Speakers for R$22,90

We occasionally will watch a movie in the evening on the weekends on one of our laptops. Unfortunately, the speakers built in to most laptops these days simply will not broadcast a loud enough sound to watch a movie. Thus, we have been left to surround the computer in a group of three sharing 2 sets of headphones.

For that reason, tonight while at Hiper Bompreço (Walmart Brasil, actually owned by Walmart), I purchased a set of computer speakers for R$ 22,90, the equivalent of $11.00 in the U.S. Arriving back home, of course I hurriedly plugged in my computer to test out the new devices. I didn't expect much for $10, but the speakers amplified the sound reasonably well, with only some loss of quality. Or at least that is what happened for the first 5 minutes of their use…

After about 5 minutes, there was a resounding pop, followed by the smell of burning plastic. Apparently, that is what one gets for R$22,90: speakers that function for only 5 minutes. It goes without saying that I will soon be returning to Hiper Bompreço in an attempt to recover my R$22,90, and I can only hope that that adventure proceeds more smoothly than my ongoing adventures with the Brazilian Embassy and Federal Police.