Erm, maybe this should be in Geekbay, but I don't know how much the 'looking for' category gets frequented

Anyway, I'm trying to decide between PN or Scratch when asking for my subscription as a crimbo present. I managed to get October and November's copies of Scratch at Capital, but have never seen PN on sale anywhere, are they strictly subscription only?
I wondered if anyone had any old copies they could give or even lend me, just so I can compare the two?
I've seen someone selling a lot of 8 for £12 on Ebay so tempted to go for those but wondered if anyone could help me out so I can put my poor mum out of her misery and tell her which one I want!!
xxx