Summary: I was hesitating to buy this seeing some not so rave reviews on the net from users. But now I am very pleased with my decision.
The carry distance (excluding roll) is quite accurate. A fat hit on the pad with reduce in loss of distance just like in real life. However, due to the in-game environment created by the tiger woods game, even with the fairway condition and weather set to wet, you still get some roll out of the golf shot and hence resulting in slightly exaggerated rolling distance, and the resulting overall golf shot distance. With this settings, I would think the extra distance would be around 10-20%. The increment increases with settings at normal and fast fairway.
With the difficulty setting at intermediate level in Tiger woods, direction of a golf shot may be more straight than real life, but some push and slices can still be detected and translated into the game.
But if the difficulty setting is set to expert, it is very difficult to hit a golf shot straight unless your golf swing is correct. Your pulls and pushes, hooks and slices are all well reflected in the game - eg low running hook, and weak slice, depending how well your club head contacts the ball, and depending your swing path (outside in or inside out). These information can be displayed in the tiger woods game (ie club face contact with ball and the swing plane direction),
With links 2003, after getting some calibration tips from the help servcie of golf launchpad (which was responsive and helpful), the carry distance is quite accurate as well (and this is shown in the game), but again, due to the in-game environment, the rolling distance is slightly exaggerated.
However, for links 2003, the golf shot is more straight than real life. This is the case even if the game does detect off-centre hit.
For both games, the putting poses a bigger learning curve, but it does work. You just have to make sure less force is used in shorter putts. Off centre putts can be picked up right away in the game. For chipping, the golf launchpad tech team recommends the use of outer left button (as opposed the button for putting) for links 2003. I can chip without difficulty for both games - but I do find it easier to do so in the tiger woods game.
Another fun part is I can use a real ball to putt rather than the ball attached to the pivot. The path of the ball as shown on screnn exactly reflects path of the real ball.
The big advantage with Launchpad is that it does not require a driver/custom software to run with the Tiger Woods series or links 2003. All it needs is a mouse driver which every pc should be installed with. So I would much expect that with newever versions coming out, I can still use the unit.
The driving range software is free, and can be downloaded from the site. I have been told that a newer version is coming out. I find the data fairly accurate after again receiving some calibration tips (ie by reducing the mouse pointer speed in the control panel) from the technical service from Launchapd. But the graphical representation of the swing data (eg swing ball flight and swing speed) need improvements.
Another big plus of the unit is its design - real ball attached to the pivot and the big wide soft padding for hitting directly off the mat (which is good for your arms and shoulders). Alternatively to pivoted ball, you can also use a foam/real ball (depending if you have a golf net at home) - the direction of which can be used to gauge the accuracy of the golf shot as reflected in the ball - which is equally fun.
So far so good. Nothing indicates that the unit or its components can break down easily. I really think for the money, this is extremely good simulator to play games with. But if you are looking for a very serious simulator with a driving range software to give you accurate swing data like swing speed, swing path, club face angle, you may have to look elsewhere.
With the golf launchpad, you just need more patience to calibrate its setting (by seeking assistance from the manufacturer)), and in game settings to create a more realistic golf simulation experience.
