The uPro Golf GPS by Callaway Golf is a revolutionary golf GPS device that is visually and technologically superior to all other golf rangefinders. It was designed to help improve your game by proving superior functionality, yet maintaining ease of use. The uPro Golf GPS by Callaway Golf delivers information to you, the golfer, in an unprecedented fashion, allowing you to quickly get precise distances while also enabling you to see the actual layout of the hole. You’ll see the game and course from a whole new perspective.
uPro Golf GPS by Callaway Golf Review
A few bugs, but overall an excellent experience
I've now played 30+ rounds with the uPro Golf GPS by Callaway Golf. Its got some good points and some bad, I suppose this is like any new device, especially one that is from a brand new company.
The Good
- Distances are right on.
- Basic mode gives you a quick, easy to read view of distance to the green and distance to reach and carry hazards.
- Mark feature allows you to measure the length of your shots. Sometimes gives erroneous readings. However, this only happened when I kept the uPro in my pocket, so maybe buttons were being pressed by accident.
- Aerial view of the hole is awesome. Like looking at a yardage book, with continuously updating distances. There is a small red diamond that marks your position on the hole and moves with you. I almost ran into a 150 yard pole because I was so fascinated with watching the little diamond track my position on the satellite view! Hazards like bunkers are marked front and back and also update continuously.
- Measure Mode lets you get a measurement to any point on the hole. I have used it to find the distance back into the fairway, but you really need a tree or something on the satellite image to reference. I have also used it to find distances not mapped by the company, like a layup distance to the front of a creek.
- Trans-reflective screen is easy to see in Basic View even in bright sunlight. However, in Pro Mode, it can be difficult to see. You need to experiment with the viewing angle to get it right. I've found that in bright sunlight, you can see the screen best if you are angling it just off where the sun would be reflecting into your eyes. Or shade the screen with your hand.
- No subscriptions! You pay only for the courses you want. Courses cost the same no matter where in the country (and eventually the world) they are located. You never have to buy a course twice, even if you upgrade the device or have to replace the unit (lost, stolen, broken). Courses are expensive if you buy them one at a time. One course costs $10 (3 credits), but if you buy 150 credits ($120), that comes to only $2.40 per Pro course. I bought 150 credits, and I probably won't ever have to buy credits again (at least not for a very long time).
The Bad
- One course had strangely mapped points on a couple holes. Some don't make sense (you can tell they haven't played the course!) However, I sent an email to support and they corrected the problem in a couple weeks.
- Sync is VERY slow. I timed it, and to sync and download 1 course took over 10 minutes. Be patient.
- When syncing, the status box shows up in front of all other windows (on Windows XP) and cannot be moved to the back. So your computer is effectively stuck doing one thing for 10 minutes.
- No subscriptions. I put this item in both The Good and The Bad because it depends on your point of view. If you play a whole lot of courses (more than 50), then it could get quite expensive. But I play only about 15 courses on a regular basis, plus about 3 or so each year on a vacation trip.
- Distances do not automatically update if you are using the measure function in Pro Mode. You have to either exit measure mode, or switch back to basic mode to get an update distance.
- Not all courses are mapped yet. In Denver, about 70% of the courses are mapped. But of the 15-20 I play regularly, about 95% are mapped. Many of those that are not mapped yet are scheduled to be mapped in 2008. There is a schedule on uPro's website (www.uprogps.com). And if you choose an unmapped course as your home course, they will have it mapped in 4 business days, guaranteed. I would recommend checking all the courses you play before buying this device.
The Ugly
- The software needs a little work--freezes up from time to time. During the first two rounds, it froze up once in each round. While annoying, all you have to do is hold the power button down for 8 seconds to force a power-off, then turn it back on. Of course, the re-boot process and getting back to your current hole takes a couple minutes. Their customer service department claims a firmware update will be available "in the next few weeks". I turned off the "automatic hole advance", and this seemed to fix the problem. The last 25+ rounds were freeze-up free after changing this setting. The automatic hole advance is unnecessary in my opinion. From the "Green View", you can simply press the up button to advance to the next hole, or press the down button to go to the previous hole.
Suggestions
- Create a graphical overlay for the aerial views, or figure out a way to make them higher contrast. The Pro Mode can be somewhat difficult to see in bright sunlight.
- Faster downloading/sync
- Find and fix the bugs in the software that cause the freeze-ups
- If the upcoming software can mark every ball location, its only a matter of time before it will keep your score, shot-by-shot. On the uPro website they state that additional software to keep score will be available by late summer 2008. Of course, if it freezes up and you lose data then such a feature is worthless.
