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The most helpful favorable review
The most helpful critical review
156 of 156 people found the following review helpful:
A few bugs, but overall an excellent experience
I've now played 30+ rounds with the uPro. Its got some good points and some bad, I suppose this is like any new device, especially one that is from a brand new company.
The Good
- Distances are right on.
- Basic mode gives you a quick, easy to read view of distance to the green and distance to reach and carry hazards.
- Mark feature allows...
Published 23 months ago by mruseless
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60 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
Biggest piece of junk I ever bought!
Was real excited about this device and it has all kinds of potential! But right now they haven't worked the bugs out of it. The web is filled with discussion threads from people complaining about this thing locking up. I got mine on the 1st of July and didn't have any problems initializing it and downloading courses to it. I used it for the first time last weekend and...
Published on July 12, 2008 by Frank P. Rocha
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156 of 156 people found the following review helpful:
A few bugs, but overall an excellent experience, September 28, 2008
This review is from: uPro Golf GPS by Callaway Golf (Sports)
I've now played 30+ rounds with the uPro. Its got some good points and some bad, I suppose this is like any new device, especially one that is from a brand new company.
The Good
- Distances are right on.
- Basic mode gives you a quick, easy to read view of distance to the green and distance to reach and carry hazards.
- Mark feature allows you to measure the length of your shots. Sometimes gives erroneous readings. However, this only happened when I kept the uPro in my pocket, so maybe buttons were being pressed by accident.
- Aerial view of the hole is awesome. Like looking at a yardage book, with continuously updating distances. There is a small red diamond that marks your position on the hole and moves with you. I almost ran into a 150 yard pole because I was so fascinated with watching the little diamond track my position on the satellite view! Hazards like bunkers are marked front and back and also update continuously.
- Measure Mode lets you get a measurement to any point on the hole. I have used it to find the distance back into the fairway, but you really need a tree or something on the satellite image to reference. I have also used it to find distances not mapped by the company, like a layup distance to the front of a creek.
- Trans-reflective screen is easy to see in Basic View even in bright sunlight. However, in Pro Mode, it can be difficult to see. You need to experiment with the viewing angle to get it right. I've found that in bright sunlight, you can see the screen best if you are angling it just off where the sun would be reflecting into your eyes. Or shade the screen with your hand.
- No subscriptions! You pay only for the courses you want. Courses cost the same no matter where in the country (and eventually the world) they are located. You never have to buy a course twice, even if you upgrade the device or have to replace the unit (lost, stolen, broken). Courses are expensive if you buy them one at a time. One course costs $10 (3 credits), but if you buy 150 credits ($120), that comes to only $2.40 per Pro course. I bought 150 credits, and I probably won't ever have to buy credits again (at least not for a very long time).
The Bad
- One course had strangely mapped points on a couple holes. Some don't make sense (you can tell they haven't played the course!) However, I sent an email to support and they corrected the problem in a couple weeks.
- Sync is VERY slow. I timed it, and to sync and download 1 course took over 10 minutes. Be patient.
- When syncing, the status box shows up in front of all other windows (on Windows XP) and cannot be moved to the back. So your computer is effectively stuck doing one thing for 10 minutes.
- No subscriptions. I put this item in both The Good and The Bad because it depends on your point of view. If you play a whole lot of courses (more than 50), then it could get quite expensive. But I play only about 15 courses on a regular basis, plus about 3 or so each year on a vacation trip.
- Distances do not automatically update if you are using the measure function in Pro Mode. You have to either exit measure mode, or switch back to basic mode to get an update distance.
- Not all courses are mapped yet. In Denver, about 70% of the courses are mapped. But of the 15-20 I play regularly, about 95% are mapped. Many of those that are not mapped yet are scheduled to be mapped in 2008. There is a schedule on uPro's website (www.uprogps.com). And if you choose an unmapped course as your home course, they will have it mapped in 4 business days, guaranteed. I would recommend checking all the courses you play before buying this device.
The Ugly
- The software needs a little work--freezes up from time to time. During the first two rounds, it froze up once in each round. While annoying, all you have to do is hold the power button down for 8 seconds to force a power-off, then turn it back on. Of course, the re-boot process and getting back to your current hole takes a couple minutes. Their customer service department claims a firmware update will be available "in the next few weeks". I turned off the "automatic hole advance", and this seemed to fix the problem. The last 25+ rounds were freeze-up free after changing this setting. The automatic hole advance is unnecessary in my opinion. From the "Green View", you can simply press the up button to advance to the next hole, or press the down button to go to the previous hole.
