A veritable Alladin's Cave of bizarrely cheap items, Levenshulme Bargain Store is just another…read morecheap bargain tat shop. Just with way more stuff than others. And to be honest, I am a fan of these places. When you need a dustpan and brush for a quid or a pack of batteries, these shops are really useful, quick and very, very cheap. So I can't really complain. I got a 9v adapter from here that would have cost me at least £5 if not closer to £10 in Maplin for just £3. It won't last for ever but it works just fine for now and at £3 it's good enough for me. Like any bargain shop worth its salt, Levenshulme Bargain store stocks slippers, badminton racquets and oversized money saving tins.

My father makes me laugh. Whenever he talks about Maplin, he says, 'You don't want to talk to the…read moreguys on the floor. You want to talk to the ones they keep in the back, they're the experts.' I have to say, whenever I've gone into Maplin when one of the men in my life has been in there, I've always stood by for a good twenty minutes while they engage the assistants in a very technical conversation. Last time I experienced this I was sceptical as I listened, thinking, those questions are way too specific for a sales assistant. How wrong I was. Out came incomprehensible jargon about wattage and cables and warmth and flange. Some of that may have been made up. Oh mercy me. This guy was only a blooming expert. So it's safe to say that Maplin employ people who know what they're talking about. Similarly, ages ago my father was buying some kind of cable that would... do something with the computer and the TV. Again, the guy spoke another language, one my dear dad perfectly understood. The one beef I do have with Maplin is that things seem a tad unnecessarily expensive in there, when it comes to things like adapters for European plug sockets and the like. But as well as a range of intricate electrical goods, fusers, gender changers (gender changers?), they do sell fun stuff, such as electronic gifts for kids and computer table accessories. It's a great little standby that exists in our very own delightful Regent Retail Park, and is a great place to pop in if that essential cable, scart lead or something else electronic isn't available in your average supermarket. The staff are particularly helpful, as I've demonstrated, and the shop is laid out simply and cleanly, making it easy to navigate. As for those experts in the back, well, I do wonder why they keep them there. Perhaps there's a fine line between flash sales assistant and fully-fledged nerd in the world of Maplin (see also, Apple Stores)...

Surely, one day, the combined power of ebay and massive chain stores offering cheaper prices will…read moreput shops like Central Radio will go out of business. Until that day, I'm quite happy that places that exist. You can go in and browse massive flat screen televisions and stereo systems without feeling the pressure from pushy sales assistants and bargain deals staring you in the face. In fact, the chap in Central Radio didn't even offer to help me in my search for some headphones. Was he being rude or just letting me have a look myself and consider my options? I'm going to quite happily go for the latter, if I needed help I would have asked. There isn't the most stock ever in Central Radio. They only really had one pair of headphones at around £10, everything seemed like a much more serious investment at around £30. Central Radio is definitely the shop to visit if you want to spend some time really investigating and discussing your technology options.

I'm having a total shopping on the internet backlash myself, especially for big purchases. Richer…read moreSounds love this. This is their goal, their mission. They are blinded by anything other than getting shoppers back into stores with experts to help guide their choices. Looking at the physical object that you will be parting with your hard earned cash for; comparing it side by side rather than just comparing two teensy images. The staff are really what make this place- they are all obviously so passionate about the products themselves that they would never dream of trying to rip off the customer. They are excited to get more people using high quality electronics and it shows. Specialising in hi-fi, home cinema and flat screen TVs, Richer Sounds should be your go-to store. Find out the latest technological developments, which competitors the team deem to have the edge - even get something custom made to your requirements. I guarantee you won't be able to calm them down if you go in and ask about this. Like the staff in the electronics store in The Forty Year Old Virgin but much more trustworthy..

Someone suggested I try here when my TV broke recently. I had a look on their website which gave…read moreme a good indication of the range they hold and the prices. Like Sophie C, I was apprehensive about parting with my cash without seeing the physical object I wanted to buy. I was also getting slightly confused between all the new telly talk (having never had to buy a telly before since I was lucky enough to receive a hand me down from my brother about 10 years ago!). The store was easy to find, just a couple of minutes off the M60 motorway. There is no on street parking, but there is a small off street car park just round the corner. The staff were very helpful, answering all my silly questions and helping me select the best set to meet my requirements. I only wanted a small telly and the selection available was far more extensive than some of the other major electrical retailers, and mainly focused on your better known/better quality manufacturers. One of the key benefits of Richer Sounds is the five year guarantee they offer for 10 per cent of the purchase price which is much better value than its main competitors. I would certainly recommend Richer Sounds to others, and will be visiting here again should I need any other AV equipment.

