[Az-Geocaching] GPS store?

[Roping The Wind]

I would highly recommend NOT going to Bronco One. Besides, purchasing a GPS 
online will result in a MUCH better price on any unit you would think of 
purchasing. I shopped around alot of places for the Garmin GPSMAP 60C. It 
was easy to see that GPSnow.com had the absolutely best prices, by far... 
than any other online store... and MUCH cheaper than you could find it in 
the local stores. I checked around for prices on my old Etrex Legend and 
they are still way cheaper than the prices in store. I think at the time 
GPSnow wanted maybe $149 for it while local places wanted $199. That is a 
huge difference in price, IMHO. Also, you will have to pay sales tax if you 
buy locally. Often times, online stores will give free or nearly free 
shipping rates. GPSnow has ridiculously low shipping rates... AND it will be 
to your door in 2 days. Unless you need one right this second, I am sure you 
could wait a couple of days for the huge savings in price. I could, for 
anything! I find, in reference to electronics anyways, that almost anything 
is way cheaper purchased online than in a local store. I alos find prices 
from reputable online stores are still cheaper than prices on 'new' items 
found on Ebay. Alot of those so called Ebay stores cant seem to sell them 
cheaper than the online stores do.

Bronco One? I have done business with them in the past as I use Motorola 2 
way radios for business. He also is a dealer for them. Anyways, he is a 
Garmin GPS dealer. He has always been big on the Emap model. I called him up 
and told him I wanted to know if he had an Extrex Vista in stock as I was in 
need of a new GPS. He told me the Vista was 'junk' and that I should buy an 
Emap. I told hii that there was no comparison between the Vista and the Emap 
(Vista has WAY more features and WAY more memory for map storage). I said I 
have owned a Legend (same construction as the Vista) and it has lasted years 
and has been dropped, kicked, slammed and everything else and it has held up 
great. I also told him that I went to Garmin's web site and found that the 
Emap was discontinued. His words were "Oh no, that is just the canadian 
version" or something silly like that. What?! Canadain version?! What is 
this guy smoking?! Anyways, he said that he had a few Vista's in stock and 
that he would sell me one. He then told me this... "If I sell you a Vista, 
you are to never come back to this store wanting service on it... you can 
come in, purchase it, and leave and dont ever bring it back in this store". 
THOSE WERE HIS WORDS! First off, the simple fact was he was trying to sell 
me an Emap because he has a pile of them in stock that he probably cannot 
get rid of because they were discontinued. The dude in that store is a liar 
and had a lousy attitude toward a past customer! Second, I called Garmin to 
confirm the Emap was discontinued and also found out about the new 60C which 
was due out very soon (which I ended up purchasing online at GPSnow.com). I 
told Garmin on the phone that they should be aware that one of their dealers 
was talking trash about their products and I, quite frankly, dont think he 
should even be a Garmin dealer. If I was a product manufacturer, I sure 
wouldnt want someone like that dealing in my products. This is all just my 
experiences with Bronco One. So, take it for what it is worth. But, buyer 
beware.I dont trust them and I will never shop there again. Besides, I can 
find cheaper prices online.

Scott
Team RTW


>From: "Brian Casteel" <bcasteel at uccinc.net>
>Reply-To: listserv at azgeocaching.com
>To: <listserv at azgeocaching.com>
>Subject: Re: [Az-Geocaching] GPS store?
>Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2004 01:13:01 -0700
>
>I second BroncoOne.  The problem seems to be that places like Best Buy only 
>carry one brand, and the store down the street carries the 'other' brand, 
>but neither carry a decent variety.  Aside from that, your best bet is 
>really to go online to someplace like gpsnow.com if all else fails locally.
>
>Brian
>Team A.I.
>
>----- Original Message ----- From: <scottsparks1 at mchsi.com>
>To: <az-geocaching at listserv.azgeocaching.com>
>Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 10:38 PM
>Subject: [Az-Geocaching] GPS store?
>
>
>>Who knows of a good place to buy a GPS (not on-line) that has a large 
>>selection
>>of both Garmin and Magellan models and is located in the East Valley?
>>
>>-- Sprocket