Garmin Approach G5 Touchscreen Golf GPS (Old Version) by Garmin
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Digital camera reviews of Garmin Approach G5 Touchscreen Golf GPS (Old Version)
Digital camera Review: Excellent except for screen
Summary: 5 Stars
I first had a SG2 which is still one of the best. I bought my wife a Upro but she didn't like it since she thought the screen was too hard to see. I then bought her the G5 after reading all the great reviews. The one negative that kept cropping up was that it was difficult to see the screen. Other people said they had no problems so I went with the majority. Well the screen is hard to see. My wife gave it back to me and took the SG2. The problem with the G5 is the dimly lit screen has no adjustements you can make as you can with other devices. I find that if you turn the G5 in a certain direction usually so the sun is not directly on it but not in a way that cast a shadow on it the screen can be read without any problems. The reason my wife did not like it is she attaches the Garmin to her pull cart which makes it difficult to position the Garmin in such a way that makes the screen easier to read. I walk and so hold my Garmin and so have no problem positioning it to get the best screen image. The Upro had the same problem. You had to hold it such a way to get the best image. The SG2 can easily be seen no matter what position it is in. Other than that the Garmin is easy to use. With out any instruction you can figure it out in minutes. I found it to be accurate and the touch screen is easy to use. I do like that it pretty much gives me what I want with out all the extras. I want to know how far to hit a certain shot, how far I hit the shot what the best postion to lay up to for a second shot. If your thinking of mounting this on your pull cart look for something else other wise a no brainer GPS for golf.Digital camera Review: Excellent next generation Golf GPS
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased the Garmin G5 after trying the new Sonocaddie V500. I used the previous generation Sonocaddie (XV2) happily for several years so I started with the new Sonocaddie when I wanted a touch screen golf GPS. Unfortunately, the Sonocaddie V500's maps were, in a word, horrible. I returned it and decided on the Garmin. I have a Garmin auto GPS that I've been very happy with.
The build quality of the G5 is outstanding. Maybe too good, because this is a somewhat hefty unit. Not a problem, just something to get used to. All the features of the unit are substantial and well made, from the case to the battery door. The touch screen also takes some getting used to as it requires a stronger push than my smartphone to get the response from the unit. Again, just something to get used to. The unit takes AA batteries. I prefer this over units with the built-in recharable battery since I can just keep spare batteries in my bag if I get low on battery life, versus being just plain out of luck if I forget to throw in a charge and run out on the course (note: we need power outlets on golf carts for such an occasion).
Maps are generally great, though they could use a little more detail. The occasional tree in the fairway hasn't shown up on the courses I've played, which is obviously important. I haven't referred the specific course and hole to Garmin as yet but they seem a responsive company. When I was having a question about yardage on a specific course taking some time 'settling' (only found this issue on one course) they responded quickly by email, offered a fix and also offered to replace the unit if the fix didn't work. I was impressed.
Yardages seem quite accurate, as I frequently compare with my golfing buddy who has a different unit than the Garmin. Want to know the distance to a dogleg, or over a bunker? Simply touch the screen and you get yardage to that point and from there to the center of the green. Admittedly, setting this mark was very sketchy at first as the target circle jumped all over tha place but they have an updated operating system for download that corrects this. Unfortunately, if you haven't read this review, or the one I read, you wouldn't know about the download unless you complain to Garmin. It's not publicized anywhere that I know of.
Anyway, I love that ability - to know the distance to the corner of the dogleg, or how far to carry or stay short of a hazard simply by touching the screen. You can also zoom in on the green and move the pin to it's current location and thus get a more accurate yardage. Very cool.
The unit will keep score for your foursome and, again with a download from the G5 website (this one publicized) you can keep a few stats - fairways hit, # of putts. The unit calculates how many GIR's you have - not always accurately.
If you've got the cash to drop on one of these more expensive golf GPS units, I highly recommend the Garmin G5. For me, it makes a great game a little more fun. How can that a bad thing?
Digital camera Review: Expected More
Summary: 3 Stars
The device works fine, but I expected more for $300.
Screen - Many complaints have been written about the screen. While it's not the best I've seen, it does the job. Yes, sometimes I had to move it slightly because of the sun, but no big deal. The screen size and detail are more than adequate for an average golfer.
Functionality, GPS - Overall, I'd say this was good. After the unit acquired the satelites, it offered me list of the closest courses. Since I normally turn it on at the clubhouse, the course I was playing was listed on top. You then enter the "play" mode and it shows you an overview of the first hole. If you are starting on a different hole, just use the arrow buttons on the screen to cycle through the holes. When you complete a hole, the unit automatically advances to the next. I liked the automatic hole advance feature, but you can turn it off if you like.
Functionality, scoring - The unit can keep score for up to 4 players. You press the upper left corner of the screen to access the score. This was fairly easy to learn and I liked the feature.