Argos stores are a dying breed on the UK high-street now, which I have noticed even before the…read morepandemic started, a brand which was once in almost every town of the country, associated with the famous catalogue, in a digital era, gone are the day's, one would walk into an Argos store and browse the huge catalogue, writing down the product number on a tiny paper, now people will most likely order the item ahead online, to pick-up or pay in store. Many Argos concessions are now located inside Sainsbury's stores too, meaning the need for this store is even less. This location isn't too bad, located in the Manchester Arndale, it is located on the Upper Level, close to the inside steps to the Food Court, it is one of the largest Argos stores I've seen and often has most items in-stock, or avaliable to order online within a day or two. I do prefer to pay for the items online, as it can take a while for them to find your item in the warehouse. While the service is average, it can be a little slow even at the checkout. Most items are competitively priced for a high-street store, in some cases they price-match with Amazon, but they are rarely cheaper. 3* - This store is OK, but I can't see it lasting much longer with the company moving towards Argos stores, it wouldn't surprise me if they added a concession in the Sainsbury's at Regent Road, with pick-up points in the conviniance stores around the city.

Argos....oh Argos how we love you. We love the fact that we can go into the shop....open your…read morelittle catalogue and find anything and everythingwe could possibly need. We love the fact the fact that when we have found what we want we type in a little number and it tells it if you have it...which you normally do. We are estactic about the fact we get given a little ticket and then we can park our little bums and just wait for our number to be called. The glee on our faces when you bring our treasure from the never ending hidden storeroom. Argos we love you!

Review for CeX Arndale Manchester - A Wasted 24 Hours and a Damaged Device…read more I regret to say that my recent experience with CeX Arndale Manchester was not only deeply disappointing but also a telling symbol of why this company may not exist in the next 20 years. I handed in a pristine device, expecting a straightforward evaluation, only to have 24 hours of my time wasted, only to be told that my phone was "not sellable." More disturbingly, the device was returned to me with two fresh marks/scratches that were not there before. The damage was done, quite visibly, and the person who returned it to me a female staff member seemed unaware or indifferent to the fact that the device had clearly been mishandled during their assessment process. This kind of carelessness is not just unacceptableit i s corrosive to any customer-facing business. The irony here is tragic: the very company that prides itself on being a marketplace for used electronics seems to be accelerating its own obsolescence by treating both customers and their devices with such disregard. If this is how CeX treats the people it relies on to sustain its inventory, it's no wonder many consumers are moving toward decentralized tech trade-ins and platforms that operate with transparency, speed, and respect. In an age of intelligent automation, blockchain-based transactions, and next-gen peer-to-peer resale models, CeX's archaic and inconsistent service model epitomized by the careless behaviour I witnessed today is writing its own demise. It's no longer just about product margins; it's about trust, precision, and a future-ready approach. On all of these, CeX failed. This experience has left me unhappy and disillusioned, and unless there's a radical shift in professionalism and process, this may well be my last dealing with CeX.

I'm not the biggest fan of CeX, however, this store is okay, it is quite a large store, located…read moreinside the Manchester Arndale, close to TKMaxx and the new Halle Place Dining Quarter. CeX is a second-hand goods chain, of course, that means the products you are buying are used, I do find most of their prices to be a little expensive, especially on newer releases, CeX defends this by saying "They are trying to combine getting the best possible trade-in price and the best possible sales price", but I just think the trade-in price is often too low, and the sale price is often too high, on some newer releases in games/phones, the price can often be the same OR more expensive to buy the game from here, compared to a new version from a different retailer within the shopping entre or Amazon. Although the queuing system could be dealt with better and seems to be a little messy at times, the staff seem friendly enough. They do have some cheap hidden gems here of older games and DVD's which is pretty handy, which is probably the only reason I use this store for now. 3*

I've been a Richer Sounds customer for over twenty-five years, usually at the Kingston upon Thames…read morebranch. This time I was in Manchester and thought I'd drop in and see what the latest equipment is. Things have changed, the freezer with ice-lollies has gone but a tea pot was clearly on display if anyone fancied a brew. Julian Richer the company founder gave away the company to the staff several years ago and the staff proudly wear long service badges. Unlike some large internet retailers Richer Sounds pay UK taxes as well.

I am a huge fan of Richer Sounds…read more Since the age of sixteen or so, I grew tired of having an all-in-one cd player radio thing with a tape deck thing with a couple of space age looking speakers that was all made of plastic and probably came from Argos. No, what I wanted was a big, grown-up looking stack of units, one for the cd player, one for the radio, a record deck, an amplifier unit and some nice tall, mature-looking speakers to plug the whole set-up into. Normally you wouldn't be able to afford this kind of clobber, but that is where Richer Sounds comes in. What they do is stock discount ranges of all of this great gear, selling it at reasonable and competitive prices. There are always loads of staff in Richer Sounds and this Manchester branch is no different. They're friendly, personable and ready to help.

Does your laptop shut down when you were just about the save your very precious document?…read more Does your keyboard decide to not function all of a sudden or the mouse pad plans to die? Does your computer/laptop hate you and become your sole enemy in ties of dire needs? Do u need the perfect convertor/electronic wires/external hard drive etc ? Do you think Maplins can sometimes be ridiculous? Loops Computer on Princess street is your home and the right place to be!