Customer Reviews

Bushnell Yardage Pro Golf GPS Unit Model 368100

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

6/26/09 update: After using the device for 3 rounds, the battery would no longer hold a charge long enough to get thru a full round. It quit on the 3rd hole twice in a row. It's possible that I overcharged the device. There is no indication of when the device is fully charged so it's a guessing game. But it should have overcharge protection. I sent the device back to Bushnell with $10 to cover the cost of shipping the repaired device or a replacement back to me. I did receive a postcard from Bushnell acknowledging receipt approximately two weeks after mailing it providing a service number and web site for checking repair status which does not exist on the Bushnell web site. The postcard also said it would take an addtional 3 to 4 weeks for the repair/replacement to be made. At this point, I'm starting to think I wasted the purchase price because even if I do get a replacement, there's no reason to believe it will be any better than the first unit. And I am especially disappointed with Bushnell. Their customer services is very poor and there are significant disconnects between their web site and their communications.
Original review:
I can see why folks aren't happy with this product. Bushnell may be great with optics but their software capabilities leave a lot to be desired. It took me more than 2 hours to figure out how to install the software and get it working after I had downloaded it from the Bushnell web site. The download gives you a .zip file and then it's all trial and error from there. The documentation that comes with the product isn't even close. And the software for down-loading golf course data still doesn't work the way it should on my PC. In fact I develop software for a living and I've never seen anything like this. To launch the software, I have to go into Windows Explorer and double-click on the .exe file there. I tried to set up a shortcut but it won't launch the software even though I copied the application path from Windows Explorer. Forget the icon the installation is supposed to create. Darndest thing I have ever seen. The good news is that once you have the application running, it is pretty easy to figure out how it works. And once you've paid the $35 one year membership fee you can download as many courses as will fit on your hard drive. Once they are on your HD, you can "Send" them to your GPS fairly easily and quickly. The documentation says the GPS holds up to 10 courses. That's true but there may be some problems getting to 10. For some reason I had to delete a course to get past 6 and then I added it back. I've played one round with the device so far and it worked flawlessly. It's a bit of a pain to have to manually advance to the next hole but you can do that at any time. I found myself doing it when I wanted to get the yardage to the green. This product does not possess all the bells and whistles of the more expensive units but for[..], it gives me what I need at this point. I highly recommend that you download as many courses as you could possibly play during the one year membership. I don't plan to renew my membership but you never know. It's hard to know what courses you could play. I do not know if the courses can be sent to other PCs. Good luck.

I'll add my $0.02 so that hopefully someone else will benefit. I bought this unit 2nd hand for about $70. Whoever owned it before had several courses set up and when I tried to download the software and add my own courses my computer would not recognize the unit. After several attempts, I called Bushnell customer service and they immediately said that the unit will not work on a computer running Windows Vista 64 bit. Seems like they should make that clear from the beginning. I moved to my wife's laptop running Windows XP and called customer service back and they got me up and running in about 10 minutes. I've used the unit probably about 5-6 times so far with only one issue. The course we play regularly it works great, but when I took to a new course the yardage seemed to be off so I quit using it after the first 2 holes. Not sure what the problem was. But I've used it 2 times since and everything has been fine. The unit interface could use some improvement but it's fairly easy to use once you get used to it. It's small enough that I can drop it in one of my leg pockets on my cargo shorts and not have it bother me when I swing. For the price I paid, it's worth it. However I don't think it's worth full price. Also you'll need to buy a $30 subscription to igolf.com to download courses after the initial trial.

Thinking Bushnell's reputation would make it a sound investment I bought one. After nearly 14 hours, including about 7 hours on the phone with Bushnell and iGolf, we finally got what seemed like the right software downloaded and then we all concluded the unit I purchased must be defective. Even the experts at Bushnell and iGolf had a difficult time trying to figure out what was the next 'click'. In my view Bushnell was not ready to go to market but did so anyways. You can't use what doesn't work.

