How about a GC2/HMT vs GCQ showdown!?!

[Point280]

This is what I'm interested in! Sure that Quad looks cool, and is a bit more portable than the GC2/HMT. Read about all the neat features, but so far none of that justifies the price difference to me; especially with the Bluetooth being disabled and/or encrypted. So maybe one of you lucky guys who's taken the plunge on the GCQ can do a side-by-side comparison before you trade or sell your old combo units, to determine exactly how much more accurate the new technology is! That could be the major deal-maker or breaker for those on the fence.

Seems to me this would be fairly do-able. The GCQ has an increased (read generous) ball detection area. Would think they'd snug right up next to each other for some interesting data comparisons on exact same swings. 😎

Might need the the iPad app for one and The PC software for the other?

[Yrrdead81]

The two biggest upgrades from an armchair standpoint are;

1. Bigger hitting area; in this arena bigger is always better.

2. Alignment stick mode; when you are taking your GC2 to work, the range, the course and back again this is a great feature.

[Point280]

I agree. Great features indeed (love the alignment mode - if it works how I believe it works), and probably well worth it for those who are looking to take their monitors with them; or those who don't have an HMT and are wanting club head data. I'm speaking from the perspective of someone who owns the older tech and rarely takes the devices out of the sim area. My only incentive to upgrade would be an incredible difference in accuracy. I understand the specs Foresight has touted over the older GC2/HMT, but it's hard for me to quantity without seeing some sort of data comparison between the two. And honestly, I've taken my combo to the range. Not too much hassle. I wanna see the accuracy differences.

[Ironstrokes]

I'm curious, why is this alignment mode thing such a big deal? You still have to align the stick on the ground to your target right? And then the gcq aligns to that, so basically you still have to hand align something anyway, couldn't they have just put a couple of hooks at the bottom of the unit and put the alignment stick there and then you easily just adjust the unit from there.

Just don't get the purpose of it when you still have to align physically align a stick anyway. I bet they tacked on 1000 bucks or whatever for this feature too.

I guess it makes sense to make it as fancy as possible for the big spenders, but seems almost useless to me. How hard is it to move the unit a few inches in another direction when you have to do that with the stick anyway and then push a button or whatever on the actual unit. Feel like if they wanted to get fancy with it they should have built in their own laser line that could display in the mat and then align that way instead of having to carry around a alignment stick everywhere.

Not trying to hate, I'm sure it's an amazing machine and works great, just don't get the thrill of that feature at least

[mthunt]

You put the alignment stick where the ball goes and aim it at the target then align the quad to the stick then remove the stick and put the ball down. It is far better for aligning but not earth shattering.

[RCorsa]

I actually tried to do this before my GC2/HMT went out the door. However with the small size of the hitting area of the GC2 I couldn't get the green lights on both units to work. Foresight engineers say they doubled the accuracy.

My impression is that thenumbers seam about the same as with my GC2/HMT. The new unit is certainly much faster for data capture and transfer to FSX and locks onto the ball instantly where there was always a little delay with the GC2 and occasionally I had to adjust or move the ball a rotation to get GC2 to lock.

The alignment stick is helpful for mainly game improvement IMO as if your unit is off even a degree or 2 you angles of attack (mostly club path) will be affected and the corresponding ball flight seen will also be different.

[mthunt]

I know someone that has both as well. He says it's got better features and is better but there isn't a huge difference in numbers.

[Point280]

Thanks MT! That's what I was after.

[Ronsc1985]

If you are unable to align a GC2 to the target how do you manage to play actual golf where you have to aim without artificial aids? This may be a great feature for a lot of LPGA players who can't seem to align without the help of their caddies.

[mmlincon]

You guys left off the other two nice features: No replaceable flash and Lithium Ion battery. They basically went out and improved upon all the weaknesses of the GC2/HMT combo. If you look at the full retail for the GC2 and HMT this thing is a screaming deal. Personally I would wait to see how things pan out and wait for the price to fall from MSRP a little. Being locked into FSX is a major deterrent at this time. I'm not impressed with FSX. It would be cool in 2010 but it ain't 2010 anymore.

[mthunt]

Nail hit on the head.

[Js1010]

There is also the Barometric/Altitude Sensor which will give you more realistic carry numbers based on where you are (Altitude and Temps).

[Point280]

I agree with most of the comments. The alignment mode, based on the rep's description in the P2P video from the show, indicate that the unit auto calibrates to the alignment stick. In other words, you can plop the unit down and then use the stick to determine where you want the target line aimed. A push of the button then calibrates to that line. Again, cool feature along with the enlarged hitting zone for outdoor/range use. Larger area means more shots without moving the unit on grass (with a little turf management). Also, a little confused about the new led flash? One video with a FS rep seems to indicate the cameras are IR and don't require a flash at all?

The unit looks mainly geared towards those who take theirs to the range (especially outdoors) often. In a fixed environment with a sim setup, the GC2/HMT are pretty sweet. I realize that the cost of purchasing new might bring the price points a little closer with respect to the features. RCorsa thanks! That's kinda what I was looking to hear reference the numbers. My GCT/HMT came at a really good price, so it would be a stretch for me, even if I sold them together or separately for a little bit of a profit.