240, 400, 800, 1000 CD Cases. your chance to compare and Contrast

[baius]

Hi. I did a search for "CD Case" using the main forums.hexus search page, and didn't come up with anything, and so I hope I won't offend by by starting this new topic. Anyway, to business.

My CD/DVD (and soon HD (HD-DVD, Blu-Ray)...) collection has mushroomed over previous years.


PART1
At first I had about 5 new DVDs a week, and I didn't want them all in "DVD sleeves" or traditional 1-disk "DVD cases. I had at least 3 reasons for this:
1. It's hard work looking after all the disks/they're messy.
2. It's easy to lose disks/cases.
3. The disks aren't really secured that well - esp with sleeves - and could break easily.

So, upon browsing eBuyer, I came across a "240 CD/DVD Case". Hey, that doesn't sound bad, I thought. & I bought 1. Fantastic. I realised it would be good to have a place to store all the blank media I had lying around, so I bought another. Then I ran out of space for the DVDs - i.e. with 1 backup per disk, I had more than 120 films (or 240 disks) - so I bought another. Then another for SW (software).

Cutting a long story short, I had
1. DVD1
2. DVD2
3. Video1 (anything film, that wasn't DVD quality).
4. Video2 ( " )
5. SW
6. Games
7. Music1
8. Music2

I had quite a lot of blank media, so upon looking at eBuyer some more, I realised there was a "400 CD/DVD Case" option. (It's essentially 2-sided case, with 2 200-disk carriers stitched together.)

I bought 2. So I had:
9: DVD Media
10. CD Media

It was/is a very neat solution.

To further "complicate" things, some of the cases had "ring-binders", some didn't. For each "pocket", you could store 8 disks, i.e. 4 on one side, 4 on the other, like below (for one side):

+ +
+ +

I "phased out" the non-ring binder style cases, as each time a "disk" (i.e. CD/DVD) was in the wrong place, you'd have to take the disks out of their slots, and re-insert them in your desired new place. I had two problems with this:
(1) It took a long time.
(2) I am paranoid about the disks scratching.

So, I made sure the cases were made by "Discrite", and I was fine. A few of the "ring-binders" weren't very well attached, and came away from the case, but once you'd found the disk you wanted, and zipeed everything up, all was secure. I got to this point in 2005.

I was free to muse about other things again - like university.


PART2:
Just about a month ago, I noticed these, whilst looking here. A 1000-disk suitcase?

Wow! I bookmark the page, but couldn't get it off my mind. I felt £30, inc vat, was quite a lot to pay - esp as my - then - old 240 disk cases, were about £3 each, or £4.80 (inc vat) for the discrite's. "Imagine the convenience, though," I thought.

I thought "well, I'll buy 'one'..." So I did. I fell in love again. I transferred all my DVDs into this box. I've subsequently bought another 3, and the four have the designations:
1. DVD (as said)
2. Video
3. "PC" (i.e. merger of "SW", Games, and anything else that crops up in the future)
4. Blank Media

I am still in the process of moving all my disks over - you can't begin to imagine how long this process takes, (when you're as paranoid as I am about disk scratching)!!!

All of (1) are in, and most of (4) are in. They seem to work EVEN better than the "240's".

A few comments, though:
(1) Check with Scan what you're getting. (That's assuming you got them from Scan, and that you're in the market itfp.) My first case had 4 "trays" of 125 (dual) sleeves, making 500 (dual) sleeves. My second order had one of the just-mentioned, and 2 5-tray, 100-sleeve cases. My plan is to make an in-built wardrobe for my room, and it would have helped if the cases were the same size. I like the 5-tray and the 4-tray options though, so I'm not going to moan at Scan. So I'll buy some more, eventually, ordering via telephone, and specifying (probably) the 4-tray option.
(2) With the 4-tray option, you had to fit EACH sleeve, as it wasn't pre-"assembled", and the sleeves were simply packed "loose". This took 2 hours per case, easily. The 5-tray had 5 plastic bags, with 4 (multi-coloured) 25-sleeve-packs (i.e. 100 sleeves per pack) in each. So they could just "slot-in". The process took about 15 minutes in this case - much quicker. ;-)
(3) I mentioned above that from time to time I like to "move" disks around, mainly bcs I'm an organisation freak. (Surely you could tell.) Well, each of the 2-cd sleeves has "37, 38" or "657, 658" or "tuv, wxyz" on the front, meaning if you simply "moved" sleeves around, you'd lose the "order". So I guess, you have to decide carefully what order you want everything in BEFORE you put the disks in, or be prepared for the mammoth task of moving 4/500 CDs if you want to "insert" just one disk in at a certain location. (My "solution"/advice? Leave a 2-sleeve (4 disk) gap every 50 or 100 CDs.)
(4) Related closely to 3, at the "top" of the "suitcase" (i.e. the 'thin' side you open and close, when suitcase laid flat,) has a "list" of the disks you've got, allowing you to find what you want very quickly. I'll probably use this, but write things up in Excel, so I can modify/move/remove/etc, without having a permanent mark on the "paper-list". Essentially a very good feature, though. Definitely worth "being there" than not.
(5) I'm 99% pleased with the manufacture/construction. One of the "trays" on the 4-250s came loose a bit, but I was able to fix it, using even my exceedingly primitive engineering skills, so dw. Again, on the 4-250, at least 2 sleeves were missing. Not bad, but certainly not quite perfect. You pay for 1000CDs, not 996... Maybe it's just me being a perfectionist, though.

So there you have it. I perceive that the solution will be brilliant. I'll probably find that 1tb of flash storage becomes so affordable in the next 10 years, that I'll ditch disk altoghether. Then again maybe not.

If I get enough critical response to this "post"/review/rant, I'll more-than-happily get snap-happy with my camera, and annotate my points above. Probably make it easier to read, as well...

Thank you for sticking with me through this. I hope you found it informative.


PART 3: Your turn.
Please tell me YOUR solutions, as I really want to know what the best possible option is for storing CDs. (I'm certainly not claiming mine is.)

Thank you so much. (& let me know if you want piccies...)

[kalniel]

Amazon* DVD rental. They handle the storage for me




*Other DVD rental agencies available.

[stroberaver]

PART 3: Your turn.
Please tell me YOUR solutions, as I really want to know what the best possible option is for storing CDs.

My dvds stay in their original cases. For computer discs, unless it's original discs for things like Windows, Flight Sim, games, or other software I've purchased, my cd/dvd media tends to sit on the spindles I bought them on. I also find that having them liberally strewn across my computer desk makes them much more accessible. And good for keeping the dust off the desk.

(EDIT) That "lol" smiley is a little OTT. I wasn't trying to suggest that what I wrote is in any way going to cause a laughing fit.

[Funkstar]

Please tell me YOUR solutions, as I really want to know what the best possible option is for storing CDs. (I'm certainly not claiming mine is.)

I started a thread about how I dealt with all my DVDs and CDs but it was pulled with my permission for reasons I won't do into

All my cases are packed up in Really Useful Boxes (18L for the CDs and 35L for the DVDs), stacked on a pallet and are sitting on the top shelf of a racking unit in our warehouse

There are about 14 boxes of CDs and 6 boxes of DVDs so far....

(yeah, the lol smiley is terrible)

[hermeticist]

stroberaver, have you thought about patenting your dustproofing system or is anyone free to use it?

[vinnyT]

I use a 240 case for my sw/hw disks, in no particular order (broke the neat and tidy habit when I left the army:-)) and any cover dvd/ds's are put onto spindles.

Got to admire your patience though, in sorting all that out.

[csi_grissom]

use the amps cases there the best the discwrite are crap and flimsy, none of the cases actually hold the amount they say u try it and watch it fall to bits the 1000 case would be lucky to have 800 and be closed. svp have quite a sellection i buy the 500 disk case by amps they are strong and much better than the rest.

[TooNice]

I think this is a very interesting thread. I've also been buying CD cases of increasing sizes sorted by use. I'd be weary of getting a 1000 cases though simply because I want to be able to fit the case in my shelf.

I have a monster stacks of music CDs (ceiling high) that I wouldn't mind fitting neatly in a box though.

[Gr44]

I have lots of shelfs....

[stroberaver]

stroberaver, have you thought about patenting your dustproofing system or is anyone free to use it?

Yes, that's a good point. I forgot to state above that anyone using my exclusive system of desk dustproofing must make royalty payments to me.



I've actually been keeping an eye out for some suitable disc storage myself, but never seen anything. I don't like keeping them on spindles, and I don't like having book-style cases or ring binders. What I'd really like is a little suspended filing system like you get in office cabinets, but shrunk down to cd size. That would be great for organising my discs into some sort of order whilst keeping them accessible.

I saw something similar in PC World once - a little slide out drawer with suspended holders for discs. Unfortunately it was in a lurid colour and cost about £25 - and from the build quality of it I wouldn't have been prepared to pay more than £12.99.

Anyone know of any storage systems like this?

[vinnyT]

"Anyone know of any storage systems like this?"

You have some firm ideas of how you want to do this, you are not, probably, going to find anything that precisely fills your needs. So, build it yourself, i doubt it will be that hard to create your own bespoke system.

