Maplin

Maplins electronics is a very familiar place, having a diverse range of electronic equipment and accessories. Electronic students and people in the electronic world will know this place is so convenient when you need that component now. The back of the store has a counter that dispenses electronic components like candy. As with most of the other stores they have audio & visual equipment P, electronic gadgets, cables and connections, computer parts and basically any thing that electronically based.
The rub when it comes to Maplins is that all the stock is always £10 more than you’d get it anywhere else and that infuriating. It’s what I now expect of all high street stores. Most of the staff don’t know what they’re talking about but what you will find is the most knowledgeable staff is hidden away in the component stock room that has a desk to dispense the goods.

The Maplin Electronics shops on City Road is smaller and less daunting than the one found on Newport Road and therefore you tend to get better service. Indeed they tend to remember my face, but I then I was the guy who was trying to plug a Super Nintendo into a brand new LCD TV. They were surprisingly honest when they said they could sell me a cable that might not work and that couldn’t refund it if it didn’t. After a brief discussion it was decided that it might be best to try running it through a VCR, which I promptly purchased from Cash Converters. It didn’t work but at least I now have a VCR rather than a useless cable.
But when I eventually scratched my gaming itch with the procurement of a Wii and needed an adapter for my increasingly infuriating telly, I was charged eight quid. Down the road I could have bought one for three. So I’d double check the price elsewhere before you commit to buying anything in here.

I hate getting electronics repaired. It always seems to almost as much as the actual device itself and it always takes an obscene length of time. If you want a £10 clock radio repaired, chances are you’ll be shelling out £15 for parts and labour and they can probably get it back to you by next month if they have the parts in stock.
After a string of incidents like the above, I’d had enough. So when my electric bass stopped working, I popped it open to have a look at what I could do. I mean, it’s only DIY electronics and I am a man after all. How hard could it be?
It looked like a Crystal Maze game. Wires connected to one thing. Wires connected to another. A couple of batteries. Some electronic pack thing. Some more wires, some of which didn’t actually connect to anything at all and just kind of ended in a ball of duct tape. I eventually figured out what was broken and, chest puffed out like a lumberjack, I went to Maplin’s to buy my manly supplies. When I got there, I found my «I need some red wires with the things on the end» to by wildly inadequate, but they happily guided me through everything and helped me get what I need.

I broke my headphones the other day. I trod on them in the kitchen — I’m still not quite sure why I’d left them in the kitchen — and they made a quite sickening crunch underneath my foot.
Well, this was a disaster of the highest order. Sure, when I’m at home I don’t really need them but how was I to continue to walk places without Glee singing through my ipod?
A friend recommended this place so I decided to give it a go — though it was pretty far to walk without Rachel Berry’s accompaniment. When I got there I was impressed with the range of earphones on display and with the prices that they were going for.
I chose one swiftly — unaided though I was offered help — and was served by someone efficient but friendly.
Don’t worry, I’d remembered my ipod so in they went immediately and I hummed myself home.

Nice store which is quite easy to find, staff are friendly and very helpful, even over the phone. I find they know more about their products than some stores