The Bottom Line
This is a very new company and a very new product. Like most new products, they have a few bugs to work out. I'm going to stick with them and hopefully they will be committed to fixing the problems. If a year goes by and the same problems exist, I might regret this purchase. But right now I'm pretty darn happy with it!
uPro w/v3.0 Works like it was advertised--Bugs fixed....
Let me start by saying that I have never written a review on a product purchased from Amazon. I did this one, because I struggled with making this purchase based on the reviews I read and thought I might add some additional detail to help the next person.
I purchased the uPro Golf GPS by Callaway Golf about a month ago. The product is impressive. Many reviews claimed some common complaints: "Pro" Mode too hard to see when out in the bright sun; system crashes, long load times from the PC... I have found many of those issues to be true although exaggerated.
Yes "Pro" mode is more difficult to see in bright sun, but it is not a big issue--yes it is harder because of the detail of the course and terrain that it is showing--however, "Pro" Mode is really what sets this device above its competitors, and it is completely useable in bright light. In fact that is how I use it 90% of the time. uPro actually uses a special screen that actually uses sunlight to enhance its own backlighting.
The unit did crash the first time I used it on the course...twice. However, I realized I did not cycle the power on and off after all of the loading of courses etc. that you need to do when you first register your unit online. Either way, that was the only time it crashed. It has been completey stable since then, and I am even less concerned with it becuase they just put out their newest update v3.0 that was specifically to address some of the stability issues. In short, I found this to also not be a concern.
The first time I loaded the unit with courses it took a LONG time...20 minutes or more. Not a big deal, but annoying nonetheless. The new software cuts this down by 50%, so again I see this as a non-issue.
The unit is extremely accurate. I am a 5 handicap and know my clubs/yardages pretty well. I compared uPro to my buddies playing with SkyCaddie and they are both showing the same yardages +/- 1 yard. I have another friend that uses a laser rangefinder, but now when we play together, he constantly wants me to give him yardages off the uPro, because we found them to be just as accurate but with infinitely less hassle. Try holding a rangefinder pointed at a pin that is 175-195 yards away in the wind...not easy and not timely.
The unit has a small form factor...much smaller than the skycaddie and certainly less than a laser rangefinder. However, the screen is about the same size.
uPro's customer service I found to be VERY responsive. I emailed back and forth with them several times and in some detail PRIOR to even making the purchase to see how they addressed the issues and just as a measure of how they would deal with me...even when I wasn't a customer. I give them very high marks for service. Customer Service is an area where SkyCaddie is known to be very poor. That was a major factor in me staying away from SkyCaddie in the first place.
I would and have recommended this to my friends at the club and I would recommend the product to anyone considering it.
Still the winner and even better!
Since I wrote this in August, uPro Golf GPS by Callaway Golf has contiued to perform wonderfully. The company just upgraded the software for even more stable performance, and I saw this review if you have any questions about mine: http://thehackersparadise.com/home/?p=505#more-505
I had been in the market for my first GPS rangefinder, and have read tons of reviews for the uPro, SkyCaddie, and SonoCaddie and Garmin. The uPro clearly seemed to have the best features; however I was a little concerned about some of the reviews so I went to the uPro web site and then called them. After some discussion with one of their very helpful customer service representatives, I went with the uPro and wanted to share my experience.
INSTALLATION
I received my uPro, and went to register with their website. I have a Dell laptop running the hated Vista but had absolutely no problem. Course download was a bit slow but still was only about 10 minutes.
On course availability - I live in Orange County, California. Within 5 miles there are 8 courses available, and within 10 miles there are at least 22. For other less golf-intense areas, the company says they are mapping over 1000 courses a month. I found a course which was not already mapped and called that my home course. I thought they had missed the 4-day guarantee, but then they explained that the 1st day of the guarantee starts the day AFTER you make the request. This seems more like a 4.5 day guarantee, but in either case, got the course and have played it a couple times since with great results.
* I also like the onetime fee for purchasing courses. I know that some of the units come with all the courses included, but after seeing the flyovers and the actual satellite images on the uPro, I can't imagine ever going back. They are awesome.
The unit comes with an ONLINE manual. My Dell laptop does the same thing - maybe I'm used to it, but this did not represent a problem for me.
USABILITY
* The uPro itself really is small enough to fit easily in a pocket. It is about the size of my LG Chocolate phone, which I have no problem just slipping it into my pants pocket. The display is easy to see in direct sunlight, and gets even better if you shade it or get the reflection at the right angle
* Responsiveness during play is also excellent - from the time that I take it out of my pocket, I can use the measure mode to do a layup measurement in just a couple of seconds. I have never been so confident about where I'm hitting my ball and what club I'm using as I do when I use my uPro
It is simply no contest. SkyCaddie, Garmin, and Sonocaddie - Pack your bags!
Buy Now $ uPro Golf GPS by Callaway Golf
