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Optishot Simulator Review

No, I think that was the only testing done by THP.

I think it's still going to be similar product, ddxu. For the price, I just don't think you'd be able to get much more out of it. Even the lower cost LM's are in the $1000's. I think it would be a better home entertainment system than anything. I've thought about it, but it always comes down to ceiling height for me.
 
Hawk said:
No, I think that was the only testing done by THP.

I think it's still going to be similar product, ddxu. For the price, I just don't think you'd be able to get much more out of it. Even the lower cost LM's are in the $1000's. I think it would be a better home entertainment system than anything. I've thought about it, but it always comes down to ceiling height for me.
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Thanks for the update Ryan. Its just frustrating trying to find a decent place and decent time to get some winter work in, it makes a device like this look appealing. Might have to just look into a GolfTec practice pass.
 
Hawk said:
No, I think that was the only testing done by THP.

I think it's still going to be similar product, ddxu. For the price, I just don't think you'd be able to get much more out of it. Even the lower cost LM's are in the $1000's. I think it would be a better home entertainment system than anything. I've thought about it, but it always comes down to ceiling height for me.
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You are correct in that we have not demo'd the unit again. However we have had talks at great length about the device and the changes that they have made. It is definitely an entertainment device, without a doubt. It will not substitute for a launch monitor and I think originally being billed as such (not by them, but by early thoughts of many) was what hurt it overall (in my opinion).

They have made changes to better pick up the ball, better follow trajectory and supposedly far better accuracy in terms of playability. We thought that with the THP promotion for the holidays it would be a good chance to highlight a product that we struggled with a couple of years ago, the company took that advice and made improvements.

I agree Hawk, it will not take the place of the launch monitor. It would give many in winter months the ability to continue to swing the club and simulate the game of golf.
 
I am somewhat disappointed that THP is so blatantly endorsing a product that was previously determined to be "flawed", without ever trying the new product.

I know companies say "we changed things"- but so often it is just marketing BS. I really expect this site to cut through the marketing BS, not endorse it.
 
RxGus said:
I am somewhat disappointed that THP is so blatantly endorsing a product that was previously determined to be "flawed", without ever trying the new product.

I know companies say "we changed things"- but so often it is just marketing BS. I really expect this site to cut through the marketing BS, not endorse it.
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It's called second chances. When a company listens to negative reviews and then works to improve that product, I am all for giving second chances. Furthermore, they want to offer a discount to THP readers only to show how much they stand behind their product, that is a type of business model I do stand behind.

I thought people would be excited about the discount and the fact that the company was trying to do something special for just THP members. Note taken.
 
jag33 said:
I bought the Optishot back in the middle of December and FINALLY just got my garage-mahal setup finished on Thursday. I read JB's review and it was excellent. I pretty much had a lot of the results/problems that he did in his review. Some of which I was able to fix or improve, others I wasn't. But, for what it's worth here is my experience so far...

Setup: Super easy provided your computer has the recommended specs.

Durability: It looks/feels like it can take a pretty good beating. No signs of wear yet, after a few hours of heavy use from me and my aggressive swinging five year old. :D

Accuracy: There are three factors that I found that greatly affect the accuracy of this thing and in order they are lighting, alignment, and the type of ball setting. If any of them are off it's not going to be pretty.

Lighting: The first time that I took this thing out of the box and hooked it up I did some quick testing by passing a severely closed or open face across it with a PW and it was off... WAY off. A completely shut down face was showing up as 4.0* open and slightly open was just ridiculous. It turns out this thing needs light, but only certain kinds. I did the same test in my basement under some fluorescent bulbs and no other light and it was dead on. So in the end I have a compact fluorescent flood light shining down directly on the sensors and that seems to be money. I found that with any regular incandescent, halogen, or light from the sun hitting the unit that accuracy was lost.

Alignment: Golf is a game of degrees and if the unit shifts 3* to the right while you keep your same setup you can go from a slight in to out swing and a square face to very out to in and an open face very easily. Keeping the unit straight is important.

Ball Type: This one suprised me... I know that I swing my 8i around 83-85mph, so when I could finally take a swat at a real ball on this thing I was surprised to see a swing speed of around 75. I probably take an average divot, but even when I made sure not to take one at all I was getting similar results. I was going to bump up the settings to account for the swing speed difference when I realized I still had it set to foam ball. I switched it to real ball and then what do you know... 85mph. It evidently is doing a calculation for ball resistance so make sure that it is set for what you are hitting.


