[beanagee1]

Hello all,

I generally do not need a GPS device for golf given that I play over 95% of 60-70 rounds at just one club. When I do travel, I can see the usefulness of a GPS device. The best one that I have seen so far is Callaway uPro. It seems like a waste and a hassle to carry another device given that I have a perfectly capable GPS device, my Android based phone (Motorola Atrix).

There are number of software based apps but I have not found any that is nearly as good as the uPro.

When I travel for golf it is often in areas that require data roaming charges (U.S. or Europe) so it would be good to have an app that allowed downloading of course maps prior to leaving for the destination.

I have poked around the Internet but I have not found anything suitable. Do you know of any apps that have great graphics (not just google satellite view), and store data on the phone?

Thanks.

PS: do not buy the current version of uPro that is now on sale for $228 at Golftown. A newer touch screen version is coming out in May and it priced at $199.

 

[rfarinas]

I'm looking for the same thing myself.

 

[Coop]

I've just installed Golfscape that uses your camera and augmented reality for the rangefinder, I haven't tried it yet but it looks really cool. It also integrate's with Golfshot GPS if you have it installed.

 

[Daveysew]

Options

I've got Green Finder Plus on my iPhone, works pretty good. You can download the course data beforehand and then you don't get data charges. You will go through your battery pretty quickly though. I typically turn it off as I walk to hit my next shot and when I reach the green, turn it on as I leave the green or any nearing my approach shot. Can be slow aquirring GPS signal. I also have a Skycaddie SG5 that works very well. Fast to access GPS signal, also keeps scores and stats for you in round and can log said information for you.

SkyCaddie is better, no doubt, but it is pay to play. Greenfinder Plus a good (but not as good) lower cost option.

 

[pappcam]

I would think that turning off your GPS and turning it back on before every shot would use more battery power searching for satellites then just leaving it running once it's going and has acquired GPS.

I had Greenfinder on a couple of BB's and never ran out of juice on the course. Just make sure it's fully charged and you should be good to go.

 

[beanagee1]

UPRO MX review

I bought the UPRO MX before I left for my trip to Scotland. I have been to Scotland before using a caddy for each course, so this time I wanted to carry my own bag and get the help of some technology instead.

Th unit looks great. The screen is bright and easy to read. But, the pro function did not work because the UPRO MX site was not up and running. The Pro function is suppose to deliver fly-overs to give you the sense of the hole. Without the pro functionality, it was not much better than getting distance to the green from any sprinkler head. It was useful if I was way off the fairway, which happened often, but other than that it was not very useful.

It takes up to 15 minutes to lock onto a satellite, so I needed to turn the thing on before tee off time. It had all of the course except the two year old course called St. Andrews Castle course (one of the best courses in the area next to Kingsbarn.) Once it locked on to a satellite, the yardage update was quick, less than 4 seconds.

The battery will not last more than about 20 holes. One day, after charging it overnight, I discovered that the battery was dead and it never did charge. The unit indicated that it was 100% charged but it would not turn on. Something wacky going on with the software.

The screen will freeze every now and then and it will come back after a minute a so.

Overall, the unit should have stayed in beta testing for a few more months. I returned the unit for a full refund.

I do not want to be fussing with technology while golfing. I want to take a quick peek and look at the yardage. On the tee, I may want to study the layout to determine the layout for the hole and figure out a strategy. This unit has laudable objectives but it just does not deliver.