Why is anyone sticking with a subscription based GPS?

[chriskzoo]

I've been scouting around and am finally ready to bite the bullet on a GPS but I can't fathom why anyone would pay for the Golf Logix or SkyCaddie and their $30-60 a year subscriptions when there are things like the uPro (and uPro Go) and the Garmins out there.

Is there something I'm missing? I'm tending toward the uPro or uPro Go.

[kpaulhus]

This is why I purchased the uPro. Plus, at the time, they had the free gift, so I got a free wedge.

[muzz]

I got a Golf Guru for the same reason, no thanks to subscriptions, golf costs more than enough already.

[Jcp907]

I've been scouting around and am finally ready to bite the bullet on a GPS but I can't fathom why anyone would pay for the Golf Logix or SkyCaddie and their $30-60 a year subscriptions when there are things like the uPro (and uPro Go) and the Garmins out there.

A buddy gave me a Skycaddie 2.5 Lite. The subscription runs out in April and I am contemplating renewing and upgrading it. I guess that I ought to start researching the cost of that, and get a look at the Upro.

[lhshurdl3r]

I've got a GPS on my iPhone that was only $3.99 and uses Google Maps. Pretty accurate as well.

[dgny06]

I have a uPro and love it. Just be sure to buy the courses in bulk. A single course will run you about $10, but the price comes down if you buy a bunch of credits at a time. It also comes with credits for one course.

[mrt10x]

Because they are more accurate. I had a skycaddie.. got rid of it for a Golf Buddy,,, all courses already loaded. I also use a Bushnell 1600 laser. In my foursome one day we had my golf buddy, a sky caddie, a garmin, and a uPro, plus my laser. The only GPS unit that was consistently within a yard or two of the laser was the sky caddie. The other units would be as much as 10 yards off from the laser and there were sometimes 15 yard gaps between the different GPS units. I wont go back to the sky caddie because I only use the GPS for quick estimates on shots that dont have to be exact, or when I am behind a tree line or other obstacle that blocks the laser,, but I have no doubt that the sky caddie with their "we walk every course" method, is the most accurate GPS unit out there.

[mdl]

I don't think it's true that one GPS unit can be more or less accurate than any other. I've heard this argument with iPhones vs. golf specific GPS's, or like here comparing two golf GPS's. GPS is GPS. They all use the same satellite system and algorithm for determining position. The only possible difference is if one device is using AGPS (assisted GPS), where it's using ground based GPS devices (like on cell towers) to assist the satellite GPS. If two golf GPS devices are both using or both not using AGPS, then any claim that one is more accurate than another is just marketing hogwash.

[Deryck Griffith]

I have been contemplating the Golf Logix app for my BlackBerry. Has anyone used this and if so, how good is it?

[msd3075]

I don't think it's true that one GPS unit can be more or less accurate than any other. I've heard this argument with iPhones vs. golf specific GPS's, or like here comparing two golf GPS's. GPS is GPS. They all use the same satellite system and algorithm for determining position. The only possible difference is if one device is using AGPS (assisted GPS), where it's using ground based GPS devices (like on cell towers) to assist the satellite GPS. If two golf GPS devices are both using or both not using AGPS, then any claim that one is more accurate than another is just marketing hogwash.

Not true at all.

It doesn't have anything to do with the satellite but instead the points the GPS units are using as reference. On both a map-based GPS unit and a "walk-the-course" GPS unit, the satelite reads your position the same way. The difference is in the reference points it uses to determine your distance. On a map-based unit, the position you are measuring to is picked out on a Google-like map; on a unit like the SkyCaddie, you are measuring to a point that was captured using the same gathering-method you are using. Think about it this way. Go out to the course and use a GPS unit to get the coordinates standing on a spot you can pick out on Google Maps (a small tree, the edge of a bunker, etc.). Now go figure out the coordinates that Google Maps gives you if you pick that same tree/bunker/whatever. Do they match up perfectly? Is it off by 10-15 yards? With a SkyCaddie-like unit, you take these inaccuracies completely out of the equation and make it to where the only varience will be the error within the satellite readings (only a few yards at most).

[Ruckus]

I don't doubt that the SkyCaddie MAY be more accurate, but I still chose to get rid of mine after my first year was up. I just didn't like that I had to continue paying to use the courses I already downloaded. It just rubbed me the wrong way. Plus, with all the bills I need to pay already, I can do without one more. uPro is the way to go.