Functionality, statistics - I was really looking forward to the statistics feature. I don't have a good feel for how far I hit each club, so I thought this would help my game. The statistics area had several issues. The biggest problem is that it locked up on me twice while trying to enter the data. On both occassions, nothing was lost but I did have to "reboot". Another problem is that you're limited to woods and irons. I carry both a 5 iron and 5 hybrid. The statistics won't let me differentiate between the 2.
Battery - Maybe I just got a bad unit, but my batteries barely lasted a full round. After my first round, we went back to the clubhouse to compare scores. I tried pulling my score up on the gps and it would die. Fortunately, it saves your last round in memory, so I was able to retrieve everything once I got back to the house. Other reviewers have stated they can get 2 rounds out of a set of batteries, so maybe I had a defective unit.
Summary - I definitely liked the unit overall. I returned it due to it locking up, but I haven't heard any other complaints about this happening, so I'm assuming mine was defective. However, even without the lockups, I don't think this is worth 300. If it were closer to 100, I probably would have asked for an exchange instead of a refund. But for 300, I expect a lot more than what the Garmin offers.
Digital camera Review: Expected more from Garmin
Summary: 1 Stars
I paid top dollar for my G5 expecting an efficient, accurate, user friendly unit but was dissapointed when I actually got to use it on my home course. 3 years before I purchased my G5 the 10th hole was changed from a par 4 to a par 5. The change was never updated by Garmin so that my G5 still had the 4 dots next to the hole number signifying it was a par 4 and all the yardages were inaccurate for the entire hole. I contacted Garmin's customer service department and received very friendly service and was told that they appreciated my imput and would correct the error on their next quarterly upday. I was happy with that and waited the 3 months for the scheduled update. They did not, however, live up to their promise by not making the necessary change. I called back again to inform them about this issue and they appoligized again and promised that by the next quarterly update the problem would be rectified. You guessed it; it wasn't. I am now getting the ignore treatment from Garmin's customer service department. I have 2 other Garmin products for my cars and my expectations were high for the golf Garmin Approach G5 which I paid over $400.00 for and now can be purchased for under $300.00 in less than a year. This signifies to me that other customers are finding better GPS golf units that are more reliable. Other complaints I have with the G5 are that the batteries need constent charging after every round, the screen is very difficult to see in the sunlight and all the yardage is to the center of the green not to the pin. I hope this helps someone in the market for a golf GPS unit.Digital camera Review: Extremely Useful Tool
Summary: 5 Stars
I've used the Garmin approach for several rounds so far. I generally score in the low to mid 80s on average difficulty courses (slope 124-126). I have not had experience with any other golf GPS device. My decision to purchase the Garmin Approach was based on golf course map availability for my area, durability in wet weather, screen view on bright days, and the reviews of others. I live in Chicago and found that every course I could think of in the area, city to suburbs, was included in the list of courses mapped. Once I had the Garmin Approach out on the golf course, my first thought was to gain the trust of the GPS. As I played my first round with the Approach I continually made comparisons to the yardage markers on the course, and found the displayed information on the GPS to be very accurate (within a yard or two). I paced off several hundred yard lengths and compared the number of paces to the GPS and, again, the device was very accurate...or vice versa, my paces were very accurate in comparison to the GPS : ). I've gone through this routine for every course I've played so far, with similar results. I have not had any issues with viewing the GPS display on bright days. As other reviews mention, the Garmin goes through a set of batteries in about two rounds so rechargeable batteries are a must. I purchased a set of four Enloop AA rechargeable batteries (the Approach requires two AA batteries) that claim up to 1,000 recharges per battery. That works out to be roughly 80 years of use out of a four pack of batteries if you play 50 rounds a year....suffice it to say, battery life is not a problem if you use rechargables. The auto hole change has worked flawlessly on every course. Green size is displayed accurately and the ability to move the pin to the actual location on the green is extremely helpful as many greens could be 30 or 40 yards deep....or more. As has been mentioned in other reviews, the touch screen is great and the menu is intuitive. I often use the movable crosshairs to locate a target that is 100 yards from the pin as this is the ideal position for a full 60 deg. wedge into the green for me. The shot measuring feature is easy to use and works well. Once you have set the shot measuring feature to start measuring your shot, you can navigate back to the course view so that you can study the map to plan your next shot (or help others in your foursome with yardages) while you walk to your ball. When you get to your ball, switch back to "measure shot" and it will display your shot distance. I choose not to use the belt clip (or carabiner clip) for the Approach because the device is small enough to put in my pocket or throw into one of the small pockets in my bag.
The Garmin Approach G5 is an extremely useful tool and I am pleased with the accuracy of the information it provides. I can't claim that it has lowered my scores but I will say that it has changed my club selection on many occasions as I am still in the habit of determining club selection in my head based on the center-of-green. With the adjustable pin location, the GPS lets you know exactly how large the greens are and often times I will change my club selection by one or two clubs. No more guess work on distances, or where to hit the ball (or where not to hit the ball) on errant shots into the rough or next fairway. Sand and water hazards are displayed accurately. All said, I am extremely pleased with the Garmin Approach and ultimately I believe most serious golfers will have a golf GPS in their bags as prices drop.