New Skytrak or Used GC2?

[BoxerGarage]

Planning my sim build. I want sim range time and to be able to play TGC 2019. Should I be looking to buy a Skytrak or used GC2? A new Skytrak is readily available from retailers. Looking like $3,148.95 to get playing with a Skytrak. (Skytrak $1,995.00 + Protective Case $159.00 + Game Improvement Plan (annual fee) $99.95 + TGC 2019 (one time purchase) $895.00) But I don’t mind going the route of used hardware. Used GC2 are showing up more and more in classifieds with the release of GC3. Do all GC2 support TGC2019? Is there an annual fee associated with used GC2 and TGC2019? Trying to understand the pros and cons. Thanks for the help.

[bubbtubbs]

If your budget can support it, GC2, no question. No annual fee.

[Deuce]

I've owned both -- for me it would be used GC2 every time. Others like their SkyTrak, but I just couldn't stand the delay and I never felt that it was super accurate.

[Wizard of Coz]

Used gc2 .......

[Golfallday1983]

Skytrak is terrible

[Venom]

SkyTrak is not terrible but you are certainly entitled to your opinion. I have a SkyTrak and I would love to have a GC2 instead. If the right deal comes along then……………….

[BoxerGarage]

Thanks to all who replied. Dumb follow-up question… to sim a driving range and features like - long drive/closest-to-pin contests with a used GC2 would require purchasing FSX2020 – correct?

[Golfallday1983]

Venom sorry didn’t mean to come off like that the SkyTrak for the price is amazing you can’t beat it as the bettter machines are triple the price so obviously should be better but didn’t mean to knock the skytrak

[Wizard of Coz]

Skytrak will work but it isn't in the same ball park as a gc2 and the annual fee is just throwing gc2 dollars away. Maybe better wording Gc2 is great and just plain works. Skytrak isn't great.

[simmb]

Thanks to all who replied. Dumb follow-up question… to sim a driving range and features like - long drive/closest-to-pin contests with a used GC2 would require purchasing FSX2020 – correct?

I have both a Skytrak and a GC2. I use Skytrak for range and then GC2 for TGC, for some reason I prefer the Skytrak range to the TGC ones. Not willing to shell out 3K for FSX just to get access to a range hence the reason I kept my Skytrak.

For GC2 you could try and get a copy of the older Foresight software which has a range. I also think there is a demo available that has a range and a course included, you would have to find some generous person to share that though as it's not available as a download. (Don't forget me if you do manage to get a copy )
For long drive and nearest the pin I think you would need FSX.

[Golfallday1983]

Seems like you need a gc3 sell both your units and you could probably get one

[simmb]

Its not out yet in the UK but if TGC worked with GC3 I would jump all over it.

[Adam Prince]

I’ve played on both, and decided on SkyTrak. Both units performed nearly identically for me, and the delay time after shots isn’t that cumbersome. If anything, it allows my hands and brain time to assess strike location by feel, which in turn helps me correct swing issues. Club data is nice but not necessary, and is sometimes over-analytical. Simple ball flight laws are easy enough to understand. Ball curvature is created by face angle and path, pretty easy to feel at impact once flight is captured, I don’t need exact degree measurements.

The yearly sub is crappy, but worth every penny to play winter golf for me. FWIW, no GC2 owner in their right-mind will admit the merits of SkyTrak, or say it’s of equal performance after shelling out triple the cost. This goes for any consumer related good.

To each their own, I guess, but purely on ball data alone, both units are a lot more alike than most GC2 owners would like to acknowledge.

[Wizard of Coz]

I've had both. You are definitely swimming up stream on this one. I enjoyed my time with the skytrak but there is zero chance I would ever go back to it.

[EG$]

Adam Prince I had a SkyTrak for over 3 years and I'm not sure how long you have had yours but the honeymoon phase does eventually wear off. I will say that its solid hardware and the SkyTrak range app is also very good, but it truly doesn't hold a candle to a GC2. Its not just about delay. The biggest and most blatantly obvious difference I have noticed is the short game, especially in TGC. A 40 degree VLA with some speed will be between 5-6k backspin RPM with a GC2, and a you'd be lucky to get 3k with a SkyTrak. Massive difference and its amplified in TGC because of the short chip correction requirement. Add in the significant error tolerance discrepancy between the 2 and the cost difference is justified. Triple the cost? Maybe if you buy CPO directly from Foresight, but they can be had for double the cost these days at worst.

My frustration with SkyTrak just continued to grow after misreads showing ball speeds in the 180's (I wish), no reads, power cycling up to 3 or 4 times to resolve issues. The SkyTrak app is a mature product which is why the updates are few and far between, but the $100 per year just to play TGC also began to grate on me.