The Golf Rangefinder Shop » Callaway GPS

Callaway uPro MX Review

Golf Rangefinder — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 10:38:04 +0000

“Callaway uPro MX”

Regular Price ~~$249.00~~
Today $184.50

Order Now

Update 08-06-2011…
Callaway has issued a voluntary recall of the recently released uPro MC. Our Callaway uPro MX Review advice is as follows: If you own it an love it, keep on using it. if you own it and are unhappy with it, go to the uPro MX website and click the UPRO MX REFUND OFFER button. Â If you don’t own it, consider taking a look at the Golf Buddy World Platinum for a full-featured GPS with great reviews. If you just want to read the saga of expectation, disappointment and more letdown, keep reading…

Update 07-11-2011…
Honestly, you can see by what we have written previously, that we had high hopes that our Callaway uPro MX Review would reveal a game changer in the GPS golf industry. But as of today, we are not ready to recommend this product. The problems with the Callaway launch of the product are explained below and in another post on this website, but there continue to be customer complaints about numerous issues. We’re hoping Callaway will soon turn this device into the unit we all expected, but for now, you may want to look at our Golf Buddy World Platinum Review for a full-featured golf GPS that scores well with users.

Update 6/30/2011…
Finally…. we should be able to put together our Callaway uPro MX Review in the very near future. We’ve been waiting, along with all of the early purchasers of the uPro MX, for six weeks for the Callaway uPro MX website to be operational. At last, it is. If you don’t know what’s been happening, keep reading.

The Callaway uPro MX is very likely the best value in GPS golf rangefinders… or at least it will be very soon. Our complete Callaway uPro MX Review Summary will be available after this product launch debacle is over and customers are able to give reviews about the product itself, instead of the launch. If you haven’t heard, Callaway first delayed shipping the uPro MX for about 10 days and as it turns out, they should have delayed even longer. The device works fine out of the box in Basic Mode and Go Mode and realistically, if that’s all it had to offer, it would still be at a competitive price point. But what makes the Callaway uPro MX so attractive is that for a one-time fee of about $60, you get Pro Mode on an unlimited number of courses. With Pro Mode, this is one of, if not the most, full featured golf GPS device on the market and there are no recurring subscriptions. You can also purchase one Pro Mode course at a time or smaller bundles. It’s pretty exciting for those who’ve been paying annual fees to use their rangefinders. The only problem… the Callaway website for downloading Pro Mode courses isn’t working yet. They are working like crazy to get it up and running, but some users have been waiting for two weeks and many are understandably frustrated. Callaway is trying to make it up to customers by offering five free Pro Mode courses to all new upro mx users who register within two weeks after the site goes live. For golfers who don’t need the unlimited plan, this is a great time to order. If, on the other hand, you’re ready to order a full-featured GPS golf rangefinder that’s user tested and ready to go, we suggest you take a look at our Golf Buddy World Platinum Review. It’s definitely more expensive, but there are no fees and the reviews are good.

When you compare price and features, there is nothing close to the Callaway uPro MX. It is a full-featured compact, sleek-looking GPS golf rangefinder with a price point low enough to entice even the budget-conscious golfer. For less than $200, it comes with 25,000 golf courses pre-loaded and NO ANNUAL FEES! It offers hole views, alternate targets, a multi-gesture touch screen and more. There are three modes for using this device: Basic Mode and Go Mode are included in the price and ready to go out of the box. There is a fee for downloading courses in Pro Mode, which offers just about every feature you can think of putting on a golf GPS. The good news is that the fees are not annual – you can buy an individual course, a bundle of 25 courses or an unlimited package for a one-time fee. We’ll be anxious to see how this approach goes over with users.

