[Az-Geocaching] Re: GPS store

[Scott Sparks]

Thanks to everyone who responded to my query on local GPS stores, 
although it seems a few of you didn't read the question very closely.  
My old GPS died on Friday and I have plans to go caching Monday.  
On-line or mail order was not an option in such a short period of time.  
I went to many local stores and here is what I found in case anyone 
needs to know in the future.  Keep in mind that I live in the far east 
valley and so wasn't able to make it to anyplace like Bronco One 
(although it appears that they are no longer in business.)

K-mart  (1 store checked)- No GPS's at all, that I could find, either in 
Electronics or Sporting goods
Sports Authority (2 stores checked) - Only a couple bare bones models 
available, very high priced
Target (1 store checked) - only a couple of bare bones models, 20-30 
dollars higher than Wal-Mart
Best Buy (2 stores checked) - a small selection of both Garmin and 
Magellan, but not the best price.
Wide World of Maps - (1 store checked) complete line of Garmin handhelp 
GPS's, but prices were high, no Magellan product at all
Wal-Mart (4 stores checked) - a limited but mixed selection of low, 
median and high-end models, lowest prices overall

I was specifically looking for one of the following models: Garmin eTrex 
Vista, Magellan Meridian Gold, Magellan Meridian Platinum

The only place that had the Vista was Wide World of Maps.  Nobody had 
the Meridian Platinum.  I finally settled on the Meridian Gold from 
Wal-Mart but I had to go to four different stores to find one that 
wasn't a man-handled display model.  I've only had it a day and already 
I see some exciting things about it and some other things that are just 
plain idiotic.  I'll try it for a few weeks and, if I decide I don't 
like it, Wal-Mart will take it back and I'll try something else.  I'll 
try to remember to post my final decision. Oh, and BTW, Wal-Mart had a 
better price than Amazon by a few cents.  I didn't mind paying the sales 
tax for instant gratification.  ;-) Under other circumstances, I would 
have ordered something from on-line but, as I mentioned, I needed it 
right away.

-- Sprocket

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