Bushnell Neo+ GPS Watch

whitefoot

After having my S1 Garmin stolen I called McGuirks who tell me the S1 is no longer sold by them and that the Bushnell Neo+ GPS Watch is the replacement.
Can anyone tells me if the Bushnell Neo+ GPS Watch is any good or if the Garmin S1 was superior? I need to buy tomorrow.
Thank you

Rodrigo

I don't know anything about the bushnell but I have the Garmin S3 and would'nt swap it for anything else. A quick glance at your wrist and it makes up your mind what club to hit. Front middle and back of the green in yards or metres, you can modifiy it too with layup points. Look no further than the S3.

whitefoot

McGuirks no longer sell the S3 either as they feel Bushnell is a better recognised and committed golf brand.

Dr_Colossus

Firstly commiserations on the theft of your GPS watch. How did it happen, in the locker room while you were taking a shower or while strapped to your bag? Also if you've golfsure insurance as part of club membership check with them as it should be covered and you should be entitled to money towards a replacement.

I can't comment on either as don't have a golf GPS but the two Garmin GPS' I have for the car and bike are both very good.

whitefoot wrote: »

McGuirks no longer sell the S3 either as they feel Bushnell is a better recognised and committed golf brand.

This is a problem I have with McGuirks, they have a large chain of large stores but most of the merchandise on display is the same. They might have 10 bags the same but the one you're looking at is not available, not a good range of products at all which is further emphasised now by not stocking Garmin.

Granted Bushnell are a recognised golf brand in terms of laser range finders with additional GPS devises on offer but Garmin have a long history with GPS and stands to reason that they got involved in golf and their watches have received much acclaim since they've been introduced onto the scene. Don't understand why McGuirks are not offering a choice to their customers as space certainly isn't an issue, must be down to a better profit margin on the Bushnell products.

whitefoot

Thanks Dr_Colossus it was lifted on me but I will check out that insurance.

opinionated3

+1 on the s3. Fantastic device and real easy to use. Quite expensive though, but i believe the price has come down a fair bit in last month or so.

newport2

OP, I have the Garmin, my mate has the Busnell. Very little difference tbh. They both work very well, if anything the battery life is a bit better in the Bushnell. You won't go wrong with either though

Moggaman

I bought a garmin s1 secondhand on eBay...quality....on your wrist....

WillyWonka

Moggaman wrote: »

I bought a garmin s1 secondhand on eBay...quality....on your wrist....

S3 is pretty cool.
Expensive and battery life cuts it fine for 2 rounds.

But it's faultless really other than that.

whitefoot

I bought the Bushnell Neo watch on Friday and that evening went through the slightly conflicted and inconsistent instructions & websites necessary for a firmware update to version 3.0.

On Saturday I played Seapoint in County Louth with the Bushnell on my left wrist and a borrowed Garmin S1 on my right list.

Disappointingly many times both devices diasgreed so I gave up the comparison from my shot locations and used the fairway markers and tee stones for confidence building in the Bushnell. Sadly for me the Bushnell failed with the Garmin s1 clearly inspiring the most confidence.

The epic failure of the Bushnell was on the 18th when it was consistentaly 50 yards out while the Garmin was spot on. Now that 18th hole was lengthened about 5-7 years ago and that was clearly the issue with the Bushnell.

The Bushnell uses iGolf data so I sent them an email and also an email to Bushnell UK on both a registration problem and the inaccuracies I found. A reply was received from iGolf which sorted the registration but the distance inaccuracy was not responded to by iGolf and Bushnell in the UK did not reply at all.

There are some good points about the Bushnell; 1) The charging clip is better and does not require several attempts like the Garmin 2) The hole auto advance works perfectly on each hole while the Garmin will forget on at least 4 holes 3) There are more courses available in Ireland and internationally than the Garmin S1 (but what use is that if they are wrong like my home course).

However the Garmin looks better, is more accurate and is easier to use on the course.

Another problem I encountered also on the Bushnell, is that measurements to the Front, Middle and Back are literally that, so that if you are adjacent to the green, the watch is still measuring the Front and Back relative to the tee box. This is a monstrous failure and the Garmin of course measured what was needed which was to the front of green nearest to me and the back of the green also relative to me so that I knew how much green depth I had to work with.

Also the Bushnell cannot be left to automatically update the time from the Satellite using longtitude as it gets that wrong by one hour even with DST swiched off or on, so you need to manually set it. The long battery life claim by Bushnell is a complete fabrication, full battery with 4 bars going out, then 18 holes later only one bar, even worse than the Garmin S1.

Not sure what to do next but I have used the information from iGolf and fully registered the product and updated the firmware again using a different laptop and browser and will try again with the Bushnell also having done a manual load of Seapoint to the watch so I will test again using both devices.

