After weeks of hype lastminute.com - the internet site that promises great deals on everything from a weekend in New York to a box of the finest Cuban cigars - went public this week.

Despite the company never having shown a profit, more than 200,000 investors rushed to buy in: shares rocketed from the opening price of 380p to 555p on the first morning of trading, sending the stock market value of lastminute.com up from £570m to £832m.

The biggest winners were the company's creators, Oxford graduate Martha Lane-Fox and Old Etonian Brent Hoberman, who have come to epitomise the new generation of internet entrepreneurs.

But not everybody is convinced. Some City analysts have warned against internet investments.

Others have described lastminute.com, which began by selling bargain basement flights but now offers everything from theatre to football tickets, as a triumph of marketing over content.

Defenders of the company argue that it is more than just a bucket travel shop. It is designed for the cash rich twentysomething generation with either not enough time or imagination.

Does lastminute.com live up to the hype? The Guardian road tested some of the deals available to try to find out.

Return flights to Paris

It's spring, so it has to be a weekend in Paris.

By internet:

Logging on to the lastminute.com website we are told they're offering flights from only £87 per person including airport tax.

Seven clicks of the mouse later and we're nearly on the plane, despite the problem of the only flight available on the day we want to travel leaving at 6.45am and the first flight back being at a similarly ungodly hour four days later.

But with the final click of the mouse a worrying development arises. "Sorry. We might not be able to deliver those tickets in time," a warning sign informs us. "For flights leaving before 2pm on the day you have chosen, you generally need to book before 3pm two days in advance."

It would appear lastminute.com isn't quite so last minute after all. We are given a telephone number to call where they would try to arrange delivery.

An electronic switchboard puts us through to an attendant at Apollo Travel, which apparently handles flight inquiries for the company. There is a surcharge of £3.50 to courier the tickets to Heathrow for us to pick up on arrival.

The total price of two tickets would work out at £180.

By phone:

Directory inquiry gives us the number of Thomas Cook Direct, where a woman says we need to call a subsidiary, Flight Direct.

"When were you planning to travel?" Gavin in the call centre asks. Tomorrow is the wrong answer. "I'm sorry, there's no way we would be able to get the tickets to you in time. We're in Peterborough and the courier van leaves for London once a day and it's already gone."

But he helpfully gives the number of British Airways and suggests we try them direct.

We get through to their call centre. Availability is not a problem. We can fly out of Heathrow at 9pm on Friday night returning on a late flight on Sunday in good time for work on Monday morning.

But you have to pay for the choice. Two return tickets plus taxes adds up to £302, more than £120 above lastminute.com's price.

Verdict:

Lastminute.com was quicker and cheaper, but flight availability was too limited.

A sporting event

The England rugby team take on Italy in the Six Nations championship in Rome today.

By Internet:

Lastminute.com is offering a package to the game for £169 per person.

Clicking the more information button we are told the flight would leave at 7am from Stansted, arriving in Rome mid-morning, and that we would be transferred to a location near the ground where we could have a drink and a sandwich before the match. Our tickets would be sent to the airport for collection.

After the final whistle we would be transferred to the city centre, where we would have plenty of time to find somewhere for a drink and a meal before heading back to the airport for a late evening flight to London.

But there is a problem: halfway down the more information page the price of the trip appears to have suddenly doubled to £339 per person. After phoning the hotline we are told it is a glitch in the computer system, but the price is £169. New technology is clearly not infallible after all.

A couple of clicks later and we're on our way to Rome.

By phone:

Trying to get to the match through more conventional routes is not quite so simple. Ticketmaster does not sell tickets, and neither does Keith Prowse. But it gives us the number of a broker who is offering tickets for the match for £95 per person.

This company can also arrange the same package as Lastminute.com, but this time the price is £225. Not such a good deal.

Verdict:

Lastminute.com was quicker and much cheaper.

A weekend away

A sudden need for a change of scene. It doesn't matter where, just as long as it's away.

By internet:

Lastminute.com is offering two nights at the apparently sumptuous Tylney Hall Hotel in Hampshire. An executive double room, including dinner and breakfast, works out at £185. Bed and breakfast rates for the same room work out at £99. Both offers come with a bottle of champagne.

By phone:

The price at the same hotel works out to be almost exactly the same. But it was easier to find on the internet.

Verdict:

Not much in it.