Suggestions
- Create a graphical overlay for the aerial views, or figure out a way to make them higher contrast. The Pro Mode can be somewhat difficult to see in bright sunlight.
- Faster downloading/sync
- Find and fix the bugs in the software that cause the freeze-ups
- If the upcoming software can mark every ball location, its only a matter of time before it will keep your score, shot-by-shot. On the uPro website they state that additional software to keep score will be available by late summer 2008. Of course, if it freezes up and you lose data then such a feature is worthless.
The Bottom Line
This is a very new company and a very new product. Like most new products, they have a few bugs to work out. I'm going to stick with them and hopefully they will be committed to fixing the problems. If a year goes by and the same problems exist, I might regret this purchase. But right now I'm pretty darn happy with it!
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73 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
Callaway uPro vs Garmin Approach G5 vs SkyCaddie SG3, October 5, 2009
This review is from: uPro Golf GPS by Callaway Golf (Sports)
I've owned a SkyCaddie SG3 for some time and, weary of its annual fees, glacial operating speed, and pedestrian display, I decided to go color. I purchased the Garmin Approach G5, but its display is very difficult to see in normal outdoor conditions. So I also purchased the Callaway uPro. I played an entire round on my home course, with all three GPS units mounted on the cart. My findings:
Build quality: All three units are rugged, with great fit-and-finish. The Garmin gets the nod, because it's waterproof. The Callaway is water-resistant, and you can purchase a watertight skin for an outrageous $24.99 to protect it further. The SkyCaddie is not recommended for use in the rain.
Size: The Callaway uPro is the smallest and thinnest, about the size of an LG Chocolate phone. The SG3 is similar height and width to the uPro, but much thicker and heavier. The biggest of all is the Garmin, the size of an iPhone and four times as thick. It's wide, heavy, and not good for the pocket.
Accuracy: The three units properly mapped my home course, agreeing on nearly all distances (within 6 yards of each other) and hazards.
GPS acquisition: The old-technology SG3 takes forever to acquire GPS, sometimes more than five minutes. Both the Garmin and the uPro acquire satellites almost instantly. The uPro has technology that, once it locks onto satellites, it really keeps them. After locking on, I took the unit indoors, and even put it in my pants pocket. It never had to re-acquire. Advantage: uPro.
Getting courses: The Garmin wins handily. All 10,000+ available courses come preloaded in its 1GB memory. No annual fees, no paid memberships. The Garmin Approach G5 offered every course I cared to search. Of course, your mileage may vary.
To make the most of your SkyCaddie, you need to pay for an annual membership on their website, and download courses individually. Some SkyCaddie memberships allow you to download as many courses as you want from all over the world...however, the unit's paltry memory will only hold a few at a time. The uPro also requires that you sign up on their website (no annual memberships, though). With the uPro, Basic Mode (an alphanumeric color screen that resembles that of a SkyCaddie) is free for unlimited courses. For Pro Mode (the nifty aerial photography view of each course) you pay for only the courses you wish to play, a la carte. Your first Pro Mode course is free.
Information: All units show distances to the front/middle/back of greens. The SG3 also shows hazards on the same screen, but it doesn't give you hazard carry distances, like the uPro does. The Garmin shows the entire hole, including hazards. But showing the entire hole means that the illustrations of hazards are tiny, as is the accompanying yardage text. Coupled with the Garmin's dim display, it's pretty useless. Curiously, the Garmin apparently doesn't consider trees to be obstacles, so they're not represented at all on the graphical display. The uPro (in Pro Mode) shows every tree and hazard - in fact, the entire hole, as photographed from satellite. It's like viewing my actual course (including my house!) from above. There's absolutely nothing like it.
On the home screen, both the SG3 and the uPro also give you the time of day, battery strength, and GPS signal strength. The Garmin gives you none of the above. You need to briefly press the power button to see the time. It also shows a battery icon, but that never moved during my round.
