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Garmin Approach G6

The Indoor Golf Shop
Lance0363 said:
I believe that Garmin does a quarterly map update. When I first got my G5 last Christmas I noticed that one of my main courses was off. (They had opened up the new 9 in July.) I sent them an e-mail with a link to the course website, and the course was right in the next update.
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Yes I found that out by emailing them. My only concern is that here in Canada many "resort" or destination courses are missing. As an example both of the Fairmont courses Jasper Park Lodge and Banff Springs are missing along with the two Kananaskis Country courses.

I requested those courses and we will see how long it takes for them to be added.

As for fees and paying fees, it has to cost something to map courses. If the database is being updated with courses regularly - that is worth paying for. If when you pay a fee you get to keep what you paid for that is worth paying for. Being stuck paying premium fees or extra fees to have out of state/province courses for my device for two weeks a year - nope wouldn't pay extra for that, or for data the self erases because I am not paying a subscription fee.
 
This looks really good (I returned my upro mx a couple weeks ago). My biggest concern is battery life -- this says 15 hours, but the mx was supposed to be >10 hours, and we know how that turned out. With the mx, though, I had a spare battery -- not an option with the G6.

Looking forward to hearing how long the battery actually lasts. If its 10 hours or more, the G6 is in the bag! (or pocket, in this case).
 
Does the G6 have a polarized screen? With the upro mx, you could not see the screen if you were wearing polarized sunglasses.

Anyone tried viewing the G6 while wearing polarized glasses?
 
That makes my G3 look ancient. I wonder if they'll have a trade-in-program. That would be nice.
 
Jjjj said:
I am really looking forward to the report on the G6. If you would comment on the following it would be great

- How did you use it. Whole hole then green view. Did you drag and drop shots/pin placement. How easy is this?
- battery life
- ease of tracking shots (does it slow you down)
- how does it look resolution/brightness/sreen size
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Got to use my Garmin G6 and here is what I found

- How did you use it. Whole hole then green view. Did you drag and drop shots/pin placement. How easy is this?
Use the whole hole view and then green view for approaches. I found that the Garmin 6 switched automatically to the green view when I got to within 100 yds. It was very easy to touch a spot on the fairway to get yardage to off the tee or for lay up shots on par 5's. Likewise, when I used the green view for approach shots, it was very easy to change the flag position. All I had to do was tap on the screen and it would move, then I could drag it for fine tuning. All in all very easy to adjust.

- battery life
This was a big concern of mine, especially since the MX Upro was horrible, barely lasting one rd. Well boy was I pleasantly surprised. When I finished my 18 hole rd, I checked the battery and found that i still had 75% left. I also decided to test whether or not it would charge if i plugged it into my cigarette lighter charger (I have one with two USB connectors) in the car and it starting charging it with no problem while I drove home.

- ease of tracking shots (does it slow you down)
This was one of the things I was looking forward to. We all have our egos and want to see how far we can hit that driver. Well this was a piece of cake. All you have to do is hold down the measure button until you see "begin measurement" on the screen, then tap on begin measure and off you go. Once you reach your ball you have an option to add to average or reset. If you are tracking your club averages, then tap on add to averages and up pops the list of clubs for you to select which club it was. This takes no time at all. I hit the measure button just as I got up to tee, hit my shot, then drove to my ball and hit add to average before i even got out of cart and selected club to hit. At the end of the round, hit the power button, then the options button and click on club averages to see all of your stats.

- how does it look resolution/brightness/screen size
With the G6 you have the ability to adjust the backlight, which affects how it looks on a sunny day. The resolution and colors displayed were great. When I placed the G6 in direct sunlight, I was still able to see the displayed fairway, green or data. however, it was not as bright as if it was not in direct sunlight. For some it might take a small adjustment. The screen size might be small for those that have vision problems, but it was fine for me.

