In home entertainment – DVDs, video games and music – it’s often hard to find what you want in local stores, especially if, like me, you have esoteric tastes.<\/p>\n
I am a big fan of progressive rock – Porcupine Tree, Spock’s Beard, Fates Warning, Riverside – and much of this music is simply not available locally. In the past, I had to import CDs at great cost through a local retailer or process a bulk order with Amazon.com because of the high shipping costs.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, local website Take2.co.za has solved my problem, albeit at the expense of my already drained wallet. Take2 imports products – including a wide selection of music – directly from the US. Much of the music I buy costs me between R100 and R150 per CD, compared with R180-R230 previously.<\/p>\n
Because Take2 only imports products once it has received an order, it takes a few weeks to receive a purchase, but the wait is worthwhile given the website’s good prices. Take2’s estimated delivery times are usually spot on – about three weeks on average. And courier charges are a reasonable R29\/order.<\/p>\n
Take2 also stocks a range of DVDs (it has 164 000 in its catalogue), games (15 000) and books (1,7m). Its list of high-definition Blu-ray discs – the optical format slated to replace DVD – is also very good.<\/p>\n
Must… put… wallet… away.<\/p>\n