Battery: The Garmin and SG3 both take AA batteries, whether alkaline, NiMh rechargeable, or lithium ion. With any AA type, both units easily complete at least two rounds. The uPro uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Unlike SkyCaddie models that use internal lithium ion batteries, which are a real horror show to replace (SkyCaddie recommends you send the unit back), the Callaway uPro battery easily drops in. Callaway says it takes three hours to charge, but it didn't take me anywhere near that long. UPro battery life is 6-12 hours, depending on how bright you set the display's backlight. With my display settings (see Display, below), I easily completed a round with plenty to spare. As far as battery preferences go: For some, constantly recharging and changing out AAs is a grind. For others, recharging (and eventually, re-purchasing) internal lithium-ion batteries ($27 for the uPro) is just as bad, especially considering that the battery can leave you high and dry mid-round if you forget to charge it the night before. To each his own.
Display: The SG3 is monochrome, so it doesn't stand a chance. Its display is dim and boring, but it does give you a button on the side for a backlight. The screen sizes on the SG3 and uPro are nearly identical. The Garmin's touchscreen display is nearly iPhone-big, and drop-dead gorgeous...when you're at home. Take it outside, and it washes out to the point of uselessness. Worse yet, to save power, the display times out a few seconds after you touch it, making it even dimmer. You touch the screen to wake it up, but when you touch the screen, the unit thinks you want to measure a distance, so the measurement feature pops up. You need to hit the "Done" button to exit that. There's no way to increase the screen timeout or disable the screen dimming feature. Also, since the Garmin is a touchscreen, it's a massive fingerprint magnet, so it only looks pretty for the first hole. The uPro wins the display contest handily, with a bright and functional screen. You can play two ways: graphically (Pro Mode), showing the course via aerial photography, or with big, bright alphanumeric text (Basic Mode). Since golf courses have very low contrast (lots of green color and not much else), I defaulted to the Basic Mode for easy readability. For the aerial view, you can always hit the Pro Mode button on the side of the unit, as it's much more useful around the green. The uPro's default setting is to power-save the display after (I think) 45 seconds. Unlike the Garmin, which dims its display, the uPro goes blank until you hit a button, which is an enormous buzzkill. Fortunately, you can get around this. You can change to a longer timeout, or disable standby altogether. As the uPro has a very bright display, what I did was take the backlight down to 25% (from a default 70%), and disabled standby completely. I easily completed a round with plenty of battery life to spare this way. The uPro and the Garmin use a reflective LCD technology that actually makes the display brighter in direct sunlight. The uPro's version of this technology worked far better than the Garmin's. The only time the Garmin display looked remotely readable was when you aimed it directly at the sun.
Just for fun, I took along my iPod Touch 2G, to compare all the displays outdoors. I figured that the iPod's conventional LCD wouldn't compete with the reflective technology of the Garmin and the uPro. Wrong. The iPod destroyed both of them. It wasn't even close. So, if you have an iPhone (the iPod Touch won't do GPS), you may want to look into the golf GPS apps at the App Store. If you do decide to use an iPhone, just remember, it won't stand up to being dropped, kicked, and tossed around like these three ruggedized units, and it for sure ain't the least bit water-resistant.
Hole-to-Hole: The simpler SkyCaddie wins here. It automatically advances to the next hole. If there's any confusion (you're playing past the current hole, for example), it'll ask you if you want to move to the next hole. If you're starting on Number 10, for example, the SkyCaddie makes that selection easier as well, with a grid from which you can select holes via cursor. The Callaway Auto Hole Advance is kind of a drag. If you're anywhere near the green, Auto-Advance jumps to the next hole. You can't measure your 40-yard pitch to the current green. And when they say Auto, they mean Auto. In Auto-Advance mode, there's no way to back up to the current hole, or any previous hole, for that matter. The only way out is to go to either Manual Advance, or Manual Advance With Prompt (it asks you to press the center button to advance). Hitting a button on each hole is tedious. The Garmin Auto-Advances sequentially, but if you jump around (skipping a couple of holes to get around slow play), you need to touch the screen arrows for each hole advance.
Settings: The Garmin gives you almost nothing to customize, as it is both very intelligently designed and extremely automated. It would have been nice to be able to crank the screen brightness, or at least extend the timeout. Both the SG3 and the uPro give you a host of settings to mess with, including screen brightness (contrast only with the SG3), hole advance preferences, and much more.
