Are you up for it 24/7? (Play.com)

Member Name: offy

Product:	Play.com
Date:	24/08/02 (434 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free delivery , good prices, speedy delivery

Disadvantages: Poor returns policy, not always cheaper than CDwow

One of the many opinions I read led me to have a look at this site a few months ago, and some of their bargains led me to order some DVDs. That's the quick version, the longer one is that I am a sad bunny who believes that going to bed early at the weekend, even if you are tired and have finished reading opinions, is not on. Instead, I spent ages looking at this site at 2:00 in the morning, hunting through the bargain sections (I didn't want any particular DVD, just a bargain). I was pleased with my cheap purchases - Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon for £9.99 and Cats & Dogs for £6.99, including delivery. However, I have since read that www.cd-wow.com may be generally cheaper, so I decided to review the site I have actually used, whilst comparing it to CD-wow where possible. I've also used it a few more times for DVDs, but I'm too ashamed to tell you what I bought (maybe I should have lied about Cats & Dogs too).

By the way you can get to this site by typing www.play247.com or www.play.com.

** HOME PAGE **
The home page is quite cluttered, yet still manages to make navigation intuitive. Despite there being quite a few graphics, the page loads quickly (but then I have broadband, so most sites do). The colour scheme is a white background with orange and dark blue headings. This is quite easy on the eye until you come to the brightly coloured bargain advertisements. To navigate between the main areas, there are four tabs at the top: home, DVD, music and games.

The home page displays DVD, music and games highlights down the middle with cover photos and to either side are coloured boxes for bargains such as 'cinema club DVDs at £6.99' and 'summer savers from Walt Disney Pictures'. There are also links to log in, to obtain information about play.com, to show your shopping cart, to go to new releases, top sellers and coming soon. The last three categories are split into another 8 categories: Region 1 DVD
, region 2 DVD, music, Xbox games, PS2 games, GBA games, GameCube games and PC games. There is also a search facility.

Verdict: 4/5

The CD-wow home page is actually their CD page. It is quite similar in layout to play.com's, showing new releases, pre-releases, a top 20 and bargain adverts. The colour scheme is darker (a lot of grey and red - very 80's), and they have similar navigation buttons to information, login, DVDs and music. They also have a search facility. I did notice links to both Ciao and Dooyoo on this page, which take you to a listing of CD-wow opinions - excellent idea. For this reason alone, the CD-wow page gets my vote, as they must be confident to show these independent opinions.

** DVD **
This is similar to the home page, still a bit cluttered, with the same coloured bargain adverts at the side and a list of Region 2 new releases in the middle along with photos of the covers. There are also lists of top sellers, coming soon and recent releases. Clicking on any of them will take you to a page showing further details of the DVD and from here you can add to cart if required. I like the fact that it makes it very clear about the region of the DVD so you shouldn't be able to accidentally order the wrong region. You can also browse by genre and alphabetically. It tells you the RRP so you can see how much you are saving, but does not have an area for customer reviews, like Amazon does.

Verdict: 4/5

The CD-wow DVD page is exactly the same layout as the CD page, but listing DVDs instead. Again you can click on any of the DVDs for more details. I didn't like the fact that the DVD region was not always clearly displayed before you clicked on it, so the play.com page wins here.

** MUSIC **
It took a while for this page to load for some reason. The play.com CD page is exactly the same layout as the DVD page, but listing CDs instead.

Verdict: 4/5

As CD-
wow have no separate home page, I have already given details of it above. Again, no differences between the two sites.

** GAMES **
The play.com games page has the same layout as the DVD page, but with an additional row of tabs for the different games formats: PC, PS2, GBA, Gamecube and X Box. There is no equivalent CD-wow page to review.

Verdict: 4/5

** ORDERING **
I cannot comment on CD-wow, but the ordering process for play.com was very simple. You create a log in ID from your e-mail address and choose a password. They have a secure server and it proceeds much like every other on-line checkout. I had no problems with the credit card payment. When you log back in it shows you details of your previous orders. One thing I did notice on the CD-wow site was that it was affiliated to ipoints and you could pay by some alternative methods like Paybox and Smartcreds, so they appear to be innovative in this way - play.com only accepted the normal cards, hence the deduction of a rating point

Verdict: 4/5

** PRICES & CHOICE **
The thing I noticed immediately is that CD-wow had very few Region 2 DVDs, unlike play.com, which is a big negative for me, as I do not have a multi-region DVD. I did a price/availability comparison on 2 DVDs and 2 CDs:

* Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Play.com - £9.99 (region 2) in stock
Play.com - £15.99 (region 1) in stock
CD-wow - £11.99 (region 1) in stock

* Shrek
Play.com - £16.99 (region 2) in stock
Play.com - £15.99 (region 1) in stock
CD-wow - £13.99 (region 1) in stock

* Now 52 - Various
Play.com - £12.99
CD-wow - £12.99

* Songs from the Big Chair - Tears for Fears
Play.com - £8.99
CD-wow - not stocked

My conclusion from this is that if you have a multi region DVD, it will be best to buy from CD-wow, having previously checked that a region 2 DVD is not available cheaper from play.com. With reg
ards to CDs, both seem similar, as long as you are looking for something recent. CD-wow, do not hold much of a back catalogue. Obviously if you are looking for computer games, you can only go to Play.com from the two.

Verdict: 4/5

** DELIVERY **
Both offer free delivery, but I cannot comment on the speed of CD-wow. Apparently you can track your order on-line with play.com, but this is something I did not bother with as it arrived so quickly. My two DVDs from play.com arrived within 3 working days by recorded delivery, and were securely packaged in individual jiffy bags. I found it interesting that they had not combined them to save on postage, but I suppose this involves extra administration. The order summary was clear and they also gave a list of forthcoming region 1 and 2 releases. The address, telephone number and e-mail address were clearly displayed for any queries and the address was in Jersey (apparently to avoid problems of importing cheap DVDs from abroad).

Verdict: 5/5

** RETURNS **
Play.com will only refund you if the DVD/CD was faulty or the wrong title sent, and they will also refund postage up to £2. They will not exchange items, even if it will not play on your DVD player, but it plays on theirs (they feel they are not responsible if you have messed around with the regional settings). Whilst I understand this policy, it does seem a bit harsh compared to CD-wow, who offer a 'total satisfaction guarantee' meaning you can return items for any reason within 14 days for a full refund minus a £1.50 handling charge. I wonder how many get recorded and sent back?

Verdict: 3/5

** CONCLUSION **
I was very impressed with this site and the service I received. As I don't have a multi region DVD player, CD-wow is no good to me. However, if I did, I would price check every required item on both sites to get the best deal, especially as neither charge delivery, so you don't
need to get a number of items together to save on postage. If you are feeling bored, it is worth rummaging around the bargain adverts. For CDs, again I would check both sites for prices, but as I often order older CDs, again Play.com comes out on top for me. The search facility works well and the pages load quickly. The goods arrive quickly and are well packaged. Just make sure you order the right title!

Verdict: 4/5

Recommended

Summary: