Net Shopping

Net Shopping

Sound and vision
If you want an enormous selection of reasonably priced CDs to choose from, get yourself over to CD Universe (http://www.cduniverse.com/) or CD Now (http://www.cdnow.com/). Both these sites offer album reviews, comprehensive track listings, and sound file samples so you can listen to a CD before opting to buy it. You'll need the RealPlayer G2 installed on your computer to hear the files play - download it from Real's website (http://www.real.com/).

If you're feeling patriotic and want to buy British then Audiostreet (http://www.audiostreet.com/) is one of the best UK sites and HMV (http://www.hmv.co.uk/) is worth a look when it has a good sale going, although it doesn't offer track samples or album reviews or any useful peripheral information. SecondSpin (http://www.secondspin.com/) is based in Colorado, USA and sells second-hand CDs. You get so much music for your money at Second Spin that it becomes addictive, so be careful.

Unless you have a VCR which plays US NTSC videos as well as British PAL videos then there's no point buying videos from the US. Far better to opt for the excellent Blackstar (http://www.blackstar.co.uk/) which sells videos at a competitive price and offers free delivery anywhere in the UK. You can also buy videos from HMV but remember to take the shipping charges into account.

If all this sounds too noisy and you fancy a quiet read then Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/) has a couple of continents' - North American and Europe - worth of books. Buying books from Amazon usually works out cheaper than buying them from a traditional bookshop and you can buy books that have been published in the US, but are not available in the UK. The choice is astounding and you can read reviews contributed by Amazon customers on the site.

Gifts
Eek! It's your mother's birthday tomorrow and you've forgotten to send her a card, much less a present. A well-meaning phone call is better than nothing, but it won't swing you total forgiveness. At times like these the Net is a godsend.

Interflora (http://www.interflora.co.uk/) can arrange around around-the-world deliveries in moments. See what the bouquets look like on its website and make the best choice to suit your mother's taste. You can even have same day delivery if you order before 12 noon. Ordering is easy and you can type your message exactly as you want it, so there shouldn't be any disasters arising from a mishearing on the phone.

If you want to send booze instead of petals you can have bottles of wine, champagne, gin or anything else alcoholic delivered from the Wine Cellar (http//www.winecellar.co.uk/), while at The Whisky Shop (http://www.whiskyshop.com/) there are more malts and blends than you could shake several drams at. Mix your liquor with cullen skink soup and Walker's oatcakes and send a gift from 800 Hampers (http://www.800hampers.co.uk/) or The Best of British (http://www.thebestofbritish.co.uk/). Or stay off the spirits and try some tea from Fortnum and Mason (http://www.fortnumandmason.co.uk/) or a few slabs of the best cheese from the excellent Teddington Cheese site (http://www.teddingtoncheese.co.uk/).

Looking good
Forget the food and drink - image is everything. You can buy clothes on the Net just as you would from a mail order catalogue. Get your Tommy Hilfiger, DKNY, CK and Kangol from US-based Designers Direct (http://www.designersdirect.com/) at prices you'll like.

Diesel's site (http://www.diesel.co.uk/) has more than enough hip-and-happenin' attitude to tempt money from your wallet, or get radical with some stunning eyewear from Dolland & Aitchison (http://www.danda.co.uk/). Cool boarders and leisure aficionados will dote on Fat Face (http://www.fatface.co.uk). It's not the slickest site but the sweatshirts are great. The Principles group is now on-line (http://www.principles.co.uk/) to take the likes of Principles, Burtons, Dorothy Perkins and Top Shop to the wider world. And Jones the Bootmaker (http://www.jonesbootmaker.com/) has taken the hassle out of shoe shopping with it's easy-to-browse site - shipping is free if you live in the UK.

Start spending ...
If nothing on the Web looks good on your crusty old 486 with a 12-inch monitor then you might want to get a new computer. Dell (http://www.dell.co.uk/) is a great places to start, offering quality computers at competitive prices. Their on-line custom-building application gives you a good idea of the sort of spec you're after and what you can expect to pay for it. If it's software you want, check out Beyond (http://www.beyond.com) and the enormous Software Warehouse http://www.softwarehouse.co.uk/).

You can buy pretty much anything on the Net. If you're a little lost, even after all this lot, have a look at Enterprise City (http://www.enterprisecity.co.uk/), which guides you to an ever-growing number of UK-based sites, and BizRate (http://www.bizrate.com/), which usefully reviews and rates all sorts of shopping sites. And watch out for next month's credit card bill ...

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