Consumer Reports: Smartest buys at Walmart

Walmart is known for value, but a good price is only key if you're getting a good product.

So, Consumer Reports took a look at what to get - and what to forget - at the big box store.

One item that was a good value was light bulbs.

"LEDs are typically very expensive, but after 3-thousand hours of testing, we found several from Walmart that are cheap and really good," said Dan DiClerico of Consumer reports.

That includes a Great Value, 60-watt equivalent, A19 bulb.

Use it three hours a day, and it should last about 22 years. Not bad for ten bucks.

Several Great Value floodlights are also a good bargain.

Another good deal is Wild Oats organic food. Tod Marks compared prices for pantry staples like ketchup, beans, marinara sauce, and creamy peanut butter.

"Walmart's prices for organics were cheaper than local supermarkets for everything we looked at, often 50 percent cheaper," Marks said.

Consumer Reports regularly includes Walmart's Great Value brand in blind taste tests against big brands and found several winners, including ranch dressing, vanilla ice cream, and mozzarella cheese.

Consumer Reports' tests show several of Walmart's paper products are also good bargains.

Great Value Facial Tissues with Lotion are ultra soft, as is the top-rated toilet paper -White Cloud, 3-ply ultra.

And Walmart paper towels are both strong and absorbent.

But testers in the laundry labs found not every low price is a great value. The Great Value Natural Laundry detergent had downright dismal performance in the latest tests.

A good reminder that a low price can also be a washout.

You also may want to skip the meat and produce aisles at Walmart. Although it is America's largest grocer, Walmart earned low scores for meat and produce quality in Consumer Reports' most recent supermarket survey.

For more, visit ConsumerReports.org