I wanted the Bushnell to work as well as the Garmin, just to move on. But whoever stole that Garmin S1 that I had has caused me more grief than he realised as I could just accepted the theft if the replacement that I forked out my vouchers for had worked equally well. When I was buying on Friday McGuirks tell me they have had no complaints about the Bushnell but say it is relatively new so perhaps not fully untested by the buyers.

Here hoping firmware upgrade/device registration sorts all this out or else the satellites were all wrong on Saturday, I will know soon enough.

Kace

Hmmm a few of us on here have had some issues with the accuracy of the iGolf courses for Bushnells. We have the Neo devices though and individual courses can be mapped and changed yourself.

Sounds like the jury is out re the accuracy of some/potentially many Irish courses. However if McGuirk is selling them then they'll be all over the place in no time.

Let us know if you try any other courses. Could be a one-off with your own and the few some of us have had issues with.

whitefoot

I tried the Bushnell again at Seapoint GC today but it is still inaccurate by 50 yards on the 18th hole and 10 yards inaccurate on the 9th but it was fine on the 1st. The club pro tells me that the only company who ever came to map the course was GolfBuddy.

All the registration and firmware updating achieved was that the GPS watch now tells the correct time without manual intervention.

Now here is the dilemma,
1. Return the Bushnell to McGuirks who cannot offer me a Garmin so I am left with unused vouchers in a store that takes me an hour to travel to.
2. Hold on to the Bushnell which I am sure is a good device and hope that iGolf eventually update their maps even though I have evidence in the case of Seapoint GC that has not been done in 6+ years.

Any advice?

whitefoot

I made contact again with iGolf (they are on San Diego time) who asked me to send a scanned copy of the course layout and the scorecard and they will prioritise a remap to be available for download in 2-3 weeks.

I just did that and I was very impressed with their responsiveness, so now the dilemma is how can I hold the Bushnell until I can retest Seapoint but still return the watch if it proves to still be unsatisfactory.

TheGolfer01

whitefoot wrote: »

I made contact again with iGolf (they are on San Diego time) who asked me to send a scanned copy of the course layout and the scorecard and they will prioritise a remap to be available for download in 2-3 weeks.

I just did that and I was very impressed with their responsiveness, so now the dilemma is how can I hold the Bushnell until I can retest Seapoint but still return the watch if it proves to still be unsatisfactory.

Lesson learned I'd say, maybe next time you'll do your research before you buy the product!.

m r c

Have to say I'm surprised reading this, I bought the neo hand held one off eBay a few weeks ago and only mapped my home course myself. I can't remember exactly how many weeks I have it now 3-4 I'd say I've played every week since I bought it and its still on the one charge and since I mapped myself I find the accuracy unquestionable. I haven't bothered with igolf yet and reading here I don't think I'll bother, not much point if you are going to be doubting it anyway I could just use no GPS and just doubt myself anyway ha.

I'll just go by other people's GPS units away from home when I don't get a chance to map myself :-)

Can you map and edit yourself mate? That seems like the easiest option here.

Dr_Colossus

TheGolfer01 wrote: »

Lesson learned I'd say, maybe next time you'll do your research before you buy the product!.

Unfair comment, he bought a recognised gps watch from a reputable retailer so should be able to assume the product performs as advertised. Product research prior to purchase generally involves a review of it's features, user interface, ease of use and a price comparison rather than trying to verify that the product is accurate for a course advertised as being included in the package. Besides the OP did ask for feedback regarding the product on here prior to purchase.

I would assume the basis of a gps watch is to glance at the face and have instant measurements and therefore confidence in it is paramount to it's operation. A gps is of little value if you're given a measurement but you're left second guessing it and having to step it out from a distance marker on the course to verify.

OP, I don't see why holding onto the product for a further 2-3 weeks to test the accuracy of the new download should be a problem. If it still doesn't perform as expected I would have thought you'd be entitled to a refund since most products have a one year guarantee.

On a side note regarding the accuracy of gps devices in general, are most measurements based on a scanned copy of a course layout along with its scorecard? Seems a very arbitrary and inaccurate means of measuring a course.

m r c

+1 on the unfair comment too btw. He bought a bushnell I don't think it's unfair to say they'd be perceived as the no 1 device in golf, as far as measuring yardage is concerned.

No on my neo you can map courses yourself, no need to go by google earth mappings and the like.

whitefoot

TheGolfer01 wrote: »

Lesson learned I'd say, maybe next time you'll do your research before you buy the product!.

This is trolling and your post has been reported as such.

whitefoot

m r c wrote: »

Can you map and edit yourself mate? That seems like the easiest option here.