This device does not work. Bought it for my Dad and boy was sorry I did.
Everything downloaded fine, but there is some issue with the software. Won't display anything but 999. I know the unit was working, because the drive distance counted down, but from 999. I know the GPS was working, just not reading the course yardage. We tried it at two different courses.
DO NOT BUY ONE OF THESE UNITS UNTIL THEY GET THEM WORKING!!!!

We have purchased two of these units in the last 3 months. The first one kept cutting out and having to be reset (annoying on the course) so we called the manufacturer and sent it back to be repaired or replaced. We haven't received it back yet, so don't know how that will go.

We thought this was one defective unit and my husband bought me one for Christmas. This one also cuts off and can't seem to find a GPS signal reliably. This is on the same course that the first one had no trouble finding a signal. I walked the entire course and never got a signal. In fact, the unit stopped trying to find the GPS (an icon flashes when it's looking and is solid when it's not). This was a waste. This time we're returning it for a refund and not messing around with it.

Update: Well after having the unit for 3 months, Bushnell said no refund, but they sent a new unit. We got it yesterday and out of the box it didn't work properly. Would not access a course we downloaded (paid membership, not trial). Tried troubleshooting it with no success. Supposedly this only happens if you're on a trial or have more than 10 courses loaded - we don't - just 2. This really was a waste of money.

I've been using a Bushnell yardage Pro for a full year now with no problems.
Had no trouble setting up or using it. Gives accurate yardage, never shuts down, powers down automatically after 30 minutes. I only have four courses loaded, and it works great on all four.
Bought mine on QVC for $70.00

The set up directions were simple enough but the unit was apparently defective and would not respond. I returned it.

I have had a Yardage Pro for over a year and have had several problems. #1 the rubber USB port cover is poorly designed since it's attachment point is very thin and runs under the edge of the battery cover. You must constantly remove the battery cover to unplug & replug the battery to soft reset the unit after it regularly freezes up. Soon the USB cover tears off leaving the port open to rain, water, ....

Most all of the courses mapping is off significantly any where from 10-15 yards, this can be longer shorter and some holes are mapped with the center of the green 10-15 yards right or left of actual. Have had more than 1 course have holes that showed no yardage to freont and/or back of the hole---just blank. I remapped my regular course but it's no good if you play a course once.

My wife uses the Bushnell Neo Golf GPS and it's mapping is even worse.

Contacted Bushnell to see about getting replacement USB port cover. Lady was very rude and obnoxious, I finally hung up after telling her I was in a hurry I needed to go get a Golf Buddy GPS. NO MORE BUSHNELL FOR ME.

This was just a waste of money. Just like most of the reviewers of this product I experienced the same problem ie unit turns on and off by itself, would freeze, would not pick up satellite signal just a headache. I returned the unit to Bushnell 2 weeks ago but no acknowledgment of receipt or status of repair.

I've been considering purchasing a GPS yardage finder for a while and finally decided on this unit. The set-up was a huge pain...it took me almost 2 hours. The screens that come up don't exactly match what you see in the manual illustrations. And the instruction manual leaves a lot to be desired, in my opinion. Once I completed the set-up, the actual course download was simple and fast. I downloaded the one free course that you're allowed as a trial and took the yardage pro to the golf course. Part way through the round, it locked up. None of the keys would work and the display was locked on the last yardage. When I got home, I played around with it and got it turned off. I then joined I.Golf which is required to get golf course data and loaded two courses onto the device. After making sure the battery was charged and the two course were indeed on the unit, I took it to the course again. When I turned it on at the course, the data for both courses was gone and the clock had reset to GMT. The display started flickering and then went blank. As I tried to turn it off and on, all I got was a vertical line through the display. At that point, I was ready to put it on a tee and see how far I could pound it down the fairway. I guess now I have to deal with Bushnell under the warranty, and according to the other reviews I see here, it's going to be another headache. My advice is to buy a different brand of GPS.