Cheapest place to buy DVD's ???

[haerp002]

Hello, I'm French and I'm about to make a trip to the States in 2 weeks (destination: Sioux City, Iowa). Being a DVD collector, I plan to buy lots of DVD's during my stay since the region 1 DVD's are way cheaper in the US than they are in Europe (which is of course logical).
What is the least expensive place to buy DVD's ? And I do not want to buy Pan and scan DVD's but Widescreen! That rules places like Wal Mart or Target out, right? Or do they sometimes carry Widescreen titles?
Does anybody know a store called "FYE" ? is that any good?
Or do you guys think it would be cheaper to order stuff on the Internet while I'm there (although I prefer to touch material before buying it, so shopping in a store is preferable, but if the price difference is high then I'm all for it)
Thanks a lot in advance for your input!!!

[mlemmond]

Your best bet would be somplace like Best Buy or Circuit City for new dvds. If you are willing to take a chance on previously viewed dvds you might want to try someplace like Blockbuster which sometimes offers 2 for $20 or buy 2 get 1 free deals and Hollywood video usually has 3 for $25 on ppv dvds. I bought quite of few of these and never had a problem.

[DVDriven]

Originally Posted by haerp002

Hello, I'm French and I'm about to make a trip to the States in 2 weeks (destination: Sioux City, Iowa). Being a DVD collector, I plan to buy lots of DVD's during my stay since the region 1 DVD's are way cheaper in the US than they are in Europe (which is of course logical).
What is the least expensive place to buy DVD's ? And I do not want to buy Pan and scan DVD's but Widescreen! That rules places like Wal Mart or Target out, right? Or do they sometimes carry Widescreen titles?
Does anybody know a store called "FYE" ? is that any good?
Or do you guys think it would be cheaper to order stuff on the Internet while I'm there (although I prefer to touch material before buying it, so shopping in a store is preferable, but if the price difference is high then I'm all for it)
Thanks a lot in advance for your input!!!

If you're planning a stay with an acquaintance/friend/relative while in Iowa (sorry to hear that :p ) and your stay is longer than a week, I would look into ordering online from sites such as DeepDiscountDVD, which offers free ground shipping as well as excellent prices. Based on recent experiences, the average delivery time is ~3 days from the order date to my door.

For recent releases, check to see if there are B&M locations of Best Buy, Circuit City, Target and Wal-Mart nearby. Target's a bit better at offering a larger widescreen selection than Wal-Mart, but it's a case of YMMV for each Target and Wal-Mart in your respective area, e.g. the W-M near me carries both WS and FS versions of DVDs, but there have been reports of some W-Ms stocking FS releases only.

FYE has a limited DVD selection, but occasionally, new releases and some older catalogue titles can be had for better prices than major retailers such as BB or CC. FYE/Coconuts' locations are usually found in malls or shopping plazas.

[StinkPalm]

the store "FYE" is up in the air. sometimes u can get great deals there...but most of the time there prices are HORRIBLE! they sell most stuff at the retail price like $25 for something that would cost $19 at other stores...if u come by one, give it a try but if there is something u want there at the high price i mentioned, go for another store like Circuit City, Best Buy, Target, or Wal Mart.

[haerp002]

Thanks a lot for your replies!

There is no Circuit City in the area of Sioux City, so I can rule that one out.
They don't have a Best Buy either (only in Sioux Falls, South Dakota but that's not very far).
I'll check the local Wal-Mart and Target to see what I can find there. Though I don't think they carry a lot of titles (older releases) or do they? I haven't been back to the States in 5 years so maybe things have changed since then (DVD's being increasingly popular).

"mlemmond", thanks for the tip concerning Blockbuster, but I'd rather not buy something that has been pre-viewed (I hate it when there are scratches and marks that make you think that the people who rent DVD's play frisbee with them )

"DVDriven", I stay amost two and a half weeks there so that would be a possibility. Thanks for the link, I didn't know DeepDiscountDVD... (by the way, Iowa is kind of a nice place, sure there is not much to see... I don't go there for tourism, I'm there to visit old friends of mine).

"StinkPalm" (is tat a nod to "Mallrats"?), thanks for your input on FYE, I'll check it out to see if they have some stuff on discount.

[haerp002]

Originally Posted by haerp002

"StinkPalm" (is tat a nod to "Mallrats"?)

Never mind, forgot you had a picture of Jason Lee...

[manicsounds]

Used record stores are always great to shop for used DVDs,
rather than places like Blockbuster where it's the usual home-owner friendly movies
that are in the used section. But if you go to a cool record store, sometimes you can find great deals on everything from Criterion, Rare boxsets, import region, all of the above DVDs come around.

I say check them out too while you're at it,
and of course you can look at the discs themselves before you buy.

[Dilmo]

Originally Posted by DVDriven

I would look into ordering online from sites such as DeepDiscountDVD, which offers free ground shipping as well as excellent prices. Based on recent experiences, the average delivery time is ~3 days from the order date to my door.

Hell, it takes me about 10 damn days!

[NotEd]

On the Walmart/Target front, do be aware that both have fairly limited selections. Where I live the Walmart only carries about half of new releases and a bare selection of older titles. Target is a bit better, as they seem to have more titles to choose from as a general rule. Still you will never get the selection you would have in a Best Buy, which dedicates a huge section of the store to media/software.

manicsounds is right too. Definitely look for a place that sells used titles. Hopefully you will be bringing a portable DVD player or a laptop so you can check them out before you leave for home. If not ask if you can check them out in the store before you go. (Or take them to Best Buy and use them as "test DVDs" on their display systems. )

[haerp002]

Thank you all for your replies.
I'll check out the used DVD's, but I prefer buying them new...

I thought of another thing, going to a shop with my list of DVD's
(about 35 titles) and ask the store manager for how much he can get me that, I'll probably get a discount (I don't see why a store manager would spit on approximately 700 $ worth of DVD's sold in a minute).
However, I don't think I could do that at places like Best Buy where 700 $ are peanuts...