping. I don't want the device to hang or crash and lose my data. I'll probably stick with a paper scorecard.

5. Need to get used to the Pro Mode, found myself mostly using Basic Mode, including hazard view and green view. The Pro Mode images were difficult to interpret at times, but I think I'll just need to get used to it. I like how in Pro Mode it can quickly switch between 3 different views. Need to get used to the pan/zoom, felt a bit self-conscious slowing down my group to play around with that stuff. Didn't like the fact that you can't use Mark or advance to next hole with one button push when in Pro mode.

After the first few rounds I got a lot faster at using the device, and also at not always needing to look at it! (overcoming the gadget factor).

I also agree that it would be nice to be able to switch holes while in pro mode. E

[bobbyb]

I finally broke down and went to see the uPro in person at my local golf shop and was really impressed. Based on this and the reviews (thanks again Mr.Useless) I deciced to buy one and take it out this weekend and had a great time with it. Having all of the distances on the actual images, updating as you move is a big deal and I found it extremely useful out on the course.

Additional initial thoughts:

- Customer support is the best I have ever interacted with. Take this as a preliminary report as I have only had the product for four days. However, I have called 3-4 times now to ask all kinds of questions. I'm sure that some of these questions could have been answered by their website or product manual. Not only have they answered my questions but really assisted me in getting to know the product and how best to use it. I have never seen anything like this before.

- Accuracy was great. I went out on Saturday and the distances appeared to be correct with everything that I could compare with. Talking to one of the customer support guys later on Saturday he gave me a simple and what should have been obvious way to check the accuracy on the course using the pro view. I went back to the course and tried this out on Sunday and was really impressed.

- Course downloads are slower than I would like. This is not a big issue for me as I don't anticipate adding new courses every day but something to be noted.

- Shot measuring function (noted in this thread) does not give a running distance. This is not as useful without this.

- Battery life seemed good. I finished the round and had greater than 50% left on the battery.

- The ability to measure to anywhere on the image is extremely useful.

- I am not a fan of the "basic mode". This is the same as all the other units on the market and I am not sure that they need it. I will be using the pro view exclusively. It doesn't hurt that they give you this for free but I don't understand the need for it.

- Hole did not automatically change for me on two holes during the round.

I followed up with one of their customer support guys again yesterday and asked about some of the issues that I noted here. Specifically, the hole change issue that I encountered and the shot measuring feature. Refreshingly, the young man (whose name I won't mention in case his boss is monitoring) stated that he was aware of these two issues and agreed with the assessment. He mentioned that they will be releasing a software upgrade to all users in the next couple of weeks that resolves these two issues as well as others and adds "other" features. He would not go into any more details as he said there will be an official announcement.

Overall, I am very happy with the purchase. I have had a great time using the product but I am really impressed with the support. I truly hope that this continues with the course availability. They have promised me that a course that I need for Thursday will be available at the latest Wednesday so I am hoping that they will continue to be responsive and I will be able to test it out on the course again this week.

Thank you again to everyone who has been providing reviews and comments. It really helped me with the decision.

[kfowler]

So after two rounds, here's my take.

What I liked
1.) The flyover in Pro Mode is certainly eye candy but I found it very useful. I like to play different courses so it certainly comes in handy. Especially when you're trying to measure to a specific spot. It's nice when you see a tree that you can identify on the flyover.
2.) It's very simple to use. Few buttons and fairly intuitive. I would even bet my dad could use it.
3.) Seems to be very accurate. From a maker, most I ever saw it off was 2 yards. Assuming the marker is right, I can live with that.
4.) It's very light and small. I don't like items in my pocket but had no trouble getting used to carrying it. I was a little paranoid about losing it so I didn't want to just keep it in the cart.
5.) Battery life seems to be pretty good. I was guess 2.5 rounds on each charge.
6.) The screen is really easy to see in bright sunlight. The overhead and flyover shots become a little more difficult if it's really bright but still visible.
7.) I really liked the hazard feature. It was easy to read. I did notice some discrepancies here as far as yardage to carry hazard.
8.) When in sleep mode, it awakes very quickly to give you a reading.

What I didn't like/Concerns
1.) As mentioned above the sync takes way too long and you can't get rid of the notice on your screen until finished. However, you really don't have to do this too often so it's not too bad.
2.) Mine has locked up on me twice. Once while goofing around in preview mode at home and once when I was about to start a round. Never happened during a round.
3.) I'm a little concerned about durability. Especially the screen. I did order the protective cover which should be in later this week.
4.) All my local courses are mapped but there are many in states like Alabama that are not. This should certainly improve in time.
5.) As mentioned about, it would be nice to run a continuous mark.
6.) It would be nice if it could charge through your computer's USB port.
7.) I am concerned about the longevity of the company. It's certainly new and you could be SOL if it folds. However I guess you have the risk with anything.

Suggestions
1.) It would be nice to be able to map your own course or at least get distances if you're hitting in a field.
2.) It's equipped with voice recognition which has lots of potential. Key will be good execution.
3.) Keeping score and stats would be really huge.
4.) Club suggestion would be kind of cool. Say at 150 yds it suggests an iron according to your settings. kind of like you're own personal caddy.

Overall I really really like it. It was so nice to not have to hunt for markers. Very quick and easy. One other suggestion would be to make a sticker with your name, address and phone number on it and stick it on the back.

