Built for Golfers: Weighing in at just 6.8 ounces with batteries and boasting a transflective color 3-inch touchscreen, the Approach is your featherweight fairway guide regardless of the lighting conditions. IPX7 waterproofing means that the device can withstand accidental immersion as well–but thankfully, youll be avoiding water hazards, of course.

Cost of ownership: The Garmin and uPro are color, so theyre not cheap. If you want to compare apples to apples, you could go to the color SkyCaddie SG5, but be advised that the SG3, SG4, and SG5 are virtually identical in functionality, screen size – basically, EVERYTHING – so youre paying almost $150 more for color alone, which is the cost of a whole 20-inch color TV. (My SG3 is discontinued, so now Im quoting price from the replacement SG4.) Couple that with the amazing wow factor of both the Garmin and the uPro, and the top-of-the-line color SkyCaddie SG5 is a terrible deal. To the SkyCaddies cost of ownership, add their totally outrageous annual membership fees. SkyCaddie also charges ridiculous sums of money for stuff like plastic cart mounts and batteries. The Garmin wins here, hands-down, with all available courses preloaded into memory. No fees whatsoever! For accessories, RAM Mounts makes a rock-solid, relatively reasonably-priced cart mount for the Garmin. The uPro, while not requiring you to pay for a membership, makes you download each course. Theyre all free, if you want to use only Basic Mode. But if you want what makes the unit famous and awesome, which is Pro Mode video previews and flyovers of each hole, you need to pay. If you go for a 20-course package, for example, thats $60. Its still cheaper for most people than SkyCaddie, because theres no annual fee. And the more courses you buy, the cheaper it gets per course. However, uPro accessories such as cart mounts are rarely discounted, and youll pay more for their little plastic add-ons than you would pay for a complete multi-handset cordless phone system or a new DVD player. Check out the best handheld gps

I have used my G5 approach about 6 times and so far have been very pleased with its performance. It is incredibly easy to use. Insert the batteries, turn it on, find the course you are playing and away you go. My friend who has a SkyCaddie thinks my G5 is way cooler and so much easier to use. He also is envious that I dont have to pay yearly subscription fees. I was standing on a marked sprinkler head recently and my G5 showed the exact same distance as the sprinkler head. I love that you have no buttons to manipulate, just touch the screen and you are in business. So easy to move the pin position on the greens, too. Some of negatives are not all courses are included (the list is growing, however) and it “eats” batteries rather quickly and as with all gps unit, the golfer still has to hit the shot. But, there are no subsciption fees (a huge plus) and you do not have to sync it to a computer. It is also very easy to use the other functions, such as the scoring option and measuring shot distance. I did my homework by comparing many of the golf gps units on the market before purchasing the Garmin G5 approach and I think I made the right choice for me.