I’ve had the Garmin G5 for several months, but have just recently had the opportunity to use it for a couple of rounds, and as you can guess by the 5 star rating, I like it. One of the biggest reasons for selecting the G5 is the Garmin brand. They make quality products, and the G5 is no exception. It’s actually one of their “On the Trail” hiker GPS units, called the Oregon, fitted with golf GPS software. It is a somewhat hefty unit. You can put it in a pocket, but you won’t like there for very long. However, I wasn’t looking for a pocket device, so this wasn’t an issue for me.
What really sold me on the Garmin:
- Free course updates. (Garmin states that a nominal fee may be required in the future.)
- Had most of the courses I have played.
- Holds their entire golf course database. Currently about 12,000 and growing. (Courses updated quarterly)
- It shows the entire hole, and yardages to hazards. (Zooms in as you advance towards the green)
- Has a good “green view”, showing any surrounding bunkers and other hazards, with all the necessary yardages.
- You can get yardage to any spot on the hole.
- In the green view, you can move the flag anywhere on the green.
- Easy shot measurement. You can even keep distances for each club*. (It will maintain the average distance for each club)
- Easy score keeping for up to four players. (It can keep statistics for each player about fairways hit, greens in regulation, and number of putts, if you want to take the time to enter all that data*)
- Manual or automatic hole advance.
- Allows you to jump to any hole.*
- Uses AA batteries. (You can’t recharge a built-in lithium battery in the middle of a round)
*These features require latest software. (Free download from Garmin)
After actually using it, what I experienced:
- Initial satellite lock was within a minute or two and was solid. Never lost the signal.
- While it was very accurate, within a yard or two, a couple of times it was as much as five yards off until I repositioned the GPS.
- I had no problems seeing the display in sunlight or shadows wearing prescription glasses that get dark outside. However, I did try a pair of regular (very dark) sunglasses, and found that I could not read the screen while in the shade of the cart.
- If you are keeping score, it automatically presents the “Enter Scores” screen as you get to the next tee. A nice touch.
- Touching the screen to get a distance is problematic. It usually jumps far from your intended target. However, you can zoom in after the initial selection and more accurately get the spot you want. Using a tee seemed to work better than a finger.
- It does eat batteries.
About the batteries: You can use alkalines, lithiums, or rechargeable NiMHs (nickel metal hydrates). Length of rounds, and keeping scores and stats will affect the life of the batteries, but generally speaking, 2-3 rounds is all you’ll get on one set. Also, there is a setting to indicate what type of batteries you have installed. This is significant because the setting will affect the brightness of the screen. The default is alkalines which dims the screen. If you put in lithiums or NiMHs, you need to change the setting to get the maximum brightness. Tip: If you are using lithiums or NiMHs, and you notice the battery level is low, you can change the setting to alkalines to extend the battery life. (The dimmer screen may or may not be a problem.) Note: According to Garmin, you’ll get the best battery performance with NiMHs with a capacity greater than 2500 mA.
Overall, I found the G5 easy to use, and very accurate. As I mentioned, it’s not a pocket device. If that’s important to you, then look elsewhere. Also, some people have reported difficulty with reading the display in certain sitations, usually in the shade, so this could be an issue. Another factor is the course availability. I think it’s unfortunate that some people happen to live in an area that is not, as yet, well covered, and therefore they dismiss an otherwise very capable GPS. My feeling is, Garmin wants to be competitive with the other manufacturers who have 20,000+ courses mapped, so they are nowhere near done adding courses.
It may not be perfect, and it may not be cheap, but for me, it’s the best GPS out there.