Maplin is an electronic retailer which sells the more obscure items and a lot of gadgets and gizmo's. They have 100's of stores around the country and the one's I have frequented have all been clean friendly and eager to help.
I have always been interested in electronics and have built ... Read review
Advantages: Get the components you need at a reasonable price Disadvantages: None that I have noticed
Maplin is an electronic retailer which sells the more obscure items and a lot of gadgets and gizmo's. They have 100's of stores around the country and the one's I have frequented have all been clean friendly and eager to help.
I have always been interested in electronics and have built quite a few projects from scratch. In doing so I have had to find suppliers of various electrical components such as capacitors, resistors, equipment ... ...obtain pieces. That was until Maplin came to our town. Now it is simply a matter of listing my requirements and going for a browse around the store. Unfortunately they stock lots of other electronic stuff so I usually end up spending more than I intended.
The stores are well laid out with usually a discount section right at the entry point, here you can get some really good bargains with as much as 70% off normal retail prices, it ... more
Maplin is an electronic retailer which sells the more obscure items and a lot of gadgets and gizmo's. They have 100's of stores around the country and the one's I have frequented have all been clean friendly and eager to help.
I have always been interested in electronics and have built quite a few projects from scratch. In doing so I have had to find suppliers of various electrical components such as capacitors, resistors, equipment for making printed circuit boards and of course circuit testers. I was going from here to there all the time making numerous journeys in search of some hard to obtain pieces. That was until Maplin came to our town. Now it is simply a matter of listing my requirements and going for a browse around the store. Unfortunately they stock lots of other electronic stuff so I usually end up spending more than I intended.
The stores are well laid out with usually a discount section right at the entry point, here you can get some really good bargains with as much as 70% off normal retail prices, it may mean taking a bashed box or a return, but there is a guarantee with each purchase. The stores are laid out in some kind of logical order or so it would appear.
The Aisles to the left are frequently the place to find the kind of stuff that circuit builders and enthusiasts require. It is also the place to find stuff such as tools for very intricate jobs and soldering irons and associated supplies. Circuit testers and multi-meters are in a plenty and all at very good prices considering that nowhere remotely near has anything like this. There are also kits here for children to experiment and discover the strange world of electronics, these range in price form as little as £5 to as much as £120, but there is a lot of learning fun and experimenting to be had.
Further along form here we reach the small gadgets and rechargeable batteries. Weather stations, currency converters driver alerts (a small earpiece with alarm that goes off when the drivers heads drops forward as if to sleep.) temperature gauges and thermometers. A quick glance here and then along to the big boys toys.
Strictly speaking they aren't big boys toys they are just lots of varying remote control and radio controlled cars, bikes, planes, boats and just about anything else you can think of, but they are lots of fun. A twin set of racing cars both running at different frequencies and looking pretty cool £19.99 not a bad deal at all. There are electronic shooting games one of which I got my son for Christmas. A 2 foot log about 6 inches high with 2 plastic cans and 2 plastic bottles. The gun sends an invisible light beam which is picked up by 4 light sensors which in turn trigger four pop up buttons on which the cans and bottle sit, hence when the button pops up the can/bottle pops off giving the impression you hit the bottle. The alignment been the beam and sensor is slightly off so you have to aim for the can/bottle great fun. There are many others great gift ideas here for the big boy and the little boy.
It is not a far walk to the next set of electrical wizardry, here we find a DJ's dream sequencing lights, laser lights sound to light and a myriad of brill stuff. Once again I thought the pricing here to be very reasonable and I could have watched the lighting displays for ages, but I was impetuous and wanted to check out the PC department which was upstairs.
Upstairs is as I said the PC department where you can buy anything from a new PC case with funky lights and flashing fans, to printers and scanners and all manner of peripheral for you pride and joy. PC cables of all sorts and DVD's and CD's on which to save your masterpiece. This department also caters for home security i.e. CCTV, alarms both wired and wireless. Walkie Talkies and Radio equipment fills up a large part of this department where there is always someone at hand to hep you out should you be stuck on which component you actually do really need. They are very helpful and although they do try to sell you stuff they are not pushy and a simple I'm just looking and they'll let you be.
This is a great store for a browse just to see what new stuff is on the market, It doesn't sell big electronic items like DVD players and CD players but it does have a good selection of Sat Nav and Mp3 players and small USB storage devices. There are gadgets galore and it is most definitely worth a visit if you need a little inspiration.
The prices in general are very favourable to those of other high street stores, and there is indeed many a good bargain to be picked up. The staff are very friendly helpful and eager to please which is a nice change in today's pressure selling marketplace. They do have a technical helpline which I cannot comment on since as of yet I have had no need to use.
If you do not have a store near you they do have a website www.maplin.co.uk which has over 12,000 items for you perusal. It is definately a store that I shall frequent again and again.
Advantages: Lots of good products and good prices Disadvantages: Missing parts and the amount of things can be scary.
I have been to Maplin a quite a number of times the first time that I arrived in the store. I was looking for a computer case there were plenty of people posted round the store to inform people about products give advice and encourage you buy. They all seemed nice enough by the way I was in the Maplin store in Belfast Northern Ireland. He told us about his experience with certain products we took his word for it and bought the computer case and it ... ...go in look on the Maplin website there is an extensive list of products just Google Maplin.