- Score keeping
This was a piece of cake, just hit the score button and up popped the scorecard showing you current over/under for the round. Click on the pencil for the person you want to enter and the par score and 2 putts shows up. All you have to do is hit the + or - sign on each to properly input the score. Then hit the check mark and it was logged. It was also easy to move from hole to hole if you missed scoring during a hole by hitting left or right arrow. You were able to keep score for 4 people easily. Once your round is over you can review your history in two methods. One method was a quick summary of score, total putts, fairways, and greens hit, or you could actually review the scorecard of any individual player.

- Satellite acquisition
When you first get the G6 and power it up for the first time, the satellite acquisition was slow (I did this in my home and it may be the reason it was slow), but once the initial satellite is acquired, it comes up very quickly after that. I turned on my unit as I placed my bag on the cart and before I was at the first the satellites were already acquired. I tested this later again when I finished my round. i turned the unit off at my car went back into the club house for about 20 minutes, then turned it back on when I got to the car and the satellites were acquired in less than 10 seconds (probably more like 5).

- Belt clip and size of unit
I found the belt clip and the size of the unit to be very convenient. On those Tee boxes that were not close to the cart path, I was able to take the G6 with me to the tee, take a look at yardages, and then clip the unit with the belt clip into my back pocket (so it didn't fall out or slap around) and it was barely noticeable that it was there.

- Adding Clubs
Easy to do- just hit setup, then click on clubs and then add club. You can add or delete a club and rename it, then move it into the right order. For instance, I added my gap wedge and then moved the club between my PW and SW so it would display in the correct chronological order

- Plugging into PC
you can also view your scorecard on you PC. Just open the files, click on data, then scorecards and select the scorecard you want. You can then copy and save it to your PC or delete the file and that will delete it from your G6.


All in all, I am very pleased that I decided to send back the MX Upro and get this one in it's place. The folks at Garmin should lend some of the G6 units to Callaway so that Callaway can see how a Golf GPS is supposed to function.
 
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AWESOME REVIEW! Thanks -- I'll be getting one soon.
 
Looks great, I own a Garmin auto GPS and it's the best out there. If thats the case with their golf line I'm in.
 
I have always been pleased with Garmin GPS products. I have one for car, the Edge 500 for my bicycle, and now the G6
 
Wow great review. It sounds it has everything I want and probably more than I need. I will have to figure a way to get this. Hints for fathers day usually works. Thanks again for taking the time to do a review.
 
N4Sports, I'm in the market for a GPS and I really appreciate that great review. Thanks! Leaning towards a Garmin or a Bushnell XGC Plus, this review makes me think it might be worth the extra $ for the Garmin.
 
Mine is arriving today, can't wait to test it out after that review :clap:
 
Thanks for the thanks

I forgot to add a few features -

- Preview Feature
The preview feature is one that I did not have when I had the MX UPRO. This feature allows you to preview any preloaded course, hole by hole, so you can see how the course is laid out. you can also drag and drop on the previews to see yardages. This feature allows you to get to know a course before playing it for the first time or in a tournament.

- Micro SD
The G6 comes with a Micro SD slot. Currently the Micro SD can only be used to store data, but i have to believe that at some point, Garmin will put out an update that will allow you to store a course on it and access it when playing.

- Course Updates / Course Request
Garmin currently does quarterly course updates that you will be able to download and upload to the G6. Garmin lists all of the courses they have available on their site. if you don't find a course, requesting a course is very simple. All you have to do is complete the request form and they even give you the option to upload a score card, pictures of the course or other things. I requested a course that just opened a few months ago and they got back to me in less than 24 hours and informed me that it had already been added to the next course update.
 
great writeup Nuttz!
 
gingerista said:
I think the G6 graphics are a little too Mickey Mouse. I went with the SGXw for the accuracy of having the courses walked. I wasn't happy about the extra $50 I paid for the yearly subscription, but if it's accuracy saves me a stroke or two in a tournament, then I'm OK with the fee. I know some people on here poo-poo the Golf Digest list, but I think it's pretty good.

If there wasn't a yearly fee, would that influence your choice? If you'd choose the SGX/w in that case, isn't your game worth the extra $30 or $50 a year? That's a dozen balls. Is that really a lot in this game? I just spent $60 for a pair of Nike shorts.
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If the unit was cheap and had a 50$ per year fee, then I'd be all over it.
 
