Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Cheap, Good service, no postage charges |
| Disadvantages: |
Only for UK, not a huge choice |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
I get lots of useless e-mails everyday and most I just delete without reading but a few weeks ago I got one telling me about a relatively new Online shop exclusively for DVD’s –DVD.co.uk This is a UK based company and only delivers to UK addresses.
I had a bit of time on my hands so I decided to check them out, here is what I found…
THE LAYOUT
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I like web sites that have a simple uncluttered layout, sometimes you feel that the web designer’s wish to show off the latest use of web technology takes over form the primary purpose of the web pages that is clarity and ease of use. The DVD.co.uk homepage was very much to my liking. It is well thought out with not too many intrusive animated graphics. All the relevant links you need to use the site effectively are there.
The page is split in to 3 areas the left hand side is mainly concerned with search functions both a quick search box and a browse box with details all the genres of DVD available on pull down menu. There are also some flashing special offer links, which I will talk about later in the op. On this side of the page there is also the login box-you have to register to use the site (more of that later) and a Newsletter registration box.
As I’ve mentioned before you can use the site to buy DVD you have to register so what’s the process like?
Easy peasy.. Not much information required, you need to give your E-mail and set up a password and off you go.
So far so good.
The central panel on the home page is made up of five different key link pages
*Latest- really a page advertising the latest DVD releases and special offers each entry as a more details button and a Buy now button next to it, fairly standard stuff.
This page is the default page and you will encounter this when you first visit the site.
*Info- This is a general information page telling you about site policy including ordering and returns, Privacy statement, Postage and Packaging charges ect.
*Account- as you’d expect this section allows you to access you account page. You can find out what you’ve ordered in the past and the current status of any outstanding orders.
*Help- This is a list of e-mail addresses for you to contact the company with depending on what problems you are experiencing it also has a phone number! Remember those that you can contact the company on to make enquires and for general problems.
*Contact- This is a list of contact options for you and repeats a lot of the info on the Help page. It does though include a UK address to write to.
The right hand side of the page includes a top ten list of best selling DVD on the site, a list of new releases and also a list of new title to be released with relevant dates list of titles coming soon. Each title is linked to a description and price details, which appear in the central section.
PRODUCTS, PRODUCT RANGE AND AVAILABILITY
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The site has a good range of DVD’s available as well as all the usual genres; comedies, cartoons, action adventure, drama etc it also has some interesting and unusual specialised categories. For instance under the music section it has a subsection including Ballet, Biographies, Karaoke and Jazz/Blues, with a fair number of entries in each.
There are quite a few other specialised sections for instance there is a category exclusively for Japanese Anime with 37 titles including classic like ‘Castle Of Cagliostro’ and ‘Akira’. There is also a fairly comprehensive Westerns section and sections on Documentaries and TV.
Overall it’s not a huge selection but it is an interesting choice. If you can’t find what you’re looking for you can try asking them directly if they can get hold of it for you.
As I mentioned above, flashing away on the left hand side of the home page you will also notice two picture links leading to the special offers page. These are certainly worth looking at! In the 20th Fox link there is a ‘any two DVD for the price of one’ offer, which is excellent value and includes a limited but decent collection of top titles raging to the fairly new like ‘Memento’ to the classics like ‘Hello Dolly’. Not all the special offers are listed on this page however and so if a title you are looking for is not listed here try looking for it in the normal section where you will be told in the product details whether it is included in the special offer.
I recently completed my ‘Dollars’ Spaghetti Western trilogy using this offer buying ‘For A Few Dollars More’ and ‘The Good The Bad And The Ugly’ for only £14.99. However be warned that the titles in this section change quite regularly.
The other special offer section linked by a MGM picture at the time of writing this review was offering any two James Bond Movies for the price of one, but again this offer is liable to change regularly.
Once you have found what you’re looking for in any of the sections an click on the title you will be taken to a information page that will give you more details about the DVD. This will include a short description of the film, certificate information, catalogue number, release date and availability. For many of the movies there is also a more detailed description of special features ect. At this stage you also get a price comparison, where the RRP is quoted along with the actual price and your saving.
PRICING, PAYMENT AND DELIVERY
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Prices on this site are very competitive with other
online DVD shop such as Amazon or CDWOW! I think in general this site beats Amazon on price and can certainly match CdWOW! with the added advantage that it has a greater range to choose from than the latter. Like CdWOW! all prices include P & P, which is a real saving over Amazon.
*An example using the DVD’s I have bought recently
‘The Good The Bad And The Ugly’
DVD.co.uk- priced £14.99 including P & P
Amazon- priced £15.19 excluding P & P
CDWOW! - Not available
Once you factor in the two for one offer in the price the DVD is a bargain.
*Alternatively using a more recent DVD example
‘Blade 2’
DVD.co.uk- £14.99 including p&p
Amazon- £14.99 excluding P & P
CDWOW! - £15.99 incl. p&p
The payment system is fairly standard. As in most online shops you require a credit card or charge card to make an order. All major cards are accepted. Naturally you have to give address details and you can chose to deliver to a different address from the cardholder address. The payment screens are self explanatory and easy to use. You can choose to leave an item in your shopping basket and continue browsing before buying.
Delivery service is excellent. I have bought a dozen items from the site and I have experienced no problems with delivery times (usually within 5 working days or ordering sometimes less) and you credit card is not charged until your order has been dispatched. They have a returns policy whereby if an order is faulty you have to contact them by phone in order to get a return authorization and code. I can’t comment directly on this aspect of the site since I have never had to return any items. They have never made a mistake on one of my orders nor have any of the DVD’s or their cases been damaged.
Overall I was very impressed with this website. The prices are very competitive and the service is prompt and efficient. I will certainly use them again.
Thanks for reading and rating this opinion.
© Mauri2002
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