Cost of ownership: The Garmin and uPro are color, so they're not cheap. If you want to compare apples to apples, you could go to the color SkyCaddie SG5, but be advised that the SG3, SG4, and SG5 are virtually identical in functionality, screen size - basically, EVERYTHING - so you're paying almost $150 more for color alone, which is the cost of a whole 20-inch color TV. (My SG3 is discontinued, so now I'm quoting price from the replacement SG4.) Couple that with the amazing wow factor of both the Garmin and the uPro, and the top-of-the-line color SkyCaddie SG5 is a terrible deal. To the SkyCaddie's cost of ownership, add their totally outrageous annual membership fees. SkyCaddie also charges ridiculous sums of money for stuff like plastic cart mounts and batteries. The Garmin wins here, hands-down, with all available courses preloaded into memory. No fees whatsoever! For accessories, RAM Mounts makes a rock-solid, relatively reasonably-priced cart mount for the Garmin. The uPro, while not requiring you to pay for a membership, makes you download each course. They're all free, if you want to use only Basic Mode. But if you want what makes the unit famous and awesome, which is Pro Mode video previews and flyovers of each hole, you need to pay. If you go for a 20-course package, for example, that's $60. It's still cheaper for most people than SkyCaddie, because there's no annual fee. And the more courses you buy, the cheaper it gets per course. However, uPro accessories such as cart mounts are rarely discounted, and you'll pay more for their little plastic add-ons than you would pay for a complete multi-handset cordless phone system or a new DVD player.
Extras: Each unit has (or will soon have, in the uPro's case) the ability to track scores and aggregate player information. I don't use any of that stuff. No amount of button-pushing or touch-screening could beat the ease and speed of marking stuff down with a pencil.
Wow Factor: The SkyCaddie is deadly dull, with zero Wow Factor, but highly functional. One would think the Garmin, with its big, beautiful touchscreen, would win. However, the screen is just too dim to view the image-based interface in normal outdoor lighting. The Callaway uPro, with its unique video flyovers of every hole, is the winner. While the flyovers may not be great outdoors (golf courses are green-on-green-on-green, so there's little contrast), they're great for previewing new courses in your home before you travel. Beyond that, the uPro comes with several preloaded video tutorials to help you get the most from the unit, and an earbud is in the box, so you can listen to the video narration. Voice Recognition, to allow you to change settings, holes, etc. by voice command, is built into the Callaway uPro, and they say it'll be activated by late 2009.
Summary: Not one of these units is perfect, but the Callaway uPro is the runaway winner. It's simple to use, highly customizable, deadly accurate, super-fast, and gorgeous to view. 2nd place goes to the SkyCaddie, even with its monochrome screen, pokey operation, and 20th Century technology. The Garmin comes in last, even though it's the most sophisticated, intelligent, beautiful, automated piece, made by people who really know GPS. The thing is just too dim to use outdoors.
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53 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
uPro w/v3.0 Works like it was advertised--Bugs fixed...., November 5, 2008
This review is from: uPro Golf GPS by Callaway Golf (Sports)
Let me start by saying that I have never written a review on a product purchased from Amazon. I did this one, because I struggled with making this purchase based on the reviews I read and thought I might add some additional detail to help the next person.
I purchased the uPro about a month ago. The product is impressive. Many reviews claimed some common complaints: "Pro" Mode too hard to see when out in the bright sun; system crashes, long load times from the PC... I have found many of those issues to be true although exaggerated.
Yes "Pro" mode is more difficult to see in bright sun, but it is not a big issue--yes it is harder because of the detail of the course and terrain that it is showing--however, "Pro" Mode is really what sets this device above its competitors, and it is completely useable in bright light. In fact that is how I use it 90% of the time. uPro actually uses a special screen that actually uses sunlight to enhance its own backlighting.
The unit did crash the first time I used it on the course...twice. However, I realized I did not cycle the power on and off after all of the loading of courses etc. that you need to do when you first register your unit online. Either way, that was the only time it crashed. It has been completey stable since then, and I am even less concerned with it becuase they just put out their newest update v3.0 that was specifically to address some of the stability issues. In short, I found this to also not be a concern.
The first time I loaded the unit with courses it took a LONG time...20 minutes or more. Not a big deal, but annoying nonetheless. The new software cuts this down by 50%, so again I see this as a non-issue.
