SeeMoreGuy
They Make 'em. I Buy 'em.
I purchased this GPS watch because I was quite interested in how it would work and thougth it could actually speed up the pace of play as well. After using it for about 4 rounds I thought it was time to post my review in case others are thinking about the device.
Out of the Box Set Up
Very easy to set up. I plugged in the charger and attached to watch to it and in about 3 hours it was fully charged. The specs in the booklet say the watch will run for 3 weeks w/o charge. The GPS unit is good for 8 hours which will get you through a round for sure. Attaching the charger to the watch required a bit of adjusting at first, but now it is second nature.
Features
1. Wrist Watch which works just like any other timepiece.
2. Starting a round. All you do is push the OK/Menu button and the Start A Round prompt will come up. Then press OK button and it automatically recognizes which course you are on. Select OK again and it brings up the hole you are starting on. Garmin says they have 14,000 or so courses.
3. The device gives you the front/middle/back for each hole. It does not provide exact yardges however to the pin. I compared it with Bushnell Range finder and found it to be very accurate. Of course the range finder was spot on. The Garmin S1 was sometimes off 3 to 5 yards but that is because it was giving F/M/B yardages and the Bushnell was hitting the pin. For those who don know, I love my Bushnell, but I did not find the yardage differences with the Garmin affected my club selection at all.
4. You can measure each shot on the Garmin by pressing the menu button and once the Measure Shot prompts comes up you press again. One you arrive at the ball you see the yardage on the screen. Press Ok again and you are back at the yardage to the pin.
5. Odometer: You can set the odometer to see how far you walk. I tried this a few times and it showed I walked 5.5 miles on one course and 5.8 on another.
6. Alarm: it has an alram but I have not tried to use it.
7. It is waterproof so you dont have to worry about it getting wet.
Negatives
The only thing I found bothersome was when you shut the device off you have to push the Power button, select shut down, and then push the OK button. That is three buttons to just turn off the devices. The battery life seems good and I have not had any issues with it at all.
I called Garmin and asked them what happens if the watch strap were to break. They told me they had never had one to break in over a year. However, if did it you can send it back and they replace the band or do any other type of service for about $50.00.
Overall
I have been extremely impressed with this device. I do still enjoy having my Rangefinder for those "how far to carry the sand trap" kind of shots. However, this devices is easy to read, very light weight. I dont even know its on my wrist because its so comfortable. As for pace of play. It does speed up the play because I am not shooting a distance at every shot. I simply look at my wrist, select a club and swing. I wore the watch all day Friday and then played a round of golf and still had half the battery left. Thus far I have absolutely zero complaints.
Take care,
SeeMoreGuy
Here are a couple of pics:
Out of the Box Set Up
Very easy to set up. I plugged in the charger and attached to watch to it and in about 3 hours it was fully charged. The specs in the booklet say the watch will run for 3 weeks w/o charge. The GPS unit is good for 8 hours which will get you through a round for sure. Attaching the charger to the watch required a bit of adjusting at first, but now it is second nature.
Features
1. Wrist Watch which works just like any other timepiece.
2. Starting a round. All you do is push the OK/Menu button and the Start A Round prompt will come up. Then press OK button and it automatically recognizes which course you are on. Select OK again and it brings up the hole you are starting on. Garmin says they have 14,000 or so courses.
3. The device gives you the front/middle/back for each hole. It does not provide exact yardges however to the pin. I compared it with Bushnell Range finder and found it to be very accurate. Of course the range finder was spot on. The Garmin S1 was sometimes off 3 to 5 yards but that is because it was giving F/M/B yardages and the Bushnell was hitting the pin. For those who don know, I love my Bushnell, but I did not find the yardage differences with the Garmin affected my club selection at all.
4. You can measure each shot on the Garmin by pressing the menu button and once the Measure Shot prompts comes up you press again. One you arrive at the ball you see the yardage on the screen. Press Ok again and you are back at the yardage to the pin.
5. Odometer: You can set the odometer to see how far you walk. I tried this a few times and it showed I walked 5.5 miles on one course and 5.8 on another.
6. Alarm: it has an alram but I have not tried to use it.
7. It is waterproof so you dont have to worry about it getting wet.
Negatives
The only thing I found bothersome was when you shut the device off you have to push the Power button, select shut down, and then push the OK button. That is three buttons to just turn off the devices. The battery life seems good and I have not had any issues with it at all.
I called Garmin and asked them what happens if the watch strap were to break. They told me they had never had one to break in over a year. However, if did it you can send it back and they replace the band or do any other type of service for about $50.00.
Overall
I have been extremely impressed with this device. I do still enjoy having my Rangefinder for those "how far to carry the sand trap" kind of shots. However, this devices is easy to read, very light weight. I dont even know its on my wrist because its so comfortable. As for pace of play. It does speed up the play because I am not shooting a distance at every shot. I simply look at my wrist, select a club and swing. I wore the watch all day Friday and then played a round of golf and still had half the battery left. Thus far I have absolutely zero complaints.
Take care,
SeeMoreGuy
Here are a couple of pics:
