DVD/CD Organization Help

January 9, 2013 2:18 PM

I've never kept my media in anything other than their original cases, but my DVD's take up too much room and I want to put them into some sort of organizer. Any product reccomendations or advice would be appreciated!

I have too many DVDs and CD's laying around. The DVD cases take up too much room for my liking so I was thinking about removing them from the cases and putting them into some sort of book or Discgear thing, such as this http://www.amazon.com/CD3-Storage-Systems-Inc-3700-02/dp/B00007DWEA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1357769660&sr=8-4&keywords=discgear But I've never kept my media in anything other than the original cases and I don't want to throw out all the cases and regret it. Any insight into any products that you love or any drawbacks to my plan?

As far as longevity, I'd be happy if my media stayed playable for the next 10 years. This isn't heirloom stuff, just Disney movies and what not.

posted by MadMadam to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

Several years ago, I put my DVDs into two Case Logic books (alphabetized, one for movies and one for TV shows) and packed away the plastic cases into a couple small boxes in my basement. It worked perfectly and I was glad I did it. Lately I have been thinking about selling most of them, and the DVDs are still pristine and the cases are stored safely.
posted by cribcage at 2:25 PM on January 9, 2013

I found this big dj case for my dvd/cds. It is basicly a trunk with 4 rails and bunch of little hanging dvd holders. It looks really cool, but it did not turn out to be viery usefull. It's hard to find anything. You have to put it somewhere that will hold it and to get anything out you have to get the whole thing out and dig through it. So... um... don't do that. It is probably good for dj's who actualy have to hual lots of discs around.
posted by d4nj450n at 2:57 PM on January 9, 2013

When I had the same problem you are having I bought a DVD binder. It's like a CD binder, except the reverse side of each sleeve had two slots to hold DVD inserts/booklets instead of holding discs on both sides. The downside is the binder has half the disc storage capacity of a CD binder, the upside is you have a place to store your DVD booklets. I threw out the original DVD cases and never regretted it. (Although deluxe cases/packaging I kept, i.e. the Blade Runner collectors' set, etc.)
posted by mediated self at 4:03 PM on January 9, 2013

I've done the binder thing as well the case thing, and neither really worked for me. I recently converted to these - they are dvd cases that are 7 mm instead of the standard 14 mm, so it takes half as much room to display them. After using them for a few months, the standard size cases look clunky and inelegant.

Obviously if you want a binder this is not a good answer, but it was a nice happy medium answer for me so I thought I'd throw it out there. (Drawback - you have to transfer the discs and trim off some of the paper from the case - but I kind of enjoy the process, so...Other drawback - assorted quality of cases. I ordered 2 boxes of 100 each, and I would say 10 of them were damaged beyond usability, and another 15 were slightly broken but still usable. The rest were completely fine.)

Good luck - media storage is tricky. :)
posted by firei at 5:53 PM on January 9, 2013

I had a massive collection of CDs and transfered them to CD sleeves and then stored the discs alphabetically in a series of storage boxes. I chose the sleeves because they are double-sided and a lot of my collection is complete operas which in most cases run to 2 discs per work.

It's actually neater and more environmentally if instead of the sleeves you use CD file folders -- that way the lid included in the shoebox-style storage case fits neatly on top.

As for how much space is saved: the discs were originally in a shelving unit about 6 feet high and 9 or 10 feet wide. Now the whole collection fits inside a single Ikea PS Cabinet with room on the top shelf to spare.

The other benefit of this is when you move, all the discs are already organized and packed in boxes.
posted by La Cieca at 10:29 PM on January 9, 2013

I too recently went the Case Logic book route for my DVDs, and kept the inserts flattened in a small binder (they take up very little space when flat). mediated self's DVD binder sounds perfect; I didn't see anything similar when I reorganized my collection though (I live in France, where this sort of thing tends to be more difficult to find; as it was I could only find 25-CD and 100-CD books). It freed up so much room, and with the DVD book next to my PC, all I have to do is pick it up and flip through it.

You're lucky to have a storage space for the cases! One reason I went the book route was that my apartment is tiny and I desperately needed the extra space, so I sent my load of cases to recycling, apart from three or four I can use to lend single DVDs to friends.

As for longevity, when I first came to France from the US sixteen years ago, I had put my favorite music CDs into a small Case Logic CD book. I still have that book after much traveling, it's in great condition, and the CDs still play without issue. That brand has been around for a long time and seems to get it right. (Not in any way affiliated with them; just that they've proven their stuff to me as far as I'm concerned.)
posted by fraula at 2:07 AM on January 10, 2013

I recently bought three of these bins, which fit perfectly on the lower shelves of my media center, and was pretty happy with the result. Pretty unobtrusive from the front, sized perfectly for two rows of DVD cases, not too expensive. About 50 cases/bin.
posted by timepiece at 8:47 PM on January 18, 2013