[hermeticist]

stroberaver, I think I owe you 5p.

[baius]

Amazon* DVD rental. They handle the storage for me

Forgot to say, humour welcome. That's how I started building up my collection, (well, Blockbuster,) but I can't really go into details.

My dvds stay in their original cases. ... having them liberally strewn across my computer desk makes them much more accessible. And good for keeping the dust off the desk.
...
a laughing fit.

If your "solution", the most usual, works for you, keep it.
Laughing fits are good - encourage them -

All my cases are packed up in Really Useful Boxes (18L for the CDs and 35L for the DVDs)... There are about 14 boxes of CDs and 6 boxes of DVDs so far....

Care to elaborate, perhaps with pictures? I am interested in how it's "arranged". Thanks for your replies, btw.

I use a 240 case for my sw/hw disks, in no particular order (broke the neat and tidy habit when I left the army:-)) and any cover dvd/ds's are put onto spindles.

Got to admire your patience though, in sorting all that out.

I used to have 240s, and they worked well. lol - Patience is a pre-requisite of perfection...

use the amps cases there the best the discwrite are crap and flimsy, none of the cases actually hold the amount they say u try it and watch it fall to bits the 1000 case would be lucky to have 800 and be closed. svp have quite a sellection i buy the 500 disk case by amps they are strong and much better than the rest.

I know what you mean about "flimsy", re discrite. The 1000-"disk" suitcase WILL hold 1000 disks, i.e. it would hold 600 (2-disk) empty sleeves, imho.

Would you be so kind as to provide links for "amps" and "SVP" please? It would mean a lot to me (and maybe others).

I think this is a very interesting thread. I've also been buying CD cases of increasing sizes sorted by use. I'd be weary of getting a 1000 cases though simply because I want to be able to fit the case in my shelf.

Firstly, thank you for the compliment. Secondly, what sizes of case are you using, and what - if any - do you find work for you?
Thanks again for contributing.

(Your point about "fitting on the shelf" is also valid. As I (hope I) said, I'm planning to build an in-built wardrobe in my room, so once I find a sol'n for my CDs, I'll build around that.)

I have lots of shelfs....

I have lots of giggles. I'm glad there are still people with jokes to tell in this cold world.

Again, pictures of how you shelves organised realy would be useful.


Thank you all for your thoughts/comments. I've learnt a lot. Keep 'em comin'. ;-)

[vinnyT]

"I used to have 240s, and they worked well. lol - Patience is a pre-requisite of perfection..." OMG, I'm not perfect:-)

"Would you be so kind as to provide links for "amps" and "SVP" please? It would mean a lot to me (and maybe others)."

SVP SVP: DVD-R & CDR - Blank Media: Reviews and Advice

AMPS section (SVP) SVP - Buy blank disc media at the cheapest prices. DVD+R, DVD-R, blank CDR discs, paper & compatible ink

[mikerr]

Well I'm living a similar data nightmare

I have 4x usb disc stakkas (100 discs each) for frequently used PC discs.
The indexing software is excellent, you can search for a file and it will eject the disc with that file on... all without knowing which unit its in.
I'd go this route for the lot if they were less bulky & cheaper.

Beware of other usb carousels that are noisy, crap and have poor software
(century cd thing is not worth giving away).

1x DC-300 150 disc carousel for frequently used DVDs in the lounge - with a printed index, I can type 125 on the keypad and it gives me that disc. Thats a decent standalone unit, the usb software operation is crap and not worth using.

...and the rest in 240 disk canvas cases.

Oh and blank discs are left on spindles.

One day I will have it all online, I do have a nice 4TB RAID array, which will be expanded shortly.
Time is my enemy though.

[baius]

"I used to have 240s, and they worked well. lol - Patience is a pre-requisite of perfection..." OMG, I'm not perfect:-)

Wasn't saying you HAD to be, saying I "AM"...

"Would you be so kind as to provide links for "amps" and "SVP" please? It would mean a lot to me (and maybe others)."
SVP SVP: DVD-R & CDR - Blank Media: Reviews and Advice
AMPS section (SVP) SVP - Buy blank disc media at the cheapest prices. DVD+R, DVD-R, blank CDR discs, paper & compatible ink

Thank you very much for the links - will take a look.


mikerr - your 4tb raid away sounds nice. Very nice. (Space for 160 full-size (25gb) HD films, should you wish...)

As I said, I'd like to see everything on flash "HDD" (raid 1, of course), eventually, but something like your "array" certainly could be an "adequate" stop-gap until such a time... ;-)