But the last time I was in Maplin disaster struck I was looking for a satellite dish which was just on the 5th November by the way.
They were very unorganized it seemed like everyone there was a new working there. When I asked question none of them were to sure and they went to ask another person I was fine with that I don't expect them to memories every ...
davy246 07.11.2007 (09.11.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Maplin Electronics
Advantages: Loads of products Disadvantages: Their customer service and returns policies are laughable
...up your living room? Well Maplin Electronics are the destination to go for all these things on the high street. Stocking anything electronic related, this would be the place to go for those little computer components that they don't sell in your normal retailers, the stores are generally well spaced out and stocked. But I will not be darkening their doors ever again unless I am absolutely forced to. Having perused through a few other opinions on ... ...a Trust branded PSU from Maplin complete with multi attachments. The price of £35 was reasonable, I'm sure I could have got something cheaper but when you need something there and then you're not left with much choice. Now this week I encountered a problem where the PSU was getting electric through it but it wasn't charging my laptop. So with receipt in hand, I took it back to the store. After a brief explanation the store assistant faffed around ...
utero 05.08.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Maplin Electronics
Advantages: Great range, great service, great website, just.... great! Disadvantages: I guess if you live in Penzance, it's a long way to Plymouth!
Maplin Electronics is a name which at first scared me, but I could now not do without. It is a chain of stores, with a good website, where you can get hold of all those little bits that nobody else sells, plus a lot more!
WHERE ARE THEY?
Maplin Electronics have 106 stores dotted across the United Kingdom, ranging from Plymouth to Aberdeen. They have an excellent store finder page on their website - www.maplin.co.uk - and if you can't get easy access ... ...and want a new one, Maplin is the place for you. They sell adapters for just about everything, 2-way radios, computers, wires, cables, connectors….. If you are cast your mind back to the days of the Tandy stores when you could buy all those little bits, Maplin have taken the best of those, and present them in an easy to find, and easy to buy way. If Maplin don't sell what you are looking for, it very likely isn't made.
On top of their selling, my ...
basboy138 23.01.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Maplin Electronics
Advantages: Wide range of products, good staff, catalogue, website Disadvantages: A bit pricey. Daunting to beginners.
...that is your computer, then Maplin Electronics might be for you.
They have an excellent range of motherboards, graphics cards and cases all at fairly reasonable prices. The stores I have experience of have knowledgable staff to help out if you don't know your SDRAM from your HDD, and they also offer a good value upgrade service.
The advantage of getting a custom built computer system in this way is simply that - you get what you need without any ... ...if you do not use Maplin to buy a computer - there is plenty in store to tempt the electronics enthusiast. However, to the uninitiated (like myself) it all seems very geeky. They have every imaginable cable, plug, project to make an LED Christmas tree, or DIY burglar alarm imaginable.
The store also has some unexpected treasures - like in-car audio equipment, DIY speakers or amplifiers, and books on how to build just about anything. Of course you ...
drewish 04.02.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Maplin Electronics
Advantages: Lots of products at fair prices. Knowledgable staff. Disadvantages: You have to pay for the catalogue.
Maplin Electronics is a company selling a very large range of electronics items, with shops nationwide. I have read in many places that they began their business with their first shop opening up in London Road, Westcliff-on-Sea. Oddly enough this is the shop I'll be judging them by because this is the shop I visit every week or so!
~ Website ~
Their website is www.maplin.co.uk. You can buy online (currently free delivery if you spend over £35) ... ...where my main experience of Maplin is. If I cannot find a product in the Maplin store I can ask, and they always take me straight to it. The staff are very knowledgable. Sometimes products are not on display in the shop, but you can ask if they have it "backstage" in the storeroom. If it's in the catalogue they often do have it in the storeroom.
I would say the shop's split in two, there is a true electronics shop at the back and this stocks thousands ...
Pendulum 19.07.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Maplin Electronics
How well informed were ...
How efficient was the s...
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Advantages: Friendly, Honest and willing to send u elcewhere to get what you want. Disadvantages: Can sometimes question your knowlege and recoment something elce.
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Advantages: none so far Disadvantages: try and get a refund and you'll see
A new Maplinselectronics store opened in Hereford and as I was to go wireless in my home, I went in to have a look at their range of products.
I have BT broadband and with this I got a free wireless Netgear modem, this was for my own computer, my partners laptop and my daughters laptop, so I ended up buying three net gear wireless adapters from Maplins.
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Advantages: Huge stock range covering most electronic/techncial fields Disadvantages: Not all prices as low as elsewhere.
branch (curiously, two doors from where Tandy HAD been), and actually bought something.
Anyway, problem solved. I still had an electronic knick-knack shop, which is famous (or perhaps INfamous) for the size of its catalogue and for the fact that they have the audacity to charge for it! I buy this once a year just for fun mainly. It usually has about 1,000 pages, although a large chunk consists of page after page of ?Semi-conductors?. In fact, whilst writing this, I was reminded of the fact that mine is just going out of date now, and went onto the www.maplin.co.uk web site to order the next one for £3.99, post-free. It has now arrived.
SO JUST WHO OR WHAT ARE MAPLIN?
Maplin is an electronics firm deriving their name from the Maplin Sands on the north bank of the Thames Estuary, near their original Southend head office, although ...
