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Garmin Approach G5 GPS

SuperStroke
Smallville said:
You get more rounds out of the rechargeables? I find it's just the opposite.
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I find it the opposite too Smalls. But in the end, you can get more bang for your buck obviously. I am still on the fence with which one I prefer. A unit that takes regular batteries or a unit that has a proprietary battery.
 
The reason I wanted the kind that takes regular batteries is because I didn't want to forget to charge it before the round. If they sold them with two batteries so you could keep one charged while you're using the other, It wouldn't have been an issue and I might have ended up with something different. With regular batteries, you just keep a couple in the bag and it's all good.
 
Yes, I get more rounds out of my rechargeable batteries. With rechargeable batteries you have to make sure you get the highest mah(I think that is the term) rating you can find. I don't have my unit with me or my digital camera, but I bought some rechargeable batteries for both units that outlast my previous rechargeables about twofold. And of course it also depends on what regular batteries you use, if you use the cheaper ones or the more expensive ones. For regular batteries I buy whatever is on sale. I think I am using Energizer currently.
 
Tried to test this one out today, but it never got satellites. Not sure why, but we will speak with the company on Monday.
 
Even if that's a fluke, it's not a good sign right out of the box.
 
JB said:
Tried to test this one out today, but it never got satellites. Not sure why, but we will speak with the company on Monday.
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It will say that every time, all you do is proceed and press "play". I would suggest you update it before using it though, I had to to get some of my local courses.
 
mklehnen said:
I'm new to golf. What do these help you do?
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At the most basic level, golf GPS are a distance measuring device that gives a yardage to the green or another significant point on the course so that the golfer can decide what club to use.

Rather than counting off steps from a sprinkler-head or yardage marker, you can just look at the GPS screen and know your distance.
 
Vegan702 said:
It will say that every time, all you do is proceed and press "play". I would suggest you update it before using it though, I had to to get some of my local courses.
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Actually no, this one did not work this time. It was NOT picking up satellites and was not registering distances.
 
Hmm thats not a good sign. I was just looking at one at Dicks but all they had was the display model. Im not a fan of already been fingered up devices.
 
Kevinâ„¢ said:
Hmm thats not a good sign. I was just looking at one at Dicks but all they had was the display model. Im not a fan of already been fingered up devices.
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It seems to be functioning today just fine, so we will call yesterday an "overcast malfunction".
 
Id be every intrested to see if this happens again. Sunny day and it works fine but if its overcast or cloudy no go?
 
You guys scared the heck out of me last night when I read about the "overcast malfunction" and so I did a quick check of my "Christmas present" and I can say that it picked up the satellites without any problem while I was sitting at my dining room table.

I can hardly wait for JB's official THP review.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.
 
Maybe JB just got a lemon or it needs an update.
 
One of our testers put together his write up after testing the unit that I thought I would share. We have received quite a few emails asking these very questions, so here is his thoughts.

Josh,

Thanks for letting me try the Garmin Approach gps golf rangefinder. As we talked, it is a quality built unit and is very sturdy and hence durable for where it will be used. I have only used Garmin products for everything GPS for the last 6 years not including testing for you. I also found that the yardages were accurate compared with the Skycaddie, Bushnell, and Upro.

However, it has some issues that greatly disappointed me:
1) Even though the unit has a larger screen than my personal unit (I use a Garmin Golflogic), it is very difficult to see the screen due to natural light reflections off of the glass screen cover. Some times, it was next to impossible to see the image or the yardage.

2) The unit is just too large and heavy to carry in your pocket. Even with the clip it is just too heavy compared to the rest.

3) Probably the biggest disappointment was the glaring absence of obstructions and hazards on many holes and this was at 3 different courses. Some holes didn't show any of the fairway traps that do come into play and no holes had natural obstructions, trees, that one would like to know if you could get over, get by, or if you needed to lag short of them. I mean, that is what you want a GPS for!

4) The image is so small, I found it very difficult, with my big fingers, to "touch" the location where I wanted to hit or where the flag was located on the green. Even with the zooming feature which is a little clunky. The UI works smoother than that of the OnPar, but the OnPar worked better in that aspect. I much prefer the cursor that is moved by the arrows on the face of the unit - like the "Upro" or "Bushnell".

