CD/DVD storage units

[blakerwry]

OK, so I'm finally tired of CD binders.

I have probably 200+ DVDs, CDs, and other disks I'd like to put into some sort of storage unit to keep things organized. At the moment I have software in 1 CD wallet, Backups in another, Movies in another(which is full).. or on a shelf in retail packages, music spread across 3 wallets, and all kinds of stuff on HDD that could really be archived.

I'm hoping to accomplish the following:
1) Less space used up compared to CD binders
2) Fast retreiveal and no more searching through binders to find the right disk(s).
3) Easy way to see if I already have something on disk.
4) consolidation of my disks into 1 or a couple logical places (software, music, and movies can all be seperated).

I saw this and it really piqued my interest. Claims the capability to control thousands of disks with easy retrieval through the use of a computer database.

Then there is also a KDS unit, but it tops out at 75 disks and I dont know if you can use multiple units together.

Both can be found here.


What experience do you guys have? Any recomendations on a product that'll accomplish what I want?

 

[mubs]

Interesting that the Century CD has an MSRP of $198, and Tiger is selling it for $50 ($80 - $30 rebate) !

Interesting products though...

 

[i]

Perhaps this is something to look at if you need another option.

 

[i]

About that Century unit:

By stacking multiple units, CCD can manage up to 127,000 CD's from the USB interface on your Windows or Mac PC.

Hmmm...

Century CD (CCD) is the industry's first affordable, intelligent CD / DVD media storage solution, with 100 disc capacity per unit.

So, let's see ... 127 devices maximum on a USB chain, multiplied by 100 CDs per Century unit.

Hmmm...

127,000? I think not. Not unless you have 10 PCI slots, with 10 USB cards.

More like 12,700. That's an overstatement of 114,300 CDs.

How big is your collection, blakerwry? :wink:

 

[Mercutio]

I use shelving very similar (but homebuilt from pine) to this.

Obviously I have a collection of CDs and DVDs that's substantial enough to warrant such a thing.

For my computer stuff, I've tried just about everything. Stick with binders. I use paper-type binders instead of caselogic or purpose-made binders, and CD sleeves that accomodate two CDs on a side (or the whole CD and its jewel case), so that I can add sleeves if I need to. I alphabetize the CDs and put in little cards so that I can write down where I'm taking a CD if I need to remove it from the binder.

This system has worked very well for me, but when I moved the boxes I kept CDs in were jumbled around and a whole bunch fell out. I haven't had time to replace 'em yet.

At $50 apiece, those spinners will fill up fast.

 

[blakerwry]

Isn't it common for a PCI USB controller card to have 4 USB jacks on it... plus a mobo usually has between 2 and 4 jacks on it. And Isn't each jack capable of 127 devices theoretically?

that would mean 6 PCi based USB controller cards (the ATX standard maxes out at, I believe, 6 PCI slots) times 4 jacks a piece + the 2 that are on the mobo... 26 USB connections each capable of 127 devices = 3302 devices.

The 127,000 disk limitation is probably a limitation of their drivers/software.


Anyway, I have just over 100 movies on CD right now... and then a bunch of TV/Anime series on CD(maybe another 50 disks if they were all burned). That is the majority that i'd want organized.

I dont have very many audio CDs after all of them got stolen, most my music is stored on my computer as MP3s.. but I'd guess between me and my girlfriend we have maybe 50 audio CDs... which I think is fine because they all fit neatly into a ~100 disk CD binder next to the stereo while their mp3 equivalents are online available via my file server.

My DVD movies are sitting in their retail packages on a bookshelf... maybe 20 disks between 15 packages... that's not so bad cause it's easy to pick them out, plus if I want to look at the album art or show it to somebody it's convenient to pick up the case and have them read the synopsis/look at the pictures.

 

[blakerwry]

Merc, I'm trying to keep things organized, but I find it hard to keep everything in alphabetical order.. maybe if I used a binder with removable sheets I could just insert a new sheet into the middle of the binder, but I'm sure I'd end up with sheets that only have 1 or two disks and would regularly have to go through and consolidate the disks.

I also hate the idea of having to write down an index of the binder only to have to redo it if I add a new disk. Which leaves me with labelling the individual disks/slots... which might make it hard if I want to relabel the slots later on.

There's also a space/capacity consideration. I'm sure a binder would be the best solution for my software and seems to be working well for my music... It's my movies that are a problem. I would like to keep all my movies in one place. I'd prefer 1 binder, but could break them up alphabetical into 2 or 3 binders at most. How many CD's can you fit in a 3" binder with 8 CDs a sheet Merc?

 

[Mercutio]

Huh-uh.

You have one USB root hub per controller. Each root supports additional nested hubs up to six layers deep (giving a final distance limit of 39 meters) and a maximum of 127 addresses per root.

Motherboards with both USB 1.1 and 2.0 have two roots, and therefore can support 254 USB devices in total.

 

[Mercutio]

I'll go out on a limb and say it's probably about 100 sleeves per 3-inch binder, but I've never done an exact count. I have seven computer CD binders and the initial organization was a pain, but I don't add many pages, except to the D binder any more(drivers and downloads, those I just number and stick at the end of their respective sections).

I think I paid $.40/apiece for the sleeves.

 

[blakerwry]

Got any good retailers of the CD sheets for 3 ring binders merc? I've found that fellows and Neato both make what I'm looking for, but retailers are kind of scarce for the sheets that hold 4 disks per side.. I'm certainly looking at paying alot more than $0.40 cents per sheet... more like $1 per sheet or more after shipping, even for the sheets that only hold 2 disks per side. Making the binder aproach less attractive.

