What's the best place in London for DVDs (R2 and R1)? (1 Viewer)

[Frederic_A]

I will be staying in London for a couple of days next week, and I thought I might take the opportunity to try and get my hands on some long-sought after DVDs. I would be grateful for answers to any of the following questions:

1. Is there a shop that you would especially recommend?

2. Where would I go for Region 1 imports?

3. What should I expect to pay for titles other than new releases?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Jim C]

Hi Frederic,

you might want to try The Cinema Store for region 1 imports. They are located in Covent Garden, right oposite Stringfellows nightclub. It's a great store, with loads of stuff to keep us movie buffs happy. You will need to go downstairs to get to their DVD department. They have a big range of hard to find imports as well as all the new titles (normally a couple of weeks prior to their official release dates). And if you want some region 2 titles, they have a shop next door that sells them too.

JC

 

[Steve Christou]

The Cinema Store is useful if you don't have access to the internet, but watch out, for region 1 dvds they are VERY expensive, typically you can expect a dvd that sells for £14.99 on the net costing £25-£30 at this store. They were selling Windtalkers 3disc SE for £39.99 last time I visited, it cost me just £17.99 online, inc postage.

But they do have a bargain section, where the typical price is £9.99, just don't expect the discs and their cases to be in mint condition.

 

[Anthony Neilson]

Frederic -

For R2 titles, your absolute first stop should be the HMV megastore on Oxford Street, where there are a huge array of DVDs on sale. You'll not get these titles cheaper anywhere else (apart from maybe online). HMV have been consistently cheaper and better than VIRGIN and the ludicrously overpriced TOWER records store, although occasional bargains can be picked up at these stores.

Do NOT go to the Cinema Store for R2 discs. Most of them are sold for the full RRP, though they do tend to get some R2s a few days ahead of street date.
There's another shop on St Martins Lane - Laser something or other - that looks like a hardware AV shop, but sells R1 discs downstairs. Their prices are extortionate too but they'll knock 20 percent off, making them generally cheaper than the Cinema Store ; though they're not so quick in getting discs in.

I feel bad denigrating the Cinema Store as it's a good shop and a good resource. I know part of the pricing must be to do with the high cost of having a shop in that location but even so - it's terribly hard to justify spending twice on a disc what it'd cost on the Internet.

To sum up, Frederic - HMV for R2, internet for anything else.

 

[Frederic_A]

Thank you Anthony, Steve and Jim for the advice! Looks like the internet is still king, then. Though I'll be sure at least to check whether HMV has The World At War for less than what Amazon is asking.

Thanks!