Best way to keep my dvd's safe

Newbie Forum
#1

Hello !..
Im intrested to know what is the best way to keep my dvds safe. [forever :P]
Im always taking out my dvds from the original box and keeping them in a dvd binder. [pc games]
The reason is because the boxes taking to much space, in some of the boxes you need to use strength to take out the dvd’s and im afraid ill just break them one day.
So right now im keeping them in a dvd binder, but is this the best way? maybe i should keep them in those small empty jewel cases?

Because i heard that a high temperature can hurt the dvd’s and i guess that in a dvd binder the tempture higher cause its closed…
I dont know…

Will be happy for some help here.

Thank you.

#2

Welcome to the forum.

You are right…the discs can be damaged in various ways: repeated handling means they can get scratched, bent or damaged by heat or moisture or chemicals…even the chemicals in some plastics. They should be stored vertically rather than horizontally to avoid warping. And the idea to keep them in jewel cases is good.

What I think most members here would suggest however is that you make good back-up copies (good media and good copying technique). Put the originals aways in their original cases in a safe dry place and only use the copies for viewing.

This way you can enjoy the movies (maybe edited to remove annoying trailers, specials, or commercial extras), and if one fails, you can make a new copy from your pristine original)

Perhaps other members have some further suggestions.

#3

I just found out that the binder scratched my new pc game:a
Suddenly it covered with minor scratches all over the place. damn.:frowning:
Keeping them with the written place up is a nice idea…!
I think ill go for the small jewel cases.
Any recommendation?

I also noticed that in the original dvd cases, the dvd not touching the case, its like floating on the middle ring, and there is small pieces of plastic keeping space betwen the case and the dvd.

I want my jewel case be the same… problem is… i wont be able to tell untill ill buy the pack and open it. :frowning:

Ho and… thank you !

#4

A jewel case for each disc is the best way to store discs, but is also the most cumbersome if you have a lot of discs to store.

Alternatively, cakeboxes (like the ones you find in stores for empty discs) are a nice alternative, but is rather uncomfortable to use, mostly if when you search for a disc and you don’t know exactly where the disc is located. Keeping a note of each disc in the box on a piece of paper is a good idea in this case :slight_smile:

Keeping the disc with the data surface up is not a good idea in my opinion, because is very easy to leave fingerprints over the surface.

#5

In a cakebox they lying on one another wont it scratch them?

Jewel case, do you a specific ones i should buy? or something i should know before ill buy them? people say that the material plastic can hurt the discs or something over time if its poorly made.:confused:
I need them for dvd’s not cd’s… if it matters…

#6

Scratching a disc on a cakebox is possible, but if you are careful it is a minor risk. The worst thing you can do in a cakebox is rotate discs: this is really a bad idea, because circular scratches are the worst damage on a disc.

I never heard about plastic damaging discs, unless you are referring to scratching: this is more frequent with plastic sleeves, because every time you insert/extract the disc from the sleeve there is a slight friction that in time will scratch the disc. This is very improbable with jewel boxes.

You can get jewel boxes anywhere you find them at the best price (usually in online stores). For what I know the only difference is about construction quality, i.e. being more or less robust. For example, a poor quality box is “dangerous” because if it drops on the floor the disc can be not protected correctly. Dropping a disc on the floor will not damage it, but certainly it will collect dust and it can be also scratched, so is better avoid it. This is the only “side-effect” I can think at the moment about a poorly made jewel box.

Many stores sell jewel boxes advertising them for CDs or for DVDs, but actually there is no real difference (except for prices :doh: ) because both CD and DVD have the same physical dimension. So, you can certainly store a CD on a “DVD branded” jewel box :bigsmile:

#7

Attached is a recent photo of my archive of around 6,000 home-recorded, time-shifted DVDs. The current albums (also referred to as “wallets”) occupy around three and a third of the five shelves in a 72x36 inch bookshelf. The most recent page in the current album is seen in the second photo. That album will be full within a week.

Beginning in 2008 I’ve used Taiyo Yuden 8x Premium Line DVD-R media for all my archival recording with my Panasonic, Magnavox and Philips HDD/DVD and DVD recorders. For other purposes I use 16x Taiyo Yuden DVD-R media or 16x Verbatim AZO series DVD-R media.

I use 8x media in order to reduce stress and prolong the useful life of laser assemblies. I never use HDD/DVD recorders or DVD recorders to play DVDs. I use DVD players to play DVDs. Again this is in order to extend the useful life of recorders. DVD players are inexpensive to replace when they fail. I regularly rotate recorders in and out of daily use for DVD Drive servicing and to equalize recording hours among daily use and standby recorders.

