Bushnell Laser Rangefinder Guide
Posted By Games Guy on February 5, 2010
When you think of Bushnell and golf, you immediately think of their high quality range finders that are in so many golfers’ bags. But this year the company has decided to take it one step further and create a line of GPS units for the players that prefer the simplicity of just looking down at a screen and getting a distance rather than having to use the optics of the range finder. The first to debut in the Bushnell line is the new distance made simple GPS handheld properly called the Yardage Pro.
Bushnell was kind enough to send one over on loan to review and we were delighted to give it a test drive. We will base this review on four things.
1. Accuracy – What good is a GPS device that is not accurate.
2. Ease of Use
3. Durability
4. Features
Once armed with the device we headed out to play a few rounds of golf with it. We used it two golf courses both with built in GPS on the carts to compare accuracy. We also had a Skycaddie with us to use in comparison as well. For 5 rounds of golf we used these devices and in terms of accuracy, the Bushnell Yardage Pro was spot on. Never more than 1 yard difference between any of the devices. Ease of use was a complete breeze. You really only ever use a single button interface to move to the next hole. Each time you move, the correct yardages were displayed for front, center, and back of the green.
There are only four buttons on the display. There is an up arrow, a down arrow, an enter button, and a page button. For certain things, you just press one of the buttons. For other options, you have to hold one of the buttons down for a certain amount of time. I found it difficult to remember which button does what and when I had to hold the button down or just press the button. Again, entry-level units are usually more basic in their navigation, but I do feel that this one leaves a little room for improvement. The good news is that as long as you are just using it for yardages to the green, you don’t have to do any navigating during your round. Once you get it set up, you only have to hit the up arrow after each hole to move on to the next set of yardages.
If your eyes don’t happen to match the diopter correction built into the Legend, you are out of luck. There is no way to adjust this Bushnell’s eyepiece, so put up with blurry views or start shopping for something else.
Illuminated indicators in the viewfinder warn when the laser is active and when the battery is low. The fixed focus eyepiece is provided with a rubber eyecup that can be rolled down to allow eyeglass wearers to get closer to the ocular lens.
Yes, I find it gets a bit more tricky to hit the flag from about 220 and beyond, but I’ve found tricks to get better at that and you will too. Plus, if I’m over 200, I just make sure that I have some clue where I am as a sanity check. If Bushnell figures out how to incorporate optical image stabalization into these units, that’ll make them even better. But for now this is just fine.
The Sport 450 is compact and light weight. It is easy to carry and the battery life of the 9 volt battery that powers it is excellent. I have been using mine for over a year without having to change the battery yet. I have noticed that as the battery gets lower the effective range does begin to shorten. TheSport 450 is easy to use and can be operated in either a horizontal or verticle orientation. I have tried both orientations and got the same readings each time. the one button to activate the laser on the top (if held horizontal) of theSport 450 is large enough to be easy to find quickly without having to look away from your target to find the trigger. The 4X20 optics gives enough magnification to easily locate your target and still give alarge enough field of view to quickly pick up targets even at close range.
Check out more optical range finders advice at opticalrangefindes.com. You can also read some great guides on the Bushnell Pinseeker 1500 there as well.
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