Customer Reviews

IZZO Swami 1500 Golf GPS Unit

5 star:		(86)
4 star:		(52)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

This device basically does one thing, and does it well: displays distance to the green. One of the four buttons, labeled FCB, cycles through the distance to Front, Center, and Back of the green, so it is possible to determine depth of the green as the difference between front and back. The other three buttons are on/off, next hole, and previous hole. There's no touchscreen, scorekeeping, weather reporting, etc.

This is my evaluation, based on limited (several rounds) experience:

Pros
+ Simple and effective
+ Accurate (within a couple yards of on-course markers and center of green)
+ Good battery life (at least 4 rounds per charge)
+ Includes AC/USB adapter (computer not required to charge the device)
+ Large LCD display; numbers easily seen at a glace
+ No issues with software, setup, course selection, downloading
+ Good value, considering base price and $10 annual data fee

Neutral
o Plastic belt clip - I wonder how long until it breaks
o Overall size is not small, though effective use of front surface space with the LCD and buttons.
o Ten (10) course capacity is reasonable

Cons
- A bit thick: almost 1" at widest point on the belt clip.
- USB/charging port is not protected. What will happen when it gets wet?
- It only goes in the belt clip in one direction. If worn on the belt, you look at the numbers and controls upside down. Or, if clipped upside down, there is the risk is falls off the belt or out of the clip.

[end of review 10/17/09]

Simply put, this is the best deal on an entry level golf gps out there. All it does is lock onto the satelites fast, recognize the course you are playing without any input from you, and tell you how far you are from the center, back or front of the green. It updates constantly as you move, and all you have to do is hit the ^ button after each hole, advancing it to the next one. The readout is large enough to see from quite a distance, so you can clip it to the cart when carts are allowed on the grass, but it's more than small enough to fit comfortably in your pocket. If you are good enough to need distances to all the hazzards on each hole, and are willing to pay at least twice as much, look elsewhere. Otherwise, this unit this close to $100 is the bomb. Be sure the wall charger is included, 'cause some vendors are lowballing this unit without telling you it isn't in the box. (Charging it with the computer cable included requires that your computer and their software is running, and this can be a bit of a bother sometimes.) Their annual course download fee is only 10$, not the 35$ everyone else wants. It only holds 10 courses at a time, but downloading others is a snap and they will map any course for you that they don't already have. (they had all the ones I wanted already mapped) The charge lasts 12 hours, but you do have to be responsible enough to turn it off when you are done, something Izzo might consider correcting in the future with an auto off feature.

The device is easy to use and does an excellent job for the money. It easily finds the course it is on and provides very accurate distance to the greens. One just has to remember to turn it off at the end of the day or the battery runs down.
An excellent value for the money.

The concept of the Swami 1500 is sound. A low cost GPS unit with inexpensive yearly fees. The product does function very well, locks on the course almost instantly and quickly changes from hole to hole by just pressing an arrow key. The downloads from the internet are quick and easy. To recharge, just plug it into a mini usb charger.

The problem is that the course information is not accurate. Some holes are pretty accurate but others are as far as 15 yards off the measurements to the center of the green. The front green and back green measures are just as inconsistent. I haven't tried any other courses but there may be courses with more accurate maps. For me on my home course this instrument is unusable. I tested three times for all eighteen holes using a laser on bright sunny days. The results were consistently bad.

The course map in the Swami calculates the center of some greens to be well OFF the green.

Bottom line, good product with terrible course maps...in end a waste of money.

Bought the SWAMI 1500 because all I really need is distance numbers; front, back and center. Three of my playing partners spent between $275 and $450 on GPS units to get the same yardage information. Granted the SWAMI doesn't post your scores, do statistical analysis of your game, have a color display, show the shape of the green and all the other trick stuff. Just give me the number so I can get the ball on the green.

For $125 it is well worth the money. There was a local course that was not mapped yet and within 6 days after requesting I received an email saying it was ready to go. Great service.

So I just got done using the Swami for a quick 9 hole run, because I was anxious to see how it would perform.
Upon completion of the round I am happy to say that I am VERY pleased. Not only did the Swami do as advertised,
I was able to shoot one of my lowest scores of the season so far with it. The yardages it gives are very accurate
and the best part in my opinion is that it doesn't take a huge amount of time to "settle" down when you get to your
ball to acquire a yardage, which helps with your pace of play. (Unlike the skycaddie which takes a fair amount of time to "settle" on a yardage.)

The $35 activation fee is definitely reasonable in my opinion as well, because it's really only a one-time fee if you choose. You
can download 10 courses that you play on a regular basis and then that's really all you need, unless you travel a lot.

All in all, I HIGHLY recommend this GPS to both amateurs and scratch golfers alike. It's probably the BEST GPS for the money on the market right now.

I had skycaddie and it was constantly having problems with the yardages. It was painful to have to pay for a subscription again for a product that worked about 50% of the time. So when I saw the SWAMI I went for it figuring it would cost about the same as a couple of years subscription to skycaddie. I play the same courses most of the time so I doubt I will need to do an update beyond the 10 I download. The device works great. Easy to read and front, center, back of the green is really all I need. I found the install easy once I had read others reviews and realized I needed to follow directions carefully. I think this is a great value.

I bought the unit and received it in a very timely manner. The unit was easy to program by downloading courses onto it from the website. There is a $10 annual fee for access the website in order add course downloads and software updates (cd and instructions included with the unit). You are not required to renew every year. The unit holds up to 10 coarses, which you can change if you desire or you can just have the 10 and never have need to access the website again. There were two courses I wanted that were not listed. I requested and they were mapped with 4-5 days. I was notified they were available and I added them to the unit without any trouble. I used my unit on a course that had GPS in the cart and the Swami unit read within 5 yards of the yardage noted on the cart's GPS system(for my game,that is close enough).I recommend this unit as an excellent value for the money.

Anywhere from 5-14 yards off. Played 45 holes with it.Only one time when I was standing on the front of the green did it actually register 0. Additionally, in mid round it would pick up another hole and show 635 yards to center, etc. I suppose for the money it's not a bad product, but when a product starts costing you strokes, I'm done with it.

Upon further review. Played on a different course and it was on the money. Same yardage as partner using Golf Logix big ticket. Called customer service and they are remapping my home course.

Received the product as advertised. Price was great at about 75 bucks around Christmas 2009, looks like they are around 90 as I write this review, definitely worth it. Out of the box, I followed the startup directions. Took me about 20 minutes total to download the map manager software and register the unit (a $10 fee) to download courses and to load 9 courses into my unit. 9 of the 10 courses I played this past summer were already in the system. I requested a course be mapped, and as advertised, I was notified that the map was ready in 5 days. Changing courses out is extremely fast as long as the course is mapped.

The unit takes about 90 seconds to start up. I agree with a previous comment, as soon as you park, turn on your unit. The unit shows the distance to the front, center, and back of the green. It doesn't not show a map or distance to hazards, you will need something else if this is what you desire. The yardage appears to be accurate within a few yards (1-3) based on the 2 courses I've checked.

Pros:
-loads courses quickly and easily
-accurate
-fits in pocket, about the size of a cell phone
-price
-big numbers
-can charge with computer or wall unit (at least the one I bought had a wall unit charger)

Cons:
-cannot clip unit on belt upside down, would be great if you could, it would make it easy to see
-no cover for USB connection (I'm worried about it getting wet), hopefully, they will add a small cover similar to one you have on a cell phone.

Conclusion:
If you are the weekend/semi-serious golfer who would like to know your yardage a little more accurately than stepping off the yardage, this is your gps. You aren't going to break the bank and you will get a better idea of your yardages for sure.