Help ! Electrical retailers in Orlando...

[Beejayjay]

OK, I'm suffering a bit of pre-holiday brain fade !

I want to pick myself up an MP3 player while in Orlando. Now, I know about Walmart and Bestbuy of course, but for the life of me I can't think of the names of any of the other big electrical retailers stateside.

So, anyone got any names for me ?? I just want to scout out prices online before we leave for Miami on Friday, so any help would be appreciated. Thanks !

2 days to go....

 

[Andy Lou & Meg]

you could try Target (kind of like Comet here). Just dont go to any of the individual shops, stick to a chain. You cannot really go wrong with Wal-Mart (v cheap for electrical) and if you experience a problem with your purchase you can take it back to ASDA.

Have a great trip.

 

[UKPhil]

"Circuit City" is another big chain over there.

I'd echo what Andy, Lou & Meg said about avoiding small shops. So many of them are just tourist traps.

I've had similar thoughts myself about buying an MP3 player over there, but looking at the web sites and taking into account the sales tax you'll pay the prices don't seem that much cheaper than buying off the internet over here although they're certainly cheaper than Dixons.

 

[LTFC]

What I would say is avoid the electrical shop on International Drive at the junction of Sand Lake Road. I bought a camcorder battery from them two years ago costing $35 when I got home somehow they had charged my credit card $835 (about an extra £500)

Eventually managed to get the money back and the next year went back to the shop and gave the owner a piece of my mind.

 

[Andy Lou & Meg]

Although some of the small stores down I-Drive can offer good deals, take these with a HUGE pinch of salt.
In the 3 weeks we were there, the same shop gave us 4 different prices for the same item!!....you will notice that most items do NOT have a price tag on them,; you have to ask
You may get the 10% off coupons in the local magazines, but from what we saw, prices were generally higher than in Walmart etc, and fluctuated greatly (I think Brits are seen as eager bargain hunters)
Stick to the big shops....We bought some memory cards for our camera from Wal-Mart, and saved over $25 each on the so called 'discount' stores...
I am sure people have got some really good deals from the small outlets, but it seemed too much of a minefield for us (and I know someone who recently spent $1500 on a camcorder and accessories, only to find out the same item was being sold for £350 in Comet as it had been discontinued)

....Would you buy a Russian VCR from MR Trotter???....

 

[brigadoon]

I found that the cheapest way to get electrical goods was to order them over the internet from a state other than Florida before you go and have the goods delivered to your hotel. That way you don't pay the local sales tax and you also get the best price on the market. You need to be a bit careful about retailers obviously. Luckily for me Amazon.com were the cheapest for what I wanted, so I was confident in using them, although I'd go for whatever felt right regardless of whether I'd used them before. I found that to be quite a bit cheaper than the local shops in Orlando, and it also means it's one less thing to look for in the shops.