These are great strings, especially good if you do a lot of playing. The coating protects the string windings from accumulating grease and other sound deadening matter from your fingers.
Out of the box they're not the brightest sounding of strings, but they're definitely the longest lasting, retaining their sound for far longer than most other strings that I have tried.
They're slightly expensive I guess, but the fact that they last longer than other strings means that you will eventually recoup the initial outlay.
I've been playing bass professionally for 15 years, and my sound is very important to me. Strings are often the part of the signal chain that people scrimp on, hoping to save a bit of money. My opinion on this is that this is in fact a waste of money, cheaper strings don't last, and the sound they produce is often lacking.
Thomann's price was very competitive, and the shipping was very fast.