That's about all I can think of. Thanks again for letting me use it.
 
That kind of surprises me. I wonder if other testers will echo what he said. Not exactly the feedback I was expecting. The #2 comment doesn't bother me since I ride or use a push cart and would never have it in a pocket or clipped to my belt, but the other three make a difference.
 
Smallville said:
That kind of surprises me. I wonder if other testers will echo what he said. Not exactly the feedback I was expecting. The #2 comment doesn't bother me since I ride or use a push cart and would never have it in a pocket or clipped to my belt, but the other three make a difference.
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Same here, I carry mine in my left pocket and sometimes forget it is there. I can agree with the glare, however, I purchased a screen protector that solved most of this. There will be times where it doesn't matter which unit you have the sun will prevent you from getting a clear picture unless you shade it somehow. The natural obstructions such as trees, etc. are not on most courses that I have used it for either. However, all the hazards that I needed to know about have been on the screen. And I agree with the zooming feature, it takes a little practice to see how to use it correctly. You have to put your finger below the flag and move it where you want to place it. It takes a couple tries to figure that out and get used to the placement.

I think the Garmin falls into the basic features category of GPS units, which actually is the reason I got this one and returned 2 others. I just wanted a unit that told me the yardage to the front, middle, back of the green, the ability to keep my score, limited shot measuring as I don't use it much and was easy to use which it is with the touch screen and provided a general layout of the hole. I think they succeeded in those areas, if you want something that shows fly overs, every tree, etc on the course, then the Garmin is definitely not for you.
 
I'm not too surprised about the touch screen issues. A fingertip is just too large for the sort of precision that such a small screen requires. I have a Garmin Nuvi GPS in my car, with a larger screen than the G5, but even then it's pretty easy to fat-finger when typing in an address.

The more I read about other golf GPS units and "features", the more convinced I am that I made a good choice in going with the GolfLogix. Still uses rugged Garmin hardware, but it's simple, accurate, easy to read even in the brightest sunlight, and they keep their promise to maintain the course database. I've gotten emails telling me of updates to many of the courses I've downloaded, without asking or prompting. If they make a change to any course you've downloaded, it's automatically flagged to inform you of the change. I like that a lot. Simplicity and good customer service are strong selling points for me.
 
Vegan702 said:
Same here, I carry mine in my left pocket and sometimes forget it is there. I can agree with the glare, however, I purchased a screen protector that solved most of this. There will be times where it doesn't matter which unit you have the sun will prevent you from getting a clear picture unless you shade it somehow. The natural obstructions such as trees, etc. are not on most courses that I have used it for either. However, all the hazards that I needed to know about have been on the screen. And I agree with the zooming feature, it takes a little practice to see how to use it correctly. You have to put your finger below the flag and move it where you want to place it. It takes a couple tries to figure that out and get used to the placement.

I think the Garmin falls into the basic features category of GPS units, which actually is the reason I got this one and returned 2 others. I just wanted a unit that told me the yardage to the front, middle, back of the green, the ability to keep my score, limited shot measuring as I don't use it much and was easy to use which it is with the touch screen and provided a general layout of the hole. I think they succeeded in those areas, if you want something that shows fly overs, every tree, etc on the course, then the Garmin is definitely not for you.
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I have some different thoughts on this. We took 5 GPS units out to play and the Garmin suffered from the sun FAR more than any other device we tested.

I am in the process now of looking up 60 different courses (selected randomly) and seeing how the hazards are mapped, and I must say that quite a few are missing major things such as trees and bunkers.

The basic side of things works well. In fact extremely well, but my issue with that is that there are basic GPS devices that give these numbers that cost a fraction of what the G5 does.

As for the weight and size. It is the thickness that is bothering most of our testers. It is thicker than every single GPS we have reviewed and weighs more than every single GPS we have reviewed as well.
 
Fourputt said:
I'm not too surprised about the touch screen issues. A fingertip is just too large for the sort of precision that such a small screen requires. I have a Garmin Nuvi GPS in my car, with a larger screen than the G5, but even then it's pretty easy to fat-finger when typing in an address.
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I have a TomTom Go910 and have the same issue. (It has a 4" screen)
 
This review will be up tomorrow for those that are interested. I will warn everybody, it is LONG!
 
Bumping this one for the PM reader.
 
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