Please give a ''Yes'' vote to this guide at the bottom of the page. 

I debated buying a range finder or GPS (Sky Caddie). I felt like the range finder would be better for me because I use it in practice to hone my wedge shots. I don't think the GPS systems give enough information about the pin position. The GPS gives you front. center and back of green yardages but unless you know the pin position you could be off by 2 clubs. I play alot of different courses and it is really hard to tell how deep the pins are on the green. For these two reasons I chose the range finder over the GPS.

Bushnell makes several models from very basic to one model that also calculates the slope angle and corrects the yardage. They also have a Pinseeker model that helps find the flag. I tried 3 models and ended up buying the Bushnell Compact 800. I tried the Yardage Pro 450. It is very small, light and costs $179-$199. The other was the Bushnell Pinseeker Medalist $279-$299. All 3 models are single push operation plus scan mode. Scan mode is when you hold the botton in for 3 seconds. The range finder will then give a reading on whatever is in the cross hairs at that moment. The Compact 800 and the Medalist have a rain and reflective mode. These modes are used when it is raining or when the flags are reflective material. The reason I chose the Compact 800 is that it had an 8x power optics. The other models had 4x power. I found it much easier to find the flag and features such as the top of a bunker or hazard with the 8x optics. With the 4x lens I couldn't tell if I was scanning the front or back of the bunker from 200 yards out. I didn't think the pinseeker function worked that good anyway unless the flag was moving from the wind. If the flag was straight down the pinseeker could find it very well. The Compact 800 took about a round to get used to. I can now hit a flag in one or two pushes from 200 yards even if it is hanging straight down. The Compact 800 uses 4 AAA batteries that last about 8 rounds. It is also fully rubberized and sits on the cart seat with out sliding around.  You would be amazed at how far off the yardage markers on the course say you are and what the rangefinders measures. Sometimes it is 10-15 yards different. It all depends on the pin position I guess.

Overall I think this is the best investment I have made to my golf game in a long time.

Hit'em straight and long!