Sonocaddie Golf GPS Review

[drpino]

some of the maps available on the website are mapped according to satellite imagery and not manually mapped by individuals walking the course. this could be a source of the variances you're seeing between the markers, cart GPS and sonocaddie.

 

since the course is already mapped, it is very very simple and quick to correct any errors, by just editing the points already included in the downloaded map.

[3 Putts & A Snap Hook]

I've been trying decide on whether or not to go with a gps device or a rangefinder. After reading the reviews here I decided to go with the Sonocaddie. I was impressed with the size of the unit, the features and the fact that there's no subscription.

 

Just won an auction on ebay for £100 ($200) which I think was a good price. Looking forward to receiving it.

[lawrenceprop]

i purchased the sonnocaddie off ebay in July 2007. I downloaded the courses I play most frequently. I found that on most of the courses some of the holes would easily be off 10-15 yards. There was only one course that was spot on all day. The way that I tested the distances would be to stand at the front of each green and check the distance the sonocaddie states how far to front of green. This is where I saw significant differences. Furthermore, I attempted to change the distances and while is accepted the changes and asked me to save it. When I went back to my home course I was still seeing variances at 10-15 on holes I had previously edited. I called sonocaddie and they said to ship the unit to them so I am going to send and will update on the results.

[Solutions Etcetera]

I got to the course I turned the unit on and it could only find 1-2 satelites and no GPS was available.

 

...or I could keep it in my pocket.

You need to turn it on as soon as you get to the course as it takes a good ten minutes or more to get up to speed. And don't keep it in your pocket... that WILL affect its accuracy.

[nshon]

I've received my Sonocaddie from the UK and it seems the unit may be faulty. But I'll describe the 'nearly' major fault later.

 

I was prepared for the small size of the unit but I was still shocked by how small it really is. My unit came with LCD contrast set to -4 by default but a simple adjustment fixed that. I have it at -1 and even under bright sunlight visibility was not a problem. Gone round my club yesterday to mark the pre-entered points, more or less what Claus did so I can't comment on how the unit works under playing conditions. I'll also report back on accuracy since I have a Bushnell Medallist. Played with the unit for about 2-3 indoors hours and the round took at least 4.5 hours yesterday and the battery indicator is still full so battery life is very good.

 

Onto the 'nearly major but not enough to send it back' problem. It seems the unit will not turn itself back on without removing and replacing the batteries. I can repeat the problem if I use the 'Turn Off' icon on the menu instead of switching it off by holding onto the off button. I'll probably try to live with it as I'm in Malaysia and I can't be bothered to send it back for repair.

 

One MAJOR shortcoming with Sonocaddie is the uploading/downloading of courses. It's probably done with some clever ActiveX magic in IE6 and it is painfully slow. To get connected to the unit took a full 2-3 minutes and downloading one course took at least a minute. A standalone software to allow the user to backup/switch courses and enter points and scorecard would be much more friendlier.

[justhackin]

Nshon

 

I got my wife one for Christmas and have been testing it for accuracy before the 30 day return runs out. It is well within her needs checking it with the rangefinder. I also have the same power-on problem.

 

hackin

[drpino]

sounds like the power problem may be firmware issue. what version are you guys running (shows when first starting the unit)? i'm on 2.3 and don't have that issue but apparently 2.5 is the most recent.

[jacksonlui]

i was told the newer firmware is only for courses in the southern hemisphere by the guys at sonocaddie.

 

i didn't know keeping it in your pocket effects accuracy. does it calibrate itself when turning on and looks for a signal?

i usually play my first whole without it and let it find a satellite and then use it on the second hole, throughout this time i'm moving in my cart.

 

the clip fell apart the first day so i'm putting it in the cupholder.

i'm not sure how accurate it really is since it's using satellite images to map it.

i sometimes see discrepencies between sprinklers heads and the gps.

[nshon]

Nshon

 

I got my wife one for Christmas and have been testing it for accuracy before the 30 day return runs out. It is well within her needs checking it with the rangefinder. I also have the same power-on problem.

 

hackin

Hmm you didn't get yours from a UK seller on Ebay did you?

 

Claus - My unit is on verision 2.3

 

Jackson - I'm getting up to 12 satellites where I am but you'd definitely get better reception with a clear view to the sky. The more satellites it can triangulate from, the more accurate it is. Keeping it out of your pocket will help. You can do an experiment, put it in your pocket for 20 secs and take the unit out, the distance to various markers will change and settle as more satellites are found. The Sonocaddie is the 7th GPS equipment I have at home and it's not the fastest so I gather it's not using a Sirf III chipset.

[nshon]

One more little annoyance, not so much with the product but GPS based rangefinders in general is that my home course is made up of 3 different nines. There are therefore three different permutations to make up 18 holes A/B, A/C and B/C. To make up three 18 holes courses, I will have to mark each nine 3 times. The other option, which is what I'm doing is to treat them as three separate 9 hole course.

 

I'm already familiar to this problem because I used Intelligolf(GPS based) before the Sonocaddie and there was no way to clone marked points to another 9. Not major, but just annoying.

[3 Putts & A Snap Hook]

Nshon,

 

I've recently bought a Sonocaddie from the UK ebay seller (Archiegolf_0). It only arrived yesterday so I haven't used it on the course yet but i've had no problems with turning it on. You are holding the button down for long enough aren't you? I have to hold it down for about 2-3 seconds but then it comes on everytime.

