Laser Rangefinder Questions

[follyforhire]

There have been several threads about these, but I can't seem to find any of them.

I have a couple of specific questions for folks who use or have tried any of the Bushnell models.

1) How does the Pinseeker feature function, and is it worth it?

2) There was some discussion in the earlier threads about the magnification difference between the Bushnell Medalist and 1500 TE models. The Medalist seems to have a magnification power of 5x while the 1500 TE boasts 7x, an obvious advantage for the latter possibly worth the $100 retail price difference. The question is, has anybody used the Yardage Pro model (with magnification of 6x)? It doesn't have the Pinseeker function, but retails for significantly less than both the Medalist and 1500 TE (around $240 at Wal-Mart).

I do not mean to exclude posts about these models (or any others) in general. As I am looking to purchase on of these, any thoughts are welcome and appreciated. Thanks.

[WhiteSoxFan]

Did you really look that hard? These were found by searching "rangefinder"

http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthr...ht=rangefinder
http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthr...ht=rangefinder
http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthr...ht=rangefinder
http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthr...ht=rangefinder
http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthr...ht=rangefinder
http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthr...ht=rangefinder
http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthr...ht=rangefinder

[follyforhire]

Umm... Well, yes, I did. I read every topic on all sixteen viewable thread pages in the equipment category because...

I had no idea I could initiate a search on the forum! I've often thought a search tool would be very useful!

Seriously, I usually navigate the site without logging in, then I log in to post, so I've never even seen the search tab. Thanks for the links.

[shortgame85]

There have been several threads about these, but I can't seem to find any of them.

I know you've been directed to other posts, some in which I have participated. To cut to the chase: I have the Pinseeker 1500 TE. The one with slope calculation costs more and is not legal for use in tournaments. I use the Pinseeker in every round I play, on every course I play. The only disadvantage to it compared to the gps style devices is that it can be effective only with a clear sightline to the target. The advantages include the fact that one need not buy subscriptions or updates, etc., as one must for the Skycaddies and their ilk ( NOT that there's anything

wrong with the Skycaddies - just a bit different ). For my taste, the Pinseeker 1500 is a superb and very useful device that takes the guesswork out of determining distance on the course in most situations. I've had mine about a year and it works flawlessly.

[WhiteSoxFan]

Hey folly, sorry about being a jerk with my initial response. I was feeling a little surly when I got home from work yesterday. Hopefully you get some feedback on the yardage pro model, and hopefully those links got you some good info. as well.

[follyforhire]

Hey folly, sorry about being a jerk with my initial response. I was feeling a little surly when I got home from work yesterday. Hopefully you get some feedback on the yardage pro model, and hopefully those links got you some good info. as well.

Absolutely no problem whatsoever, WhiteSoxFan. Post-workday surliness is certainly an understandable mood, and I really didn't think you were being much of a jerk. I was, quite frankly, really embarrassed that I didn't know about the search function.

And I did find a great deal of information on the threads you linked. Thanks, again, for that.

[beung]

The pinseeker function works like this:

It's hard to hold your hand steady enough to keep the lazer right on whatever you want to get the distance for. So the little circle in the viewfinder is about the area the rangefinder "scans", it probably a little bigger then just the circle but you get the idea. After the "scan" it tells you the distance to whatever it picks up as the closest distance to you since you are not going to aim at the flag and want the distance to something behind it. That is why you need clear sight to your target, if you have an idea of how far your target is then if the scope gives you a distance that doesn't sound right, changes are it picked something else up.

I think extra zoom isn't worth it, if you need anything more then like 5X zoom to see then thats something you shouldn't really need the distance for in golf. Do you really care that the front lip of the greenside bunker is 450yrds?

If you play alot of different courses I think the lazer rangefinder is the way to go. If you are a member and you play 90% of you rounds at your home course then the GPS might be the way to go but I don't see it having much advantage over the lazer range finder. Besides, if you play 90% of your rounds on the same course you probably don't really need either after a while, it's not like they move trees, bunkers or anything like that on a daily basis.

[DaveLeeNC]

There have been several threads about these, but I can't seem to find any of them.

I've never used the Bushnell 1500 models but do have extensive experience with the Bushnell Medalist and the Nikon 500G Lasercaddy. The Nikon is a hands down winner from every angle, IMHO.

dave

[Boosty16]

The sg5 is awesome. I tried both the gps and rangefinder but the gps blows them out of the water. The sg5 shows distance to bunkers, creeks, mounds. It shows lay up distance, etc. You better have a steady hand with a range finder too. Rangefinders doesnt show the distance to front, center and back of greens. GPS does!!!

My sg5 is absoluty the best investment in my bag today!!!