Quality Control Failure
Because I am so fond of Garmin products I didn't want to believe some of the reviews describing the difficulty of reading the Garmin, G5 Approach display. Mostly because there seem to be an equal amount of reviews describing poor visibility and at the same time praising the device without mentioning the display. I thought surely Garmin R & D or Quality Control representatives actually took the G5 out in all weather conditions and would have surely noticed such poor visibility - so I paid the 0 and waited with anticipation. Only I was quickly disappointed that while in the sun, shade or cart, I found myself straining to see clearly the displayed information. It was even more apparent when I stood next to my golfing partner and compared his SkyCaddie - it was ridiculously clearer!

I regretfully returned this GPS to Amazon at a 15% loss in the refund amount. Although I want a golf GPS desperately, I will wait for Garmin to come out with a newer version that should at least have a brightness and/or contrast display adjustment. I love the fact that after paying for the unit, there are no additional fees for subscriptions or downloads.

Excluding the display, everything else about the G5 is fantastic however, not being able to read the information on the screen is something that can't be overcome!

Expected More
The device works fine, but I expected more for 0.

Screen - Many complaints have been written about the screen. While it's not the best I've seen, it does the job. Yes, sometimes I had to move it slightly because of the sun, but no big deal. The screen size and detail are more than adequate for an average golfer.

Functionality, GPS - Overall, I'd say this was good. After the unit acquired the satelites, it offered me list of the closest courses. Since I normally turn it on at the clubhouse, the course I was playing was listed on top. You then enter the "play" mode and it shows you an overview of the first hole. If you are starting on a different hole, just use the arrow buttons on the screen to cycle through the holes. When you complete a hole, the unit automatically advances to the next. I liked the automatic hole advance feature, but you can turn it off if you like.

Functionality, scoring - The unit can keep score for up to 4 players. You press the upper left corner of the screen to access the score. This was fairly easy to learn and I liked the feature.

Functionality, statistics - I was really looking forward to the statistics feature. I don't have a good feel for how far I hit each club, so I thought this would help my game. The statistics area had several issues. The biggest problem is that it locked up on me twice while trying to enter the data. On both occassions, nothing was lost but I did have to "reboot". Another problem is that you're limited to woods and irons. I carry both a 5 iron and 5 hybrid. The statistics won't let me differentiate between the 2.

Battery - Maybe I just got a bad unit, but my batteries barely lasted a full round. After my first round, we went back to the clubhouse to compare scores. I tried pulling my score up on the gps and it would die. Fortunately, it saves your last round in memory, so I was able to retrieve everything once I got back to the house. Other reviewers have stated they can get 2 rounds out of a set of batteries, so maybe I had a defective unit.

Summary - I definitely liked the unit overall. I returned it due to it locking up, but I haven't heard any other complaints about this happening, so I'm assuming mine was defective. However, even without the lockups, I don't think this is worth 300. If it were closer to 100, I probably would have asked for an exchange instead of a refund. But for 300, I expect a lot more than what the Garmin offers.

G5 VS SG3 Skycaddie
I have used a SkyCaddie SG3 for the past few years. This year they raised the annual fee from . to . and I got fed up. I purchased a Garmin G5 that has no annual fee and I am very pleased. The picture is in color, gives you a view of the total hole and has much more detail that the SG3. If I want to get a yardage to any spot on the hole all I do is place my finger tip on the spot and you will immediately get the yardage from where you are to the spot and them from the spot to the green. The SG3 will only give you info to certain selected spots. the Garmin will keep your scores and the number of puts as well as the number of fairways hit. They have thousands of coursed preloaded and when they add more you don't have to pay any charge. I am well satisfied.

Garmin
Garmin is a great GPS and there is not a monthly fee. However the course yardage was too small for my eyes.

Finally a functioning golf gps...
This is the best golf GPS I've used, I had owned 2 iGolf units prior and they were a non-functioning nightmare - so was their customer service, they totally suck. The Garmin G5 however is awesome, no yearly membership fees, You can zoom in and pick points to check the distance. So far it's been 100% on the money w/ sprinkler head distance markers. This thing rules, buy it!