The unit is extremely accurate. I am a 5 handicap and know my clubs/yardages pretty well. I compared uPro to my buddies playing with SkyCaddie and they are both showing the same yardages +/- 1 yard. I have another friend that uses a laser rangefinder, but now when we play together, he constantly wants me to give him yardages off the uPro, because we found them to be just as accurate but with infinitely less hassle. Try holding a rangefinder pointed at a pin that is 175-195 yards away in the wind...not easy and not timely.
The unit has a small form factor...much smaller than the skycaddie and certainly less than a laser rangefinder. However, the screen is about the same size.
uPro's customer service I found to be VERY responsive. I emailed back and forth with them several times and in some detail PRIOR to even making the purchase to see how they addressed the issues and just as a measure of how they would deal with me...even when I wasn't a customer. I give them very high marks for service. Customer Service is an area where SkyCaddie is known to be very poor. That was a major factor in me staying away from SkyCaddie in the first place.
I would and have recommended this to my friends at the club and I would recommend the product to anyone considering it.
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42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
Still the winner and even better!, August 18, 2008
Since I wrote this in August, uPro has contiued to perform wonderfully. The company just upgraded the software for even more stable performance, and I saw this review if you have any questions about mine: http://thehackersparadise.com/home/?p=505#more-505
I had been in the market for my first GPS rangefinder, and have read tons of reviews for the uPro, SkyCaddie, and SonoCaddie and Garmin. The uPro clearly seemed to have the best features; however I was a little concerned about some of the reviews so I went to the uPro web site and then called them. After some discussion with one of their very helpful customer service representatives, I went with the uPro and wanted to share my experience.
INSTALLATION
I received my uPro, and went to register with their website. I have a Dell laptop running the hated Vista but had absolutely no problem. Course download was a bit slow but still was only about 10 minutes.
On course availability - I live in Orange County, California. Within 5 miles there are 8 courses available, and within 10 miles there are at least 22. For other less golf-intense areas, the company says they are mapping over 1000 courses a month. I found a course which was not already mapped and called that my home course. I thought they had missed the 4-day guarantee, but then they explained that the 1st day of the guarantee starts the day AFTER you make the request. This seems more like a 4.5 day guarantee, but in either case, got the course and have played it a couple times since with great results.
* I also like the onetime fee for purchasing courses. I know that some of the units come with all the courses included, but after seeing the flyovers and the actual satellite images on the uPro, I can't imagine ever going back. They are awesome.
The unit comes with an ONLINE manual. My Dell laptop does the same thing - maybe I'm used to it, but this did not represent a problem for me.
USABILITY
* The uPro itself really is small enough to fit easily in a pocket. It is about the size of my LG Chocolate phone, which I have no problem just slipping it into my pants pocket. The display is easy to see in direct sunlight, and gets even better if you shade it or get the reflection at the right angle
* Responsiveness during play is also excellent - from the time that I take it out of my pocket, I can use the measure mode to do a layup measurement in just a couple of seconds. I have never been so confident about where I'm hitting my ball and what club I'm using as I do when I use my uPro
It is simply no contest. SkyCaddie, Garmin, and Sonocaddie - Pack your bags!
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33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
Good, but unique features not that usable on the course, June 2, 2009
This review is from: uPro Golf GPS by Callaway Golf (Sports)
Like all Golf GPS devices, the Calloway UPro is intended to provide golfers with range information and in basic mode, the distance to the green or hazards is displayed in much the same way as many rival GPS units. Where the UPro distinguishes itself from the pack is through the use of satellite imagery: In pro mode, the user is given a bird's eye view of the hole and where he is on it. This, coupled with the ability to measure from current position to any point on the hole, means the UPro promises unparalleled course management capability in real time. Overall the UPro delivers on the promise, but for me the potential is offset by the difficulty of trying to use it on the course.
Out of the Box Experience
The first thing that strikes you about the UPro is its small size. It slips comfortably in and out of the pocket and does not dig you in the thigh as you take your stance (unless you are one of the younger tour pros who seem to like to wear skin tight pants on the golf course, but then a credit card would pose problems for those guys).
Initial set up of the unit was straightforward: the "getting started" leaflet and the player's guide were easy to follow and for those who like a little more handholding, the website has a couple of interactive demos. Hooking the UPro up to the computer , registering and downloading courses was neither problematic not unacceptably slow over a broadband connection; the synchronization software seemed a little rough around the edges, but did it's job.
