HMV seems to be a well established music empire, because even my mum knows that HMV stands for His Masters Voice and she has even gone as far to shop there! However established HMV is, it has a funky all-round image that would appeal to young and old, and is my first port of call when I'm looking for CDs and such. There a few things I love about HMV and a few things I hate:

1. One thing I love is that when you enter most HMV stores, from the doorway they seem to extend back for miles with impressively long rows of shelves with loads and loads of CDs, videos etc. but allowing enough room to move freely. It gives the impression that the store has every product in the ranges they stock, and that you are entering a gold mine of music and entertainment! All the stores are very modern, and HMV spend a lot in keeping their stores modern and up to date. I was distraught to be left without HMV when they gutted the building and rebuilt it which took about a year to complete. The original store was fairly small, and they had managed to buy some more of the building in which they were located and they expanded the building to include a second floor for videos and computer games, and they fitted some monitors on which to preview new films and videos such as Friends Series 7, and music videos, as well as fitting an online touchscreen information service which you can use in the store to find information about coming releases.

2. As a student I have to watch my pennies, and one thing that puts HMV above other entertainment stores in my mind is their continuous offers on CDs, videos and DVDs. I visited around Christmas last year and they had a 3 for £20 offer on selected videos. They also do 2 for £25 on selected DVDs, and a few 2 for £20 on CDs. I thought it was a festive clear-out maybe, but still today, April 2001! The films they offer aren't 1950s black and white flicks either, but fairly recent videos such as Jerry Maguire, My Best Friends Wedding etc. The videos and DVDs on offer are regularly rotated so you will get something new for your money. For example, 2 months ago I decided that it was time I found a copy of my favourite Woody Allen film, Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask. So I popped into HMV and was quite surprised to find it in a 3 for £20 offer. At the same time I checked out the other videos on offer, not sure whether there would be anything to suit my tastes. But I found Go, an excellent film I enjoyed at the cinema, and Austin Powers 2,Bargain!

Another thing I love about HMV is their frequent clear-out sales, where videos are on sale for £3.99 and above. Austin Powers 2 is a fiver, South Park the Movie is £4 and Cant Hardly Wait with Seth Green was only £3.99 the other day! There are often several copies of the videos on offer, so it's not really just selling off the last few. DVDs are also included on the offer from £9.99 up. As long as I can remember HMV have had a 2 for £10 offer on all their £5.99 books, and this is great value as the paperbacks they stock are all contemporary fiction, again not just the classics or books left untouched for 10 generations. No other entertainment store holds such good offers and it keeps me visiting again and again!

3. Like most music stores, HMV have listening units around the store with CDs for you to listen to to try before you buy. I do believe HMV staff will help you out if you want to listen to a CD you have chosen off the shelf, although I have never asked. I like these a lot, and I value a store's willingness to allow you to listen to any CD you want as all too often I have bought a CD in other shops where I couldn't preview it and I have not liked it. This flexibility parallels Amazons online music clips, a service I check out first before I buy CDs anywhere else online.

4. HMV has a vast range of entertainments products. Their ranges include CDs, videos, DVDs, books and PC and Playstation games, and they also stock the new PS2 games/DVDs. The store splits up the products into different categories: the videos on display are clearly marked as Adult, Fitness, TV series for example, as well as having a video charts on main display. The CDs are sorted into A to Z under categories such as Easy Listening, Jazz, Soundtracks and Rock and Pop. The books section is comparatively smaller than the other products on offer in the store (it is a music store after all), often only taking one shelf so they are not as organised as the music products. The PC and Playstation games are clearly separated, and any special offers in those departments are clearly displayed. As a consequence I find HMV very easy to navigate and I can find what I want all too easily, from the latest Robbie Williams album to the soundtrack of the TV series My So Called Life!

5. The staff are very friendly, will help you out with any problems you have such as finding a particular CD. I was shopping there when my bloke suddenly wanted to know what CD was playing in the background. I felt a little silly approaching the counter to ask what they had on, but the staff were very friendly and not only showed me the CD but where I could find it in the shop.

6. There’s an HMV store in most large towns and cities, so wherever you move to, go to visit etc. you will not be deprived!

There are a few things I don't like about HMV:

1. All the stores are very dark, although there seems to be enough lighting. It can give a nice relaxed atmosphere but I find it hurts my eyes.

2. Some of the new CDs and videos that are released are comparatively more expensive at HMV. For example, I found MTV Extreme in HMV selling for £17.99. OK, it was a compilation CD so it would be a bit more expensive than an artist’s album but I suspected that that I could find it somewhere else for a bit cheaper. I checked out Amazon UK and it was selling for £14.99. And another music shop I checked in it was £15.99. Some of the videos are quite expensive too. However, quite confusingly I have found the Sex and the City box set on sale for £19.99, 3 videos! Whereas in other shops they have been sold separately for £11.99 each! If I think something’s too expensive I’ll go elsewhere, but then again nowhere else stocks such a wide range of products as HMV.

All in all, HMV is an excellent shop, a leader in the entertainment retailers, stocking as wide a range of products n different ranges as is imaginable, and keeping a modern image. Their constant special offers keep me coming in out of curiosity and often making purchases I did not plan.

I recommend this store to everyone.