GolfBuddy LR5 Golf Laser Rangefinder

This laser range finder is really nice. I've used mine for 4 rounds and find it very simple and quick once you get the hang of it. I usually use it in the pin seeking mode. You turn it on, point at target (pin flag normally), and you press the same button again (once). It scans for 10 seconds and return the range of the closest thing it scanned which should be the pin if you keep it fixed to the target. the target reticle can wonder a bit and it still fixes on the closest range. It picks it out of the trees or other structures behind the flag. and it's quick. it's also very light and easy to hold.

I just received my new Aim L10 range finder. Amazon delivered it 3 days early! Which was a great surprise, but Amazon is a awesome company with great people working there.Ok now for the range finder. At first look out of the box, it was Better than I thought it would be. Small and solid in the hand and it looks and feels well made. Just looking at the battery compartment, the treads are all metal not plastic like most of them!I purchased a no name before purchasing this one and it was around $170 dollars, it was all plastic and it worked good in my back yard but when I got on the course it was off by 20 yards on some holes. All of the reviews were 5 stars. It wasn’t a fun round at all! So I returned it to Amazon with out a problem.Back to the Aim L10 again, this test is in my back yard. I will update this review in a couple of days!In the back yard test it works great, real quick readings! You can tell right from the beginning it a quality unit just by the feel of it. It is small but that’s what I wanted, but I still use two hands at times. I really like this!I have used some of my friends real expensive brand named units but their units were big and slow, compared to this one!I normally wear a gps watch and it works great but it only gives you the front middle and back of the green but it gets you close. The problem is they added 9 holes to the course I live on and the gps doesn’t work on it yet. It drives me crazy, that’s why I had to break down and buy a range finder! So far I can’t say enough about this range finder!I will update this soon but I don’t think my review will change for the worse.UpdateGolfed with the AIM L10 yesterday and it was awesome!I have read a couple of complaints about the the pin mode not vibrating when locked on the pin and it’s because they are not using the range finder correctly! The pin mode is used when you have a lot of background stuff around the pin and I think it’s real accurate in this mode when you use it correctly.This is how the pin mode should be usedYou push the on button once and you will see a + . Now you move the + about a half inch away from the flag keeping the + on something in the background, like a tree. Then you push the on button again and you’ll see like a square around the +. At that time you start moving the square with the + in it slowly to the flag! It will lock on to the flag and vibrate real quickly. It sounds like a lot but it only takes a second or two!Also, this Aim L10 reads the slope as your top reading which is great because that’s the actual distance to the flag and boy that helped in my round!Like the other ranger finders give you the flat yardage first which in my opinion make you have to look at too many readings and can be confusingI was playing with a guy that had a new Bushnell Tour V4 Jolt and my Aim L10 was quicker and more accurate and his kept reading off the wrong distance because he was not reading the slope distance.And he paid about $130 dollars more for he’s!If you have any questions I will be more then willing to help

Ok, so since I returned the Bushnell Tour X $400 model and bought this Golfbuddy model for $180, without any hassle from Amazon, I thought I'd write a review that might help other golfbuddies.Loved the Bushnell Tour X model! Bright display and two modes: Red or Black. Red I think might give better visibility in bad conditions. Easy to use and I liked the "Jolt" feature for confirmation of hitting the flag. Face plate was easy to change to switch between Slope and no Slope. Since I play in tournaments, this was an important feature to have. Played three rounds with it, two practice and one tournament. Quick measurement and easy to use. I also was interested in using the Slope function in practice rounds to see how much I should be compensating for on my home course. From experience I kind of know how many yards to add or subtract. So what I learned is that for my course it didn't help at all. I think it's because most of the greens are elevated or sloped from front to back (front being lower). T-box on par 3's are also elevated. So even if the "Slope" feature accounts for elevation, it can't account for lack of any role up towards the green or on the green. I do think it would help on courses like Kapalua Plantation course. So for me, the extra $200 was not worth having the slope feature on/off function.So, then what laser range finder do I buy? The Bushnell Tour Z6, without slope, would be a perfect substitute. Same basic features and the Tour X model, but it's only $50 less. I looked at the specs of several model and I attached an image of my spreadsheet. Just basic stuff. I ended up going with the least expensive Golfbuddy LR5 since I bought it for $180 and sent in a rebate for $50. Not sure I'll get it since I also got a rebate on Father's Day for the Golfbuddy VS4, but still the lowest price of the bunch.So I've played three rounds with the LR5 and it's great! Especially for the price. It has two buttons. One changes modes: simple measurement, Scan mode, and Pin mode. Simple just gives you a distance to where you point. Scan gives you continuous readings as you move the laser target, and Pin gives the closest measurement of several made as you aim at the flag. This makes it easy to get readings of the flag with trees or other objects behind the flag. The other button is used to turn it on and make the measurement. The mode button stays in what ever was used last. So the sequence is 1) press the On button, 2) select the Mode with other button, 3) Press the On button again (no need to hold down, just press and release) and you get the distance. The next time you use it, if you don't need to change the mode, you just 1) Press the On button, then press and release again after you find the pin. I leave it in Pin mode most of the time. It was quick and accurate comparing to my friends GPS, my GPS, and friends lasers. It doesn't "Jolt", but it didn't cost $350. I also like the smaller size and weight. The case looks and functions same as the Bushnell. It's a hard case with a zipper, but has an elastic band that is used during play to easily and quickly secure the laser in it's case during play. It also gave me an accurate reading with light fog. I did have some problems on one pin due to bright sun behind the pin and a spec of dust on the lens. I now carry a lens pen to easily and safely clean the laser lens. www.lenspen.com if you're interested.I guess if money was no object, then the Bushnell Tour X is a cool model. For my game and my pocket, Golfbuddy LR5 was the winner.