Navigating around the various modes and functions is easy and generally intuititive using either dedicated keys on the multi-function four way key.
One point to note here is a GPS is only as good as the maps it uses and at the time I purchased my UPro, my local course was not mapped. Calloway offer a guarantee that courses deemed eligible for mapping and registered as a local course will be mapped within 4 business days of registration. I have to admit that I was extremely skeptical about this claim as my local course is not hugely popular, although it was deemed eligible for mapping. I was delighted to find that on the fourth business day after registration; my course was mapped and available for download. The mapping appears to be accurate distance wise and the ability to get free basic mode maps and purchase individual pro mode maps is, for me, preferable to the more common subscription model.
Golfing from your Armchair
One major advantage the UPro has over the competition is the ability to run in preview mode away from the course. You can measure distances from point to point on the satellite maps of the course using the "any point" feature and use the flyover feature to give you an overall impression of the hole. These features allow the user gain familiarity with a course and develop a strategy for playing it; this feature is particularly useful if you are going to play a course which is completely new to you. These features form the heart of pro mode and they have a definite ability to draw "oohs and ahhs" from your golfing buddies, especially flyover mode which should have some cheesy muzak playing in the background as you fly over to complete the "watching on TV" effect.
Golfing on the Course
Oddly, I've found that pro mode is not that useful out on the course. Basic mode provides all the information that you typically need - at a glance - while playing (distance to the green and hazards) and the mark function, which allows you to measure the actual length of your shot, is only accessible from basic mode.
While swapping between basic and pro modes is easy, using advanced pro mode features, such as layup measurement, is a little time consuming and not that easy to do accurately due to the small size of the screen. The problems get a little worse in bright sunlight as, despite Calloway's claims to the contrary, it was impossible to get the satellite maps used in pro mode to display with enough contrast to allow you to easily distinguish features. This is not surprising as golf courses are shades of green on green. Basic mode displays, which are mostly black on white, display well in strong sunlight, so this is not an issue for basic mode.
Auto hole advance is another feature, common to both pro and basic modes, that doesn't quite live up to expectations on the course. If you happen to be close to an adjacent hole with your shot, UPro will happily change the hole it thinks you are playing, which can throw you for a loop. Auto advance with prompt is just plain annoying with its constant nagging about changing holes, so manual advance seems to be the only sure fire way of moving holes only when you want to. Manual hole advance is quicker and simpler to use in basic mode (one key stroke) than in Pro mode (3 key strokes via 2 menus)...another reason to stick with basic mode while playing.
Conclusion
Given that UPro has much the same price point as its high end rivals but has greater functional capability, the decision to buy it was a no-brainer which I do not regret. That having been said, the features currently unique to UPro, most of which come under the pro mode umbrella, are nice to haves which are not (currently) particularly easy to use while playing, even though they do add value to the product for pre-play use.
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
Best of current generation of golf GPS, November 7, 2008
This review is from: uPro Golf GPS by Callaway Golf (Sports)
I only play a moderate amount of golf and living in New England definitely reduces the local golf season to around six months. So it took me a while before I comitted to buying a GPS or rangefinder. The important things to me were 1) size, 2) ease of use, 3) accuracy and 4) overall lowest cost (aka, best value). At first I leaned towards the rangefinders but they are really bulky and a real pain for me to use especially when there is no line of sight. A GPS was my next option but I was very wary of annual "membership" fees. Also GPS technology keeps improving and I didn't want to buy the latest thing only to find out in three months that something much better had come out.
The uPro GPS addressed all my issues. First of all, it is hands-down the most advanced unit out there by at least a generation if not two. The size is the smallest out there and slips easily into a pocket. The GPS chip is from uBlox (not affiliated with uPro or uPlay) using their well acclaimed uBlox 5 chip which reportedly acquires a signal in one second from a cold start! The cost of the unit is on the high end but all the "Basic" course mode information is free (just download from the website) which is better already than most competitors. The "Pro" mode costs extra but can be as little as $2.50 when bought as a bundle credit. This is where the unit shines as it utilizes the satellite/aerial photo for many of its competitive advantages: video flyovers, measuring from any point on the course, constantly updated distances to the current flag position, etc. Amazing.
