I am thinking of getting either one of these devices. If you have experience with either one or both, please share your opinions.

Thanks.

A GPS will always have quite a bit of margin of error. It will be around +/- half an iron, unless it is coordinated with a receiver at a specific position. Dence forrest and mountains can block the GPS completely.

I do not know what the margin of error of a range finder is.

Range finder>>>GPS.

GPS can't tell you your exact yardarge to the flag...all it can tell you is yardages to features and then give you an overview of the green...so you're still guessing. Range finder gives you exact yardage AND you can use it to look @ some features.

Obviously GPS can do some things that a range finder can't...but on the whole, range finder>>GPS imo.

I have a bushnell 1500 (I think)...it's $400 or so.

^^^ Get a rangefinder. No subscription or anything.

I don't own/use either, but have played rounds with guys using each. I generally agree that rangefinder is > than GPS, unless you're playing a course with a lot of blind shots.

Get a Bushnell.

Bushnell and it's not even close!

What about skycaddie? That's not GPS amirite?

btw. Is there something I'm missing from the prices here? http://shop.ebay.com/items/__rangefi....c0.m14&_pgn=1

This is not correct. Even the earliest SkyCaddies have the ability to show the layout of the green and give you the ability to adjust a set of crosshairs to where the pin is. You can also use this feature to get yardages to green features like shelves/slopes and see exact carry yardages on whatever line you are taking. This is not to mention the fact that a rangefinder is useless in figuring out distances to/carry yardages over fairway bunkers and hazards. The thing that surprises me about my Skycaddie is that its actually more useful the more I've played the course.

given the comments, those saying bushnell have most likely not tried a good gps like skycaddie.

skycaddie by a large margin, although i am very interested in trying the garmin one that preloads all courses and has no subscriptions.

But how can you know EXACTLY where the pin is w/ skycaddie unless the course gives you a pin sheet?

You can't...and that's my point. With skycaddie, you're still guessing where the pin is.

I've played w/ people w/ skycaddie and I wouldn't trade my bushnell ever...I know how they work.

A friend of mine is one of the co-founders of Golflogix, a competitor to SkyCaddie who tout the Garmin technology and run infomercials with Kostis and McCord.

I played with him on Sunday and I gotta say, it was very useful in documenting distances to hazards, etc. Things a rangefinder cannot do. Granted, it does only give you front/middle/back on the green but I am decent enough at math that I can figure out the distance +/- a couple of yards. Also, I don't think there's a subscription required - you just download all the courses you want for free once you own the unit.

That said, if all you're interested in is distance to the flag and use a yardage guide for everything else then yeah, I could see Bushnell being the way to go.

I guess we approach the game very differently. When I can't see the bottom of the flag I care much more about carry yardages than about the exact distance to the pin. Knowing that the pin is 169 and not 167 or 171 is secondary in my mind to knowing exactly how far it is to carry the bunker in front of the pin and the distance to the slope behind it. With a decent GPS you can always know these things, with a rangefinder it is you who are guessing.

I vote GPS by a wide margin. Every time I have played with someone with the range finder there are many times where they cant seem to 'hit' the flag. I know I certainly often cant find it with them.

As for the spot on the green, you can pretty much always tell front, back or middle by the flag color and move the hole on the Skycaddie tot eh appropriate position. Sure you will be off by 2-3 yds perhaps.

Also, GPS is faster since you can just look at it for the yds rather than having to ping the flag with a laser.