Deep Deep and cheap! (Argos Pine Small Extra Deep Bookcase)

Member Name: B_O_M_B_A_

Product:	Argos Pine Small Extra Deep Bookcase
Date:	28/08/08 (100 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to build and at a great price!

Disadvantages: slightly cheap looking

I have already reviewed the Argos baby bookcase, I am now going to review its bigger brother, the 'Beech small extra deep' bookcase. Fundamentally they are the same, except this is as you can imagine deeper and generally larger as whole. I purchased the bookcase from as Argos store expecting it to be fairly easy to carry, I had already done the same trip with the baby bookcase and didn't find it too much of a problem. This one however was a different story, it says on the site it weighs 6.1kg, I can tell you now that it doesn't, it says on the side of the box 16.1kg, even common sense would tell you that the extra deep version would be heavier than the 9.1kg baby version.

I have to say walking half a mile with this on my shoulder wasn't a fun time; my shoulders were in serious pain, even after I moved the unit from shoulder to shoulder on numerous occasions. The box is also a difficult shape; it is long and thin and has a poor centre of gravity making it very difficult to hold. It didn't even have any kind of handle or hole to grip onto, simply the smooth cardboard surface. Therefore I would not advise anyone who is over the age of 55, a young child or disabled to attempt to carry this box, either get a friend or relative or get the unit delivered (cost of £5).

Once you get the unit home however the story changes to a happy one, I had no problem at all removing the packaging, a few small cuts with a knife and it was open. The packaging was sufficient to ensure the safety of the goods with thick cardboard enforced with polystyrene inside which I was pleased with.

The unit is made of the same plywood style material as the baby version although it does seem slightly sturdier. The fixings are kept in a small plastic bag to ensure they do not fall out and the wood pieces come already drilled to make screwing the pieces together much easier. There is also an instruction manual to help you build the unit which does suggest getting someone to help you. Although I managed to construct it on my own I can see how it could be a struggle. It took me around 35 minutes to build, which could be reduced by 10 minutes if I had a second person. None of the pieces were damaged or missing and at the end I was pleased to see it looked just like it did in the picture.

The baby unit has small wood coloured stickers to cover up the screws that were on view, this version however has small wood coloured plugs that slot into the top of the screw, these are slightly sturdier and less obvious. The unit also has two adjustable shelves that can be easily adjusted by simply moving the shelve pegs, the pegs also have rubber grips to prevent the shelves moving around.

The units measurements are (W)78, (D)29, (H)91.5cm, I would say slightly too deep for a hall but ideal for a lounge or bedroom to store your books. The bookcase is also deep enough to store small ornaments in front of your books to make it look a little less library like. We tend to have our large picture frames on top of ours because it has the depth we need, also our mantel clock because we don't have a fireplace.

I would definitely advise anyone to purchase the unit, it costs £17.99 from Argos but is in fact very sturdy for the price, it also doesn't look that cheap. It is easy to construct and will comfortably hold as many books as you can squeeze onto it. It even comes with an attachment so you can connect it to the wall so I won't fall over, a great buy!

Summary: A good space filler!