The user interface is OK. It took me a little time to figure out the buttons while at home but I've now become use to them. I've also heard about lock-ups but never experienced one of my own. uPro's customer service phone number is very helpful and friendly but they apparently do not respond well to e-mail (they never responded to an e-mail question of mine...at all).
The uPro is a very well designed device backed by a company that continues to improve on the software with regular updates that also add features beyond what were available at purchase. The software could use some improvement but it is not at all bad, just not as intuitive as I would like. Overall, I am extremely pleased by this golf GPS and would recommend it to anyone. I think I can safely skip the next couple generational improvements!
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60 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
Biggest piece of junk I ever bought!, July 12, 2008
Was real excited about this device and it has all kinds of potential! But right now they haven't worked the bugs out of it. The web is filled with discussion threads from people complaining about this thing locking up. I got mine on the 1st of July and didn't have any problems initializing it and downloading courses to it. I used it for the first time last weekend and it locked up on the first hole. I pulled the battery, reinstalled it, and it worked great the rest of the day. Although, I have to say the pro-mode is pretty worthless in bright sunlight. Anyway, I figured the lock-up was a fluke and all these people complaining were just doing something wrong. Today, I tried to download another course. It locked up! Now I'm getting error messages saying the device is "corrupt" and there are files missing. I'll have to call tech support on Monday. If they can't fix it immediately over the phone, I'm sending it back! Also, before you buy, be sure your courses are available. If not, you could be sitting around for months. This is going to be a great device once they get to the next rev of the firmware. Right now, it's too buggy. I should have listened.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
Love this device!, January 20, 2009
This review is from: uPro Golf GPS by Callaway Golf (Sports)
I just love my upro!
The screen could be bigger, but I love how small the device is, so it is a trade off.
The distances seem as accurate as my friends sky caddie. I can guess based on pin position and measuring on the device to within a couple of yards from his laser measurements as well.
Three things I had to do to make the device work great:
1.) Use the device's calibration. Make sure you do this, it's easy and increased my accuracy.
2.) Go into the settings menu and turn off power saver. If the power saver kicks in the device has to re-establish sattelite every time it comes back on which slows you down.
3.) Decrease the backlight to 10%. I was only getting 3 and a half hours with the power saver off. I emailed customer service. They called me within 3 hours of my email and told me to cut down the backlight. Now I can get two full rounds out of the device without turning it off.
Not much more to say than, this device makes playing a new course much more fun because you are never surprised with water or a hazard behind a dogleg.
Love this device.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Service A+, December 19, 2008
This review is from: uPro Golf GPS by Callaway Golf (Sports)
I have been reading reviews and doing my research on the uPro vs. Sonocaddie. The one feature that the Sonocaddie has that I wish the uPro has is being waterproof. I was wondering if uPro was currently making a waterproof model, so I e-mailed uPro customer service at 8:30pm Pacific time hoping to get a reply in a week or so. I checked my e-mail later that night and they replied back within 20 min. I was extremely impressed with the quick e-mail. For anyone interested about whether uPro is coming out with a waterproof version here is their response:
Thank you for your inquiry.
uPlay does not have any plans to make a "waterproof" version.
With the exception of immersion, the device should be fine if you get caught in a sudden rain storm or sprinkler.
Simply wipe off the device with a soft cloth.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Happy to have U-Pro, June 5, 2009
This review is from: uPro Golf GPS by Callaway Golf (Sports)
Had my Upro about 7 weeks and played six rounds. Very pleased. Had a tee shot go long, but into the next fairway. was going to just punch back onto the fairway but looked at the Upro yardage and realized I could shoot for the pin. Made an easy par. Thought to myself "It was worth the money." The battery life is OK. Gets about two rounds each charge. (battery backup would be nice)Down loading course takes a long time but its not hard. (Go watch TV or something while your waiting) All the courses I've looked for in Jersey have been mapped. I don't use the fly over view much, but it (the pro view) does comes in handy when considering your next shot to or over a large hazard. the upro will give you distances to were you should be shooting. Or you can use the pro view and pick a spot where you want to land your next shot and get your measurement. Works well for those dog legs where your not sure how far to hit to the turn. The yardage measurments are consistence with the markers, within 2 yards or less, usually less.
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