Clubs: For all of my irons the sensors pick everything up surprisingly well. Unfortunately my woods and hybrid don't work so good. Probably because they are all basically black. I have got around this by using my 4i for all clubs 4 and up. It works, but it's not as cool. I read somewhere that Dancin' Dogg has a driver designed to work with their system, and that if your driver doesn't work that they will send you theirs at no charge... need to look into that as if that is true I am going to need one.

Misc. stuff:

The unit doesn't sense attack angle. There is an option to set your ball flight from very high to very low to make it more accurate for your ball flight though.

The unit doesn't sense fat/thin shots. Fat shots are somewhat replicated due to decreased club head speed, but thin shots will show up as a regularly struck ball.

Make sure that you have it set correctly for left/right handed. Otherwise it'll do some strange things.

The unit for me has been pretty accurate when it comes to path, clubface contact (heel/toe) and speed. When I hit a big hook, I see a big hook. If I hit a hard cut, it'll cut. It's got some wiggle room towards the center, but all monitors do. I will see the occasional shot that doesn't make sense, but they are pretty few and far between and you can always mulligan it. :D To me, with the irons it reacts about the same as the GG hitting bay, and the ability to hit real balls in an 8 ball battle royale to see which one gets the honor of being in the bag this spring while there is 10in of snow outside is pretty freaking cool. :dance:

I haven't putted yet (too excited to hit balls) but I will check back in after I do.
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Thanks for this usefull writeup.
 
GolferGal said:
It's called second chances. When a company listens to negative reviews and then works to improve that product, I am all for giving second chances. Furthermore, they want to offer a discount to THP readers only to show how much they stand behind their product, that is a type of business model I do stand behind.

I thought people would be excited about the discount and the fact that the company was trying to do something special for just THP members. Note taken.
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I absolutely support THP members getting good deals, and companies standing behind their product... but I would have loved testing from THP to confirm that the product is actually better. I want to hear from you guys the product is better... not from the company. Does that make sense?
 
RxGus said:
I absolutely support THP members getting good deals, and companies standing behind their product... but I would have loved testing from THP to confirm that the product is actually better. I want to hear from you guys the product is better... not from the company. Does that make sense?
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I'm going to be honest here, you haven't made a post on THP in a long time and the first thing you do is insult us. I am so sick and tired of being a freaking punching bag. Clearly you aren't happy, I get it, I will take note of this for the future. Please don't bother responding because I have nothing else to say.
 
I have mixed feelings. I like the idea of the discount, but after reading the original review even with the discount I would not order the product. What I think would have been better is if THP could have gotten the new product and tested it out again to see how it compares now to back then.

I love this sight for it's unbiased views and really take what you guys say into consideration when thinking about ordering a product.
 
Sighman23 said:
I have mixed feelings. I like the idea of the discount, but after reading the original review even with the discount I would not order the product. What I think would have been better is if THP could have gotten the new product and tested it out again to see how it compares now to back then.

I love this sight for it's unbiased views and really take what you guys say into consideration when thinking about ordering a product.
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You are probably right, but this was a last minute thing and we were excited to offer this for the members, I realize now that maybe this wasn't the best idea. I have taken note of this, and I will be sure to learn from this for the future.
 
GolferGal said:
I'm going to be honest here, you haven't made a post on THP in a long time and the first thing you do is insult us. I am so sick and tired of being a freaking punching bag. Clearly you aren't happy, I get it, I will take note of this for the future. Please don't bother responding because I have nothing else to say.
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I guess I will still bother to respond...

Just because I don't post doesn't mean that I dont read your reviews. Visit your site. Read your newsletter.

There was no insult meant, only surprise when I checked my email this morning. It just didn't seem in character with what I usually expect from THP testing/attention to detail.
 
Hawk said:
No, I think that was the only testing done by THP.

I think it's still going to be similar product, ddxu. For the price, I just don't think you'd be able to get much more out of it. Even the lower cost LM's are in the $1000's. I think it would be a better home entertainment system than anything. I've thought about it, but it always comes down to ceiling height for me.
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I could never get one either, for the same reason. I live in a home built in the 60s and I wouldn't want to bust holes in the ceiling! They weren't even prepared for tall 4x4 trucks, as we can't get my wife's F-150 into the garage, not enough clearance!
 