Callaway uPro MX Top Features:

25,000 pre-loaded golf courses – ready to go out of the box
No annual fees
Full-color multi-gesture touch screen – 2.2â€ LCD
Optical Finger Navigation system – easily navigate with the swipe of a finger
Only weighs 3 ounces
Virtual Green View can be downloaded to show the green and the surrounding area in vivid detail, including exact putting distances
SmartView^â„¢ can also be downloaded offering displays the ideal view for the upcoming shot based on the golferâ€™s position on the course. It also provides two other views which are available at the press of a button
ProMode^â„¢ is available for an extra fee and grants access to some of the deviceâ€™s more advanced technology features, including hi-resolution aerial photography

Callaway uPro MX Review is a post from: The Golf Rangefinder Shop

Callaway uPro MX Launch Debacle

Golf Rangefinder — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:45:20 +0000

Callaway uPro MX Review

Read Review

We’ll never really know how much the premature launch of the Callaway uPro MX will cost Callaway financially, but we can imagine how disappointed some of the product’s designers are.Â The uPro MX was one of the most anticipated GPS golf rangefinders ever announced, because it offers more features for a lot less money than any of its competition.

The Callaway uPro MX is slim, sleek, lightweight and has a multi-gesture touch screen. It comes with three different modes, Basic, Go and Pro Mode. Basic and Go Modes are ready to go right out of the box with no fees. Registration and downloads are only required for Pro Mode, which comes with complete detailed hole views and more. There are two options for purchasing Pro Mode golf courses and both options are one-time payments, NOT annual subscriptions like many other GPS rangefinders. You can purchase unlimited Pro Mode courses for $60 or 25 courses for $30. Considering the uPro MX cost about $100 less than its nearest competitor at the time of this writing, that makes this GPS device really attractive. Of course the uPro MX also has shot measuring, stat tracking and a scorecard and appears to be easy to navigate.

So what happened when the product was launched? Well first it was delayed about ten days, but maybe that only heightened the anticipation. Next, it shipped to excited customers who opened the box and followed instructions for registering on the Callaway uPro MX website, where they would also be able to download Pro Mode courses. This is where it gets ugly… the website didn’t work. Many users incorrectly thought that it deemed the product completely useless, while others, who expected to be showing it off at the golf course, didn’t have anything terribly exciting to show without Pro Mode. All were surely frustrated and many showed how they felt in online product reviews.

Callaway responded fairly quickly, explaining that there were technical difficulties transferring data from their existing database of uPro users to the new system. They also offered anyone who registers a uPro MX within two weeks of the site going live, five free Pro Mode golf. Customers who buy the Unlimited package will get no benefit from that, but maybe Callaway expects most users to buy the 25 course bundle.

Back to the designers of the Callaway uPro MX… yes, someone on the team missed something big and it’s likely going to cost Callaway a lot of money. Even though the major technical problems will hopefully be over soon, most of those one (1) star ratings will stay around as long as the uPro MX. Even if most reviews in the future are positive, the average will still be brought down by the flood of reviews from the early adopters. Yes, there is probably much disappointment within the Callaway design team, but they have still set a new standard for GPS golf rangefinders. In the end, the consumer will benefit and maybe (just maybe) Callaway will sell enough of these units to dilute those bad reviews.

Callaway uPro MX Launch Debacle is a post from: The Golf Rangefinder Shop

Callaway uPro Review of Reviews

Golf Rangefinder — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:59:59 +0000

$199.00

Our Callaway uPro Review of ReviewsÂ is a summary or pros and cons that we’ve noticed from users on a variety of websites. We have also compiled user ratings from multiple sites to come up with our GRS Score.

Callaway uPro GRS Score: 7.61 out of 10 (159 reviews)

Most Mentioned Pros:

Accurate
Easy to Read
Aerial hole view (in Pro mode)
No membership fee (Courses are free in Basic Mode and you pay for each course you download in Pro Mode)
Compact size
Pro Mode shows distance to layup and distance to carry
Customizable

Most Mentioned Cons:

A little slow starting up
Battery life could be longer
Difficult installation for Mac users
Course availability
No stat/score tracking

Callaway uPro Review of Reviews is a post from: The Golf Rangefinder Shop