 

So far i'm impressed with the unit. I took it outside to see what GPS reception I got and picked up 7 satellites fairly quickly on a cloudy day. Looking forward to testing on the course this weekend.

[nshon]

3 Putts & A Snap Hook - I was holding on for dear life. :bb2: Nothing except replacing the batteries worked.

[3 Putts & A Snap Hook]

Ok, thought it was worth a try. That's quite annoying then.

[nshon]

3 Putts & A Snap Hook - I was holding on for dear life. :bb2: Nothing except replacing the batteries worked.

 

I did buy the unit from archiegolf_0. You may receive a message from me through Ebay soon cause I'm asking the other buyers if they have the same problem.

[zephyrr]

What does everyone think about the Golflogix? A few people have said that the Sonocaddie does not always provide the correct yardage and can be 10-15 yrds off due to faulty mappings. If that is the case, then it beats the point of having a gps to start with.

 

I'm considering the Garmin Golflogix or the Sonocaddie, and I'm not really worried about the yearly subscription if I get good accuracy and peace of mind. The last thing I want on my mind while playing is whether my gps unit is off by 10 yrds!!

 

Some folks have mentioned that the Golflogix only provides 3 points per hole but they are working to include more. Any golflogix users?

[Charlie_Foxtrot]

What does everyone think about the Golflogix? A few people have said that the Sonocaddie does not always provide the correct yardage and can be 10-15 yrds off due to faulty mappings. If that is the case, then it beats the point of having a gps to start with.

 

I'm considering the Garmin Golflogix or the Sonocaddie, and I'm not really worried about the yearly subscription if I get good accuracy and peace of mind. The last thing I want on my mind while playing is whether my gps unit is off by 10 yrds!!

 

Some folks have mentioned that the Golflogix only provides 3 points per hole but they are working to include more. Any golflogix users?

 

It's a little dated now, but here is my questions to, and responses from GolfLogix.

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/index.php?s=...st&p=551479

 

For what it's worth, I've never found my Sonocaddie to be 10-15 yards off.

[justhackin]

nshon

 

I got mine from a dealer in the USA . I have used it four times and have had to remove the batteries twice. I think I am going to send it back after Christmas and get it looked at.

 

I have checked it several times with a Nikon rangefinder and it is close enough for me. Normally within 2-3 yards and neither my wife or myself are that accurate.

 

We have one hole that is a severe dog-leg right par 5. Several of the young, big hitting guys cut the corner and almost reach the green. It amazed me when I saw that the front edge of the green is only 327 yards from the box (over the woods though) but the hole plays 490 around the dog-leg. Since I started using the Sonocaddie I have figured out the best place to lay-up so that I can cut part of the wooded corner and eaisly reach the green in two......... just an example of interesting stuff you will find using one of these units.

 

Only once has mine shown yardages way off what I know they were and that only happened on one hole and was fine the next. I have lots of experience with other GPS units and this is just part using them.

 

hackin

[zephyrr]

I finally ordered a Sonocaddie off of ebay for 240.

 

I did email golflogix and they got back to me pretty fast, they said they are looking to add a 5 hazard per hole feature in it as well as distance of last shot. Until they do that, I'll just try and use the Sonocaddie.

 

I really dislike returning products, so hopefully it'll work out. I'll post a brief review after i've played a few rounds with it.

[nshon]

justhackin - Only one other buyer who bought from the seller on eBay replied to say his unit is fine so I guess we got unlucky. It's a lot harder for me to send my unit from my part if the world.

zephyrr - I wouldn't trust any GPS unless the course has been manually marked but maybe that's just me.

Had one round of golf after I marked my home course and I must say I'm a convert to GPS, it's just so much more convenient to walk up to the ball and have the distances available immediately. Also shattered once and for all everybody's claimed driving distances, lets just say everybody claims I have a faulty unit. My most frequent golf buddy claims he drives it 285 average. Turns out he averages 260 so there you go.

Didn't have time to check accuracy with my rangefinder because I was putting a good round together (by my standard anyway) but it's shouldn't be far off.

[zephyrr]

nshon - yes marking works well for a home course.

there are 200+ courses in my city and even if i played 20 new ones each yr, it would take me 10 yrs to play them all so marking is out of the question. this yr alone i've played 20 new ones... also we do 2-3 golfing trips/yr and end up playing 3-4 courses every trip.

i hope the gps works well it would be a great thing not to have to check yardages on courses where there aren't any gps carts. i shoot 3-4 shots better whenever i play with a gps cart.

[nshon]

Zephyrr - We obviously have different needs. We have less than 300 courses in the whole country! You're probably better off with SkyCaddie. Even then you're likely to find non-marked/poorly marked courses so laser rangefinder it is.

[SVonhof]

I want to thank everyone on here for the great information in this post.

First post on Golfwrx (I am not new to forums).

[phil769]

Does anyone have further information re: powering on problems? I just bought mine from Golfsmith and have the same issue.

 

I'm holding the power button for "dear life" and it won't turn on, UNTIL I rearrange the batteries.

 

Thanks.

[nshon]

My unit works like a charm now. All scratched up, but working great and without the power on problem. Nothings changed since my last post.