DVD STORAGE ALBUMS 9-8-2010.jpg639×961 94 KB

DVD ALBUM, MOST RECENT PAGE, 9-20-2010.jpg800×458 56 KB

#8

:eek: That is a lot of DVDs

I hope that you have also a database or it’ll be a pain to find something there :bigsmile:

#9

[QUOTE=geno888;2545887]:eek: That is a lot of DVDs

I hope that you have also a database or it’ll be a pain to find something there :bigsmile:[/QUOTE]

I customized a MS Works database for use with this home-recorded archive. At the moment there are more than 35,000 home-recorded titles. DVD numbering uses the date and finalizing sequence, e.g., the first DVD finalized today is 100921A and the second DVD finalized today is 100912B.

DVD 100921A has these titles:

THE RED SHOES 1948 TCM 9/20/2010
BLOCK-HEADS 1938 TCM 11/25/2009

DVD 100921B has these titles:

SEINFELD: THE FINALE (AND ONE UNIDENTIFIED EPISODE) KPDX 9/16/2010
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH 1964 POP29 9/11/2010
THEATRICAL PROMOS, TRAILERS, INTROS (VARIOUS) POP29 9/11/2010

The first DVD finalized tomorrow will be 100922A, with these titles:

WAY OUT WEST 1937 TCM 9/20/2010
TT: LOOKING AT LONDON 1946 TCM 9/20/2010
TT: PASTORAL PANORAMAS 1950 TCM 9/21/2010
A CHUMP AT OXFORD 1939 TCM 9/22/2010
SAPS AT SEA 1940 TCM 9/22/2010

This database allows me to locate the specific title I want to watch, locate and remove the DVD from it’s album, place the DVD in a DVD player, locate the title on the DVD and start playing the title, all of which might take as little as one minute.

#10

[QUOTE=VoxHumana;2545847]Attached is a recent photo of my archive of around 6,000 home-recorded, time-shifted DVDs. The current albums (also referred to as “wallets”) occupy around three and a third of the five shelves in a 72x36 inch bookshelf. The most recent page in the current album is seen in the second photo. That album will be full within a week.

Beginning in 2008 I’ve used Taiyo Yuden 8x Premium Line DVD-R media for all my archival recording with my Panasonic, Magnavox and Philips HDD/DVD and DVD recorders. For other purposes I use 16x Taiyo Yuden DVD-R media or 16x Verbatim AZO series DVD-R media.

I use 8x media in order to reduce stress and prolong the useful life of laser assemblies. I never use HDD/DVD recorders or DVD recorders to play DVDs. I use DVD players to play DVDs. Again this is in order to extend the useful life of recorders. DVD players are inexpensive to replace when they fail. I regularly rotate recorders in and out of daily use for DVD Drive servicing and to equalize recording hours among daily use and standby recorders.[/QUOTE]

Wow… now thats a lot…
So all this are records only? or there is copies made out of original dvd’s?
And you got a very beautiful writing :smiley:

#11

[QUOTE=tan21;2545895]Wow… now thats a lot…
So all this are records only? or there is copies made out of original dvd’s?
And you got a very beautiful writing :D[/QUOTE]

Of the around 6,000 home-recorded DVDs perhaps half a dozen DVDs are copies of commercial DVDs. Perhaps a dozen DVDs are home-recorded DVDs from other sources.

As a rule I do not copy commercial DVDs or DVDs from other sources.

I have in mind a project to copy portions of my home-recorded archive originally recorded to inferior CMC manufactured DVDs (Memorex, later TDK and several other brands). I estimate that my archive has between 400-500 of these inferior CMC manufactured DVDs from the 2005-2007 period, all of which will require auditioning.

I’ve randomly sampled these CMC manufactured DVDs with a view to making direct copies with archival quality Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim media. I’ve yet to make a final determination as to accessioning of direct copies of older DVDs. I’m leaning toward assigning the original DVD number to directly copied DVDs and flagging them with a “CP” suffix. The original and the copy will be stored together with additional albums inserted into the shelf sequence as necessary.

So far the sampling has found some CMC manufactured DVDs that can no longer be copied directly to new DVDs. There are other labor intensive methods to salvage some or all the content of defective CMC DVDs where there are still playable titles worth preserving. When DVD contents are preserved with these methods I expect to flag the original DVD listing with a “SB” suffix to indicate a substituted DVD. Those titles not preserved to a new disc will be removed from the index. The problematic DVDs will be removed from the archive but will be retained as “bad media.”

#12

Wow I’m surprise to see someone’s DVD collection upon coming to this thread. I’m sorry if I refresh this thread but I couldn’t resist myself to leave a message here.

It made me register for this forums just for this reply.