The Bushnell Neo GPS Watch does not have a self map feature so you are relying on the preinstalled database or an update via the iGolf website.

whitefoot

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

Product research prior to purchase generally involves a review of it's features, user interface, ease of use and a price comparison rather than trying to verify that the product is accurate for a course advertised as being included in the package. Besides the OP did ask for feedback regarding the product on here prior to purchase.

I had read every review on the web and solicited feedback everywhere I could, unfortunately I could find no feedback from actual users except on Amazon and the the professional reviews which are as you describe.

It was my hope by posting on boards to get some feedback from Ireland based users which did not exist for the Bushnell Neo GPS Watch and I have documented my experiences in detail so someone else can hopefully benefit from them.

whitefoot

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

On a side note regarding the accuracy of gps devices in general, are most measurements based on a scanned copy of a course layout along with its scorecard? Seems a very arbitrary and inaccurate means of measuring a course.

It think you are correct in your understanding of how the courses are mapped with the exception of GolfBuddy based on the conversation I had with the Golf Pro when he told me only GolfBuddy has turned up to actually walk the course.

Previously I had been given the impression that Garmin also mapped in this visit manner which was the reason given for their limited course availability.

iGolf during the email exchange elected not to answer direct questions when I asked about the mapping process so I was certainly left with the impression that it is done in the manner you describe above.

Peterdalkey

Have had a Garmin watch for the past year and find it extremely accurate, and also from other places where there are no markers or if there are, they are for a different hole. i don't know how they map, but have yet to catch it out!
Playing with one of the best golfers in Woodenbridge, he was at 150 yards out on the 6th and I said to him, my watch says 161 to the front, he replied, yes I always use one club more here... it is a flat run into the green!! Markers can be wrong too!!


cheers

Peter

whitefoot

I had some email exchange with McGuirks today and they were very helpful.

MCGuirks were surprised at the inaccuracy and suspect Seapoint fell through the net for routine updates for courses that have changed.

McGuirks contacted the Bushnell agent who will expedite the mapping of Seapoint to complete in 7-10 days.

If I still feel the Bushnell Neo GPS watch is unsuitable McGuirks will take it back no problem.

Kace

It will be interesting to see how this pans out this year for Bushnell here in Ireland, as I'm sure that they are using the iGolf mappings.

I have been using the Neo for a few years now but have had restricted enough use of their actual course files, as when I bought my unit there were very few courses mapped for Ireland.

I now notice that nearly every course has been mapped but I too had an issue with one of the courses that they had mapped - The K Club. I put it down to course changes at the time.

I'll be keeping a closer eye as the year goes on if I can get my hands on the course files (not provided with the Neo, only the Neo+) for Doonbeg and some others I am due to play in the coming months.

looder

Kace wrote: »

It will be interesting to see how this pans out this year for Bushnell here in Ireland, as I'm sure that they are using the iGolf mappings.

I have been using the Neo for a few years now but have had restricted enough use of their actual course files, as when I bought my unit there were very few courses mapped for Ireland.

I now notice that nearly every course has been mapped but I too had an issue with one of the courses that they had mapped - The K Club. I put it down to course changes at the time.

I'll be keeping a closer eye as the year goes on if I can get my hands on the course files (not provided with the Neo, only the Neo+) for Doonbeg and some others I am due to play in the coming months.

Definitely leave us know how you get on. I've been reading up a lot on the Bushnell watch and am trying to persuade myself that I don't need it!

whitefoot

Having had my course remapped by L1 Technologies in San Diego who perform this task for Bushnell, the watch is working but can still be inaccurate. Without doubt I wish my Garmin S1 had not been taken on me.

flugel

Any vote of confidence in Bushnell GPS watches in 2014 from anybody?

Looking at the Neo XS. Like the look of it, and appears the smallest which would be a plus.

Can't make up my mind between a Garmin, Bushnell and a SkyCaddie (which no longer require subs I believe so now on a par).

Senna

My 2 pence worth is, stay away from Bushel as long as they keep getting their mapping from igolf.
Have you though about the golfbuddy wt4 watch? I just bought one today, but haven't had a play with it yet. As said above, golfbuddy actually map each course and on their website you can see the date it was mapped or updated.
Price is good compared to the skycaddie etc

flugel

Senna wrote: »

My 2 pence worth is, stay away from Bushel as long as they keep getting their mapping from igolf.
Have you though about the golfbuddy wt4 watch? I just bought one today, but haven't had a play with it yet. As said above, golfbuddy actually map each course and on their website you can see the date it was mapped or updated.
Price is good compared to the skycaddie etc

Golfbuddy map it by satellite or by walking course like SkyCaddie? Really like the look of the WT4 after seeing it, looks less bulky.

You buy it online or in store if you don't mind me asking?

Would appreciate any feedback you have with it when you get to try it out.

