jungle.com

Computers! Love them or hate them, they are a part of life now and God knows what we would do without them. You are part of this revolution, for you would not be reading this were you not. A massive market in computer hardware and software has been created, not to mention all the ink, paper etc that goes with it. With the hardware, you have two choices, either to stay at the cutting edge of technology and to pay through the nose for the privilege, or to lag slightly behind and pay less. I for one prefer the latter. I let others pay a kings ransom for technology that will be outdated in a month and pick up the pieces once the furore has died down. The same applies to a lesser extent with software. Today’s wonder is tomorrow’s freebie.

This brings us to the actual purchasing. Where is best? There are so many choices nowadays and everyone has their own favourite. I tend to shop around as much as possible, including a good ferret round the local computer fairs, but have one or two websites that I always favour because of past experience. The best of these I have found to be www.jungle.com. It would be untrue to say that I always buy here, but I would not make a purchase without checking the price with them first.

They are a member of the Argos Retail Group and benefit from the enormous buying power that being part of the country's largest home shopping group brings. Argos is one of my favourites for shopping in any case and their secure servers are second to none. Jungle.com launched in August 1999 and now have a turnover of almost £100million.

The web site is very fast and easy to follow. The home page is predominately given over to any special offers that jungle has. Take time to look through them, as some of them have been spectacular in the past. The site is then split into the following sections:

•Music
•Films
•Games
•Phones
•Electrical
•Computers
•Vouchers

The music and the film sections are no better than the likes of Bol or Amazon, but definitely worth checking out in case there is a “special” on that CD or DVD you are hankering after.

The games section is quite simply enormous. Every single platform is catered for and there are charts to let you see what’s hot and what’s not. Once again specials on “yesterdays” hits are available. If nothing else, it is worth looking to see what games are in vogue at the moment.

The phones section has every mobile phone available, along with a huge selection of facias. Not exactly a phone warehouse, but as I keep repeating, check the prices against the phone you have set your heart on, before you buy.

Be it a DVD player, a camcorder or a digital camera, the section under “electrical” probably has it in stock. The search engine, which follows you around the site, is your best bet here. If you want to browse, then this is possible by type or manufacturer.

The largest part of the site is under “computers”. Here is your Aladdin’s cave of all things to do with computers. You can search by brand or simply browse the hardware or software that is available. It is a little like a computer fair which is probably why it appeals to me. Looking today, I liked the look of this computer on offer:

A DeskPro Pentium3-866 128MB 20GB Win98 & 15" Monitor priced at £679 inc. vat.
Need a new scanner? There is one for £34.99 (HP ScanJet 3300C)

As Jungle.com sells an enormous range of products, the delivery charges very considerably and must be taken into account when ordering. They can vary from £1.19 one off charge for music and games, to £15 for computers valued at over £750. The delivery service boasts a 3-5 day service for all online sales. In practice I have found that it is not uncommon for this to stretch to 7 days but my orders have always arrived well packed and in immaculate condition.

All in all an invaluable site that should always be checked before making any computer related purchase.