I posted this in the newsletter thread but maybe I should post here. From what I can gather it seems like optishot is only compatible with windows. I am correct with this?
 
GolferGal said:
It's called second chances. When a company listens to negative reviews and then works to improve that product, I am all for giving second chances. Furthermore, they want to offer a discount to THP readers only to show how much they stand behind their product, that is a type of business model I do stand behind.

I thought people would be excited about the discount and the fact that the company was trying to do something special for just THP members. Note taken.
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I am super excited about the discount, and THP reviews, I have been looking to buy one of these but have held out because of the original review. Hey, I know people always say to get the second updated version of a product because by then the company probably worked out the kinks, I'm excited to hear more about this Optishot and maybe it will find a place in my house
 
Jeff Spicoli said:
I posted this in the newsletter thread but maybe I should post here. From what I can gather it seems like optishot is only compatible with windows. I am correct with this?
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Yes. Last I saw (from the original review) it is only compatible with Windows.
 
Jeff Spicoli said:
I posted this in the newsletter thread but maybe I should post here. From what I can gather it seems like optishot is only compatible with windows. I am correct with this?
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From the looks of the website yes, which bums me out, I'm an apple guy!
 
Maybe I need one of these for the man cave................
 
IceyShanks said:
From the looks of the website yes, which bums me out, I'm an apple guy!
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dang it, my dreams are crushed haha, I am an apple guy too, crap
 
IceyShanks said:
From the looks of the website yes, which bums me out, I'm an apple guy!
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Yea, apple for me too. I think the optishot looks cool. Big time bummer if only works with windows.
 
Nate said:
Maybe I need one of these for the man cave................
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yes, your man cave would be complete!

I think you should ask Texas Santa for this
 
Here is a press release that just came out for OptiShot talking about their improvements:

Dancin’ Dogg Golf Debuts Next Generation Software for Award-Winning OptiShot Infrared Simulator

User Experience and Skills Development Enhancement by New Design, Navigation, Game Types, Practice Features, Putting Modes, Core Course and More

(TRAVERSE CITY, MI) – Dancin’ Dogg Golf – maker of the award-winning OptiShot Infrared Simulator, the ultimate in-home virtual golf system – announces the launch of its next generation software package, highlighted by a completely redesigned user interface and enhanced graphics for an even more true-to-life experience.

Further expanding the horizons of affordable, accurate, in-home golf simulation, this latest system evolution includes a broad range of features that promote skills development. Standard with all new purchases and available via free, automatic download for current OptiShot users, it includes:
· Pin-Point Practice Range: Improve ball control with accuracy lines, precision rings, shot patterning and progress tracking
· Course Physics: Set fairway and green speeds or select shot difficulty in light rough, rough and bunkers
· Game Types: Choose from alternate shot, match play, stroke play, best ball, better ball, Stableford and skins
· Game Length: Play front nine, back nine, 18 holes or select any hole to create a custom game
· Warwick Hills: Replication of the PGA Tour’s Buick Open host site added to Core Course library
· Languages: French-Canadian, French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Chinese

A sleek new design, easier-to-read data, improved navigation, variety of putting modes, custom display options and the ability to preview premium courses have also been added to the system. These combine to further distinguish OptiShot (MSRP: $399.95) from competing in-home simulators that can cost more than $50,000.

“It’s perfect for us to add so many exciting new features just as the weather turns cold and the holiday shopping season begins,” says Brandon Theophilus, CEO of Dancin’ Dogg Golf. “Our team of in-house developers has really taken things to the next level, ensuring golfers of all abilities can play more often, have more fun and improve their skills without leaving home.”

OptiShot connects with Windows computers via a plug-and-play interface and requires only 8-½ feet of swing space. With their own clubs, up to four players per round can compete by hitting real balls, foam balls (provided) or no ball at all. Infrared sensors on a durable swing pad precisely record club-head speed, face angle, swing path, distance, tempo, face contact and ball flight. In addition to Core courses that come with the system, OptiShot users can practice on a realistic driving range, compete using the par-3 option or purchase premium course replicas of world famous layouts.
 
I wish I had taller ceilings. I'd love to be able to swing at home and see where the ball is actually going.
 
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