Senna

I'll have it out for a round tomorrow and I'll let you know how it goes.
I know in my last home club, golfbuddy came out and walked the course to map it. On their list of course on their website, it has a little icon after each course, either fully marked or just front, Middle and back. I think if it's fully marked it means they actually walked the course.

whitefoot

flugel wrote: »

Any vote of confidence in Bushnell GPS watches in 2014 from anybody?

Looking at the Neo XS. Like the look of it, and appears the smallest which would be a plus.

My advice is stay away from the Bushnell. I spent quite a lot of time 6 months trying to get it accurate on various courses in Ireland and finally I had to sell it at a loss and buy another Garmin S1 which works perfectly.

flugel

Senna wrote: »

I'll have it out for a round tomorrow and I'll let you know how it goes.
I know in my last home club, golfbuddy came out and walked the course to map it. On their list of course on their website, it has a little icon after each course, either fully marked or just front, Middle and back. I think if it's fully marked it means they actually walked the course.

Cheers, interested to see what you make of it. Have found very few if any reviews online. One I did find just had people complaining about the charger connector breaking, no insight into how it performed when it does work!

flugel

whitefoot wrote: »

My advice is stay away from the Bushnell. I spent quite a lot of time 6 months trying to get it accurate on various courses in Ireland and finally I had to sell it at a loss and buy another Garmin S1 which works perfectly.

Thanks for the input. Reckon it will come down to Garmin and Golf Buddy depending on what level of detail I want. S1 does appear to be rock solid from what I've read

Senna

Got to use the GolfBuddy wt4 watch today, I think I'll need a couple of rounds to give a full review but so far, it's good.
Course measurements were spot on, I'll play with someone with a laser soon and check for sure, but compared to course markers, it looks between 2-3yards out at the very worst.
Display is good, it shows front, Middle and back on main screen and one button press brings up distance to bunkers, hazards etc. It has distance to front and back of each hazard.
I turned the watch on about 10 minutes before I got to the 1st tee, but I didn't get a measurement till I got to the green, it may be because it was the first time the watch was turned on in Ireland (it was used in the UK before) , or it might be very slow to pick up courses. I'll know more next time I use it. I don't think it will be an issue.
Automatic hole progression was good till I got to the 9th, walking from the tee I passed the 11th tee box and it jumped to the 11th hole which goes at a 90degree angle away from the 9th. It then stayed on the 11th even as I walked 200 yards up the 9th, so I manually move the hole selection to the 9th. On the 13th it jump to the 17th, as both tee boxes are side by side, but jumped back to the 13th within seconds.
I don't use automatic hole progression usually, so not sure if it would happen normally, but my course does have a few shared tee area and crossovers.
The watch is very comfortable on my wrist and looks similar size to other gps watched. I alway ware a watch, so took no getting used to.
There are scorecard functions and more, but I didn't use any of that, a practice round would allow more time to mess about.
All in all I'm delighted, I know the course database is good and a lot of people I know have the golfbuddy platinum and they say the measurements are great for Donegal courses.
Happy out.

flugel

Senna wrote: »

All in all I'm delighted, I know the course database is good and a lot of people I know have the golfbuddy platinum and they say the measurements are great for Donegal courses.
Happy out.

Great to hear a positive review albeit from just one round. Looks like it will be a good investment.

For curiosity I used the iGolf app on my phone today and found distances very accurate. Whether GPS in Bushnell watch be as good as my phone I don't know but has given me food for thought.

As regards the WT4 is the charging dongle finicky? Read reports of people breaking them, I presume through not being anyways careful with it.

Senna

On the bushnell watch, I would say the accuracy would be the same on nearly all watches, my only problem was iGolf, not the actual bushnell devices.

Yeah I also seen the reviews about the WT4 charging, if you didn't read the instructions you might assume you just push it in, but there is a small clip that clicks the watch into place. If you just forced it you might break it, anyone who broke it probably just forced it in without looking at it first, which is pretty stupid.

I was trying to find out last night why the WT4 didn't pick up a signal till I got to the 1st green (but I left my bag on the second tee before going to the green). The gps is set up to know where the tees are on each hole, so once you get to a tee it reads that hole. But we are playing of winter mats and on the 1st its about 20 yards in front of the tee box, so I never actually went near the 1st tee. That also why it jumped to the 11th hole, because I walked over a path that goes through the 11th tee box while playing the 9th.
Those two things did bother me and I knew it was something stupid, but I feel better knowing that the tee box sets the hole.

flugel

Bit the bullet on the WT4. Got a cyber Monday deal, was a little bit extra than could have got the Bushnell for, but figured for all hazards marked and the course walked for GPS accuracy the Golfbuddy was the way to go. Will be very handy especially when playing different courses. Now just to work on my actual golf swing!