[chriskzoo]

Not true at all.

I see the logic but I've never seen a GPS that was off by that much unless it was just taking too long to pickup a reading. My buddy in my golf league has GolfShot and it's spot on.

[mrt10x]

I don't think it's true that one GPS unit can be more or less accurate than any other. I've heard this argument with iPhones vs. golf specific GPS's, or like here comparing two golf GPS's. GPS is GPS. They all use the same satellite system and algorithm for determining position. The only possible difference is if one device is using AGPS (assisted GPS), where it's using ground based GPS devices (like on cell towers) to assist the satellite GPS. If two golf GPS devices are both using or both not using AGPS, then any claim that one is more accurate than another is just marketing hogwash.

Unfortunately you are absolutely incorrect. Different companies use different algorithms, use different software to interpret where they are at. I have had plenty of experiences in the Marines standing in the middle of a desert, with two different GPS's telling me that they are 20-30 meters apart from each other. Now these are military grade GPS units that should be the best in the world,, ,with over 12 satellites being tracked simultaneously. Furthermore, you completely ignored the fact that in my foursome, a regular foursome that plays together every Sunday, we could stand in the exact same tee box and have one unit read 125 and another 135. Meanwhile my laser, which is spot on by definition, reads 130. Consistently the Sky Caddie was the closest to the laser. We never had the opportunity to check it against a smart phone GPS App. Like the other poster said.. I still gave my sky caddie to a buddy after a couple of years paying their silly subscription fees, but that doesnt mean it wasnt more accurate than my current unit.

[Fourputt]

I've been scouting around and am finally ready to bite the bullet on a GPS but I can't fathom why anyone would pay for the Golf Logix or SkyCaddie and their $30-60 a year subscriptions when there are things like the uPro (and uPro Go) and the Garmins out there.

Because the service is great. They review the courses in the data base annually and update them as needed, and they are very good about adding or editing courses when requested. $29.99 per year for unlimited course downloads is cheap for the quality of service I get from GolfLogix.

Then too why would I go out and buy a new GPS when I already have a perfectly good one? Most of those one's mentioned above weren't available or had very small course data bases available when I bought mine. Many of them still only have about 1/2 to 2/3 of the number of courses that I can get. The accuracy argument is a waste of time. They all tend to be equally accurate. My GolfLogix courses are mapped from satellite imagery, but it is no less accurate than a SkyCaddie mapped on the ground. I've matched readings many, many times with SkyCaddie users and we are usually no more than a yard or 2 different. The few times I've seen a larger error, the SkyCaddie has been off (verified by my laser), but not from the mapping. It's usually either a glitch in satellite reception, or due to a weak battery.

[patriot07]

Saying all GPS's are equal in accuracy is like saying all internal combustion engines get the same gas mileage or have the same horsepower. It's just not true.

That being said, you pay for the courses one way or another. The uPro is $400, and then you have to buy courses on top of that. Skycaddie has units in the $175-$200 range on up to $400, and then you pay $30 yearly for an unlimited number of courses. Several units come pre-loaded or have unlimited course downloads, but those units are generally more expensive than others in the same range feature-wise that use subscriptions or some other pay-later-for-courses method.

The only 2 units I have personal experience with are the skycaddie and the uPro. If you're rich, the uPro is pretty good. Not as consistently accurate within +/- 1 yard as the skycaddie, but you don't have the 10-15 yard variations that you get once in a blue moon with the skycaddie. I've heard the golf buddy is good, and I don't think you pay a subscription for them. But you can't map your own courses, which is an absolute deal-breaker for me.

[Aceboympk]

I bought a Golfguru GPS and love it. Non-subscription unit. Does what i need it to do and then some.

[Fourputt]

Skycaddie has units in the $175-$200 range on up to $400, and then you pay $30 yearly for an unlimited number of courses.

For $30 with SkyCaddie you only get courses in your home state. Add another $10 if you leave the state, and $20 more if you leave the country. GolfLogix gives you the world for the one base subscription.

[TD22057]

The error in the image based systems is map tie error. How do you tie the image of the course to the coordinate frame the GPS position is solved for in. Creating the course map by walking it with a GPS will always give you a smaller map tie error than overhead imagery. This also means that you might get very good agreement in between a sky-caddie and upro on one course and very poor agreement on another course.

I'm guessing for most places that the error is small enough that it's fine for golf (or people would be complaining left and right about those systems). That doesn't mean it's good everywhere though...