[mruseless]

6.) It would be nice if it could charge through your computer's USB port.

I charge mine through a USB port. Yours won't? Could be defective, or perhaps a non-standard USB port?

[kfowler]

I charge mine through a USB port. Yours won't? Could be defective, or perhaps a non-standard USB port?

You know it may actually do it. Does your screen light up when you plug it into your computer like it does when using the wall charger? I just didn't think it was charging when it was plugged in.

[mruseless]

You know it may actually do it. Does your screen light up when you plug it into your computer like it does when using the wall charger? I just didn't think it was charging when it was plugged in.

If you plug it into a USB port with the power turned on, the screen lights up and it tries to connect to the website (I assume it charges too). But if you plug it in with the power turned off, it will charge from USB. The red charging light will come on, and when its finished charging the light will blink.

[Guest]

I went to my local golf shop yesterday and my trusted sales rep indicated that they have had 7 returns due to manufacturing issues out of the 24 that they have sold. That is an alarming rate. I have not yet made a purchase of a GPS because I love the visuals of the upro but have been concerned that they are such a new company. Now that I know that they have poor build quality I am even less inclined. On the other hand do any of you know where I can buy this unit and purchase an extended warranty?

[Guest]

I purchased one of these and really love it.

The flyover's are for the most part useless, especially if you've played the course before. Even on a course I only played once, I turned the feature off halfway through the round because you have to wait for it to complete to get yardage off the T.

Based on info from this forum, I went ahead and disabled the hole advance feature, that being said, it has locked up twice. However, once restarted, it worked all round.

Everyone is different, but I found I spent a lot of time in the pro mode. With yardages to every concievable spot on the course, it comes in handy. The Basic works great too, however, I found that it was just as easy to use the pro mode to locate distances to hazards, then using the hazard mode. Though it will automaticly cycle to that particular hazard in pro mode if you click on it.

I also like the measure feature to calculate lay ups.

All in all a great purchase. It's about the size and weight of an Ipod. I played with a buddy that has a skycaddie, we found that the yardages on the Upro were more accurate, and it contained yardages to hole features that the skycaddie just did not, like the back side of a greenside bunker, which came in handy when hitting wedge shots. By mid round, he had put his skycaddie away and we were using only the Upro.

Customer service is great, I called once to test it out, and you get a live person in no time flat. The Home course guarentee also works, I requested a course in my area that I play frequently, but was not yet mapped, 3 days later, it was available.

All in all I'd give it a 9 out of 10.

[Smallville]

I went to my local golf shop yesterday and my trusted sales rep indicated that they have had

I don't know anything about this GPS unit other than what I have read in this thread. But according to the statistics you mention in your post, wouldn't it be more logical to spend the extra money you would spend on an extended warranty (which may or may not have reliability issues) on a more expensive, higher name recognition product (i.e. Skycaddie)? Or, save the money and spend less on a less expensive, higher name recognition product (i.e., GolfLogix). I never purchase an extended warranty personally, either they are free money to the seller or you are going to have nothing but trouble. Better to buy a product that has a longer warranty (indicating confidence in the product).

[mruseless]

I went to my local golf shop yesterday and my trusted sales rep indicated that they have had 7 returns due to manufacturing issues out of the 24 that they have sold. That is an alarming rate. I have not yet made a purchase of a GPS because I love the visuals of the upro but have been concerned that they are such a new company. Now that I know that they have poor build quality I am even less inclined. On the other hand do any of you know where I can buy this unit and purchase an extended warranty?

I used to work in retail. In my experience, people bring things back for all sorts of reasons. Some don't like it, some found it cheaper elsewhere, and some just don't read the manual and take it back because "it doesn't work".

I've found that about 90% of high-tech returns that are supposedly "defective" are in fact just fine and either the user didn't understand how to operate the device, or they were using that as an excuse so they wouldn't be questioned. Its certainly possible that 7 have come back, but I doubt that all 7 were truly defective. And that's just one person's recollection. I think it is a bit hasty to talk to one person and conclude there is a quality control problem.

Based on info from this forum, I went ahead and disabled the hole advance feature, that being said, it has locked up twice. However, once restarted, it worked all round.

I found that one time I thought the device had locked up, but it was actually just stalled doing something (maybe re-acquiring a satellite signal, not sure). After about 15 seconds, the device started working again.

[mruseless]

Better to buy a product that has a longer warranty (indicating confidence in the product).

Also worth noting that SkyCaddie has a 90 day warranty and uPro has a 6 month warranty.

[Guest]

Has anyone heard of an extended warranty for this unit?

[mruseless]

Has anyone heard of an extended warranty for this unit?

You might want to check with your credit card company. I use a Visa, and you can purchase extended warranty coverage for any electronics through them.

I also found this: http://www.the-gps-place.com/index.a...ROD&ProdID;=156

[Smallville]

Also worth noting that SkyCaddie has a 90 day warranty and uPro has a 6 month warranty.

Hmmmmm telling story there. I didn't know that - - - the GolfLogix has a one-year warranty.

And by the way, and I hope you didn't think I was, I wasn't knocking the uPro, I was just trying to explain extended warranties to Gil. I have no opinion of this product other than what I read in the thread. Also, I saw you post just before I posted this, and don't major credit cards double the factory warranty? I know it did on my big TV.