I'm going to head to office max to see what they have in stock.

 

[Mercutio]

I got mine from one Yahoo store or other. I found these. They're close.

 

[blakerwry]

Heh, I had just ordered this.


I also ordered some8 CD fellows sheets to go with it.

 

[i]

Just to following up, I sent a message to the makers of that Century product. The VP of Marketing sent me a response:

Thank you for your inquiry about Century CD.

Each Century CD stores up to 100 discs, and you can stack up to 10 units (1000 discs) with only 1 USB and 1 power connection. Up to 127 stacks (127,000 discs) can be connected with additional USB and power connections (USB hubs). The space-saving design of the Century CD facilitates easy stacking. The small 6-pin connector on the top and bottom of each unit is the conduit for the power and USB connections. Thus, you do not necessarily need a separate power and USB connection for each one. You will need a separate connection for each stack of 10.


Do not hesitate to contact me directly with any further comments or questions, and thanks again for your interest in Century CD.

Wow. I'm actually really impressed. This means that you can "merge" up to ten units into a single ... errr ... pod. That's a 1000 CDs/DVDs per pod, and with only one USB connection required for each pod ... well ... you do the math.

Did I mention I think that's really impressive?

 

[blakerwry]

how long did it take for a response?

 

[i]

how long did it take for a response?

Less than 2 hours. It might have taken even less time if I'd sent my message later in the day. (My email appeared to go to California - I'm 3 hours ahead of them, and I sent my message early in the day here in Virginia.)

The parent company that makes the Century unit (or at least brands them) is Bell Microproducts.

I'll be mentioning the product to our graphic design guy - he has a massive quantity of CDs, and he's forever hunting for specific discs. If I had the money, I'd pick one up myself. That final "after rebate" price from Tiger Direct makes it really, really tempting.

 

[timwhit]

Merc,

I already have a couple of Case Logic CD binders, but they are all full. I have a 200 and a 256. Add in about 250 discs that are sitting on spindles and I decided that I need another binder.

The Case Logic ones are a rip-off. But, on eBay I can get this or something like it. Do you think it will work well? Any drawbacks?

I just hate how all the merchants on eBay charge ridiculous amounts for shipping. Whenever I sold anything I maybe charged a buck or two over my costs. But, $10 to ship a CD binder is ludicrous. However, its still cheaper than any of the Case Logic binders.

 

[blakerwry]

Heh, I had just ordered this.


I also ordered some 8 CD fellows sheets to go with it.

This place is actually in Kansas City, so I got my oder the next day. Free shipping on orders over $25. Price was the cheapest around too, and what I think is so much better about this compared to the CD wallets is that you can add/rem sheets anytime you want(a necessity for oganization).

Here are the 8CD sheets I purchased. They fit great in the binder, but I think the original sheets held the CD's more secure (had a flap over the CD to keep them from falling out). The official refills for the binder are here

I dont think I'd have a problem holding 200 DVDs in this binder.

 

[Mercutio]

timwhit, I use Office-type binders (the kind meant to hold paper), since most of my collection just lives on bookshelves and doesn't travel around. The fabric binders I have come from CDProjects. Wallgreens has the big ones on sale about once every three months for maybe $15.

The ebay one you linked to is probably fine, although I think I'd rather have fabric than fake leather

 

[CityK]

Here are the 8CD sheets I purchased. They fit great in the binder, but I think the original sheets held the CD's more secure (had a flap over the CD to keep them from falling out). The official refills for the binder are here

Blake, given that you purchased the C-Line binder, why did you end up getting Fellows additional sheets instead of sticking with the C-line brand ? Was that just a mistake or oversight, or was it a case that you bought the C-line binder online and then picked up the additional sheets at a B&M .... or something like that.

CK

 

[blakerwry]

I didn't see that they caried the C-line sheets there until after I placed the order.. more of an oversight.

The place called to confirm my billing address (i put my old address in there by mistake) and could have corrected the problem then, but figured the fellows sheets would be fine.

No place locally carried the 8CD sheets in any brand.. the reason Iw as told is because 2 CD's dont fit well in regular binders, the edges sometimes stick out and that can lead to the CD getting chipped/broken. That is why I ordered this CD binder specifically, because it is made to accomidate the 8CD sheets without a problem.

 

[CityK]

Thanks. Thats what I suspected, but I was curious to see if there was possibly some other reason for the deviation.

PS. You should have told me "I was being adventurous" - he who takes the road less travelled always garners more respect online then he who "ughh, I ahhh, clicked the wrong button "

 

[blakerwry]

My dad always told me the same thing. :wink:

 

[ddrueding]

I saw this and it really piqued my interest. Claims the capability to control thousands of disks with easy retrieval through the use of a computer database.

Has anyone tried this yet? I watched the online demo and was also really impressed.

 

[MaxBurn]

I too liked the demo, but it seems that it's not really being sold anymore.

 

[Will Rickards]

I thought the demo was weak... little window I could barely see so I couldn't make out the software interface. And a database that couldn't search the CD's content? It would seem so easy to just add that ability.

But then again I keep all my cds in binders and a cardboard box.

 

[MaxBurn]

And a database that couldn't search the CD's content? It would seem so easy to just add that ability.

That would be hard considering it doesn't actually read the disks. You could incorperate this into your titles though.

 

[Will Rickards]

I was thinking that if they were making you type in the disc, why not just plop it in the cd drive and have it read the title and contents information and store that on the computer? Probably avoid all that typing and increase the searching ability.