Since people are concerned about battery life just wanted to let folks know that with my G5 I get about 4 sometimes 5 (depending on the battery brand) rounds before having to change them.
 
RonInThornton said:
Since people are concerned about battery life just wanted to let folks know that with my G5 I get about 4 sometimes 5 (depending on the battery brand) rounds before having to change them.
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I'm don't think G5 experience addresses G6 life, since G5 is replaceable batteries, G6 is built-in. I still want a few more positive reviews of G6 battery life.
 
JohnEB said:
I'm don't think G5 experience addresses G6 life, since G5 is replaceable batteries, G6 is built-in. I still want a few more positive reviews of G6 battery life.
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I just mentioned it because a few people said they were also considering the G5
 
RonInThornton said:
I just mentioned it because a few people said they were also considering the G5
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okay, thanks -- if the G6 turns out to "buggy," the G5 is my next choice.
 
appreciate the info Nuttz :bashful:
considering the G5 or G6 to replace the old reliable golflogix
 
pondering the G5 or the G6, cant decide on whether to spend the extra $$ or not
 
First impressions of my G6
Looks - Wow, it's small. Not quite sure what I was expecting size wise but it's definitely smaller. Looks lovely with a nice gloss finish and on the UK version we get a carabina clip rather than a belt clip which looks cool but I think I'd have preferred the belt clip to be honest

Ease of Use - Very easy to set up, pretty much all done without looking at the instructions including naming all the clubs in my bag toi make measuring my distance easier. Found my local course with no problems at all and as was mentioned before the satellites find the device in seconds (even indoors).

Display - Yes the device is very small but in my initial tests all the distances were very clear and easy to read (I do have 20/20 vision but I still think it was easy to see) and even though I have big, sausage fingers using the touchscreen was very easy (especially after calibrating the device)

Battery - Will test this properly on Sunday but took no time to fully charge

Hope this helps
 
Anders73 said:
Battery - Will test this properly on Sunday but took no time to fully charge

Hope this helps
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Anders73 -- any comments on battery life? More info on that is the one thing I'm waiting for before buying the G6.
 
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JohnEB said:
Andres73 -- any comments on battery life? More info on that is the one thing I'm waiting for before buying the G6.
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A brief update, finally got on the course yesterday after a 2 week break for illness!
Battery - Played 18 holes and had no problems at all but I'm damned if I can even see a battery indictator to tell how much I have left!
Screen - The touchscreen seemed very odd but only for scoring. The + - particularly for number of putts seemed very hit and miss yet it works fine for any other use.....I'm not sure if it's something I need to do in the settings or because of my handicap it would only let me score so many putts....anyway it was annoying but will read the manual properly.
The screen is very easy to see and the distances were spot on to my FiL's snooper
The carabina holder on the UK?European version is ok but would rather have had the belt clip supplied on the US version. I will invest in a cart holder though, so it won't matter

Overall - not 100% sold on this but think it could be down to user error rather than the GPS' fault. Will read the manual properly and try out the club measuring function over the next week
 
Anders73 said:
A brief update, finally got on the course yesterday after a 2 week break for illness!
Battery - Played 18 holes and had no problems at all but I'm damned if I can even see a battery indictator to tell how much I have left!
Screen - The touchscreen seemed very odd but only for scoring. The + - particularly for number of putts seemed very hit and miss yet it works fine for any other use.....I'm not sure if it's something I need to do in the settings or because of my handicap it would only let me score so many putts....anyway it was annoying but will read the manual properly.
The screen is very easy to see and the distances were spot on to my FiL's snooper
The carabina holder on the UK?European version is ok but would rather have had the belt clip supplied on the US version. I will invest in a cart holder though, so it won't matter

Overall - not 100% sold on this but think it could be down to user error rather than the GPS' fault. Will read the manual properly and try out the club measuring function over the next week
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Thanks for the update! And stay healthy over there!
 
Anders

I use reading glasses for reading small print. How big is the text (size 14, 16, etc) I do not want to take my reading glasses to the course.
 
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