Securing My DVD's at College... (1 Viewer)

[Andrew_Sch]

I'll be going off to college in a few days, and I am, of course, taking a large portion (probably 144 discs worth) of my DVD collection with me. Now theft is a concern on any college campus, but especially at College Park (University of Maryland), where I'm going. I'm keeping the DVD's in a Case Logic case to save space. I know my roommate from high school so he's not a concern, but other than the common sense answer of always keeping my door locked, what else can I do to ensure that my DVD's are still mine next summer?

 

[Drew Bethel]

Dude, you're going to college. Forget about your lame dvd collection...it's PARTY TIME!!!!

 

[JamesED]

I keep my DVDs in the bedroom and not in the living room. I also go out to drink, I don't trust a bunch of people I don't know trashing my apartment.

For things even easier to grab like my digital camera, I keep those stashed away and not sitting next to my monitor.

 

[Malcolm R]

Perhaps a locking cabinet of some kind? Like a small file cabinet with a lock?

Or one of those fire-proof locking security chests.

 

[Jay Taylor]

The Case Logic case would be very convenient for a thief to walk off with your entire collection.

I would want the Case Logic case to be padlocked inside a heavy footlocker and maybe have the footlocker locked in a closet if possible. Otherwise I’d consider leaving the DVDs at home.

 

[ThomasC]

In the case that your DVDs get stolen, take pictures of them beforehand. Your insurance company may cover you for them. Here's more information: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=161580

 

[Max Knight]

Do you have a real HT setup in your dormroom? I would say burn a smaller section of them to disc as XVID or something and just keep them on your computer. DVDs are easily converted to cash, so they make tempting theft targets. And if word gets around about the guy with the great movie collection, believe me less scrupulous people will be gunning for them.

 

[Ron-P]

Might I suggest a gun cabinet. They can be had for about $100 and can be bolted to a wall. The type like this one below is light weight as well. Good security for your DVDs and other personals you like keep.

http://www.sportshooter.com/gear/spot_homaksafe.htm

Hey, if you cannot bolt it down throw a couple of large cinder blocks in the bottom.

 

[Ricardo C]

I would just buy a larger hard drive instead of a cabinet and rip my favorite discs, menus and all. Of course, then you'd have to contend with the leeches begging to let them raid your collection. But that's far more easily solved than leaving a large disc collection in a dorm room.

 

[Joe Szott]

The best way to perserve your DVDs is simply not to take them into the dorm.

Barring that, leave them in a closet and tie the binder to a cinder block. Won't discourage a determined crook, but will stop a drunken and/or casual thief from taking the whole folder.

Your bigger problem will be everyone asking to borrow them. That's how most of my stuff disappeared, you loan out too much and don't know what's where, then only 3/4 of it comes back. Best way to prepare for that is to use special ink (cheap at art stores) that goes on clear but shines VERY bright under UV light. If you ever suspect a disc is yours, shine a pocket UV light on it and see if your signature appears on the top bright as day.

Best again is just take a few that you know you'll want or don't take any at all initially.

 

[Ted Lee]

i would *not* take all your dvd's at once. take a few and get a vibe for the place.

also, as mentioned, you're going to have to decide how to deal with people wanting to borrow your dvd's...and i bet my next 10 paychecks that people *will* ask. you may not be happy with your dvd attrition rate.

also, somebody mentioned partying. i mean, i *know* you're not going to college to study...

 

[Jesse Skeen]

It was great when I had a laserdisc player in college; nobody else had one so they had no reason to borrow my movies!

 

[Christ Reynolds]

i agree with max, rip them to divx or xvid (buy a larger hard drive if you need to, a lot cheaper than 144 potentially stolen dvds) and rip your faves to the drive. keep the originals safe at home, and when you get back home, delete the xvids, watch the dvds, and you have an 'extra' hard drive to use. plus, you dont look like a prick when you say no to people who want to borrow your dvds. and it would happen, people who you barely know will ask you to borrow "this one movie just for one night" and you will never see it again. whatever you can do to avoid bringing the actual discs to school, i suggest you do it. they will be eagerly awaiting you arrival when you get back.

CJ

 

[Greg_R]

Aside from the 'borrowing' scenario, you will also have someone spill something on the DVD cases. I had a few discs in college and I swear that they were a beer spill magnet (regardless of where they were placed in the room). Good luck in college...

 

[Andrew_Sch]

Well, as hard as this sounds to believe, I can almost guarantee, knowing myself and my roommate, that there won't be any drinking or partying in our room. As for the borrowing problem, I plan to take all references to my DVD's out of e-mail signatures, AIM profiles etc., and not flaunt my collection to anyone who doesn't already know about it. And while the ripping suggestion is a good one, I don't have any software that could do that.

 

[ChrisMatson]

I know from personal experience that things go missing in college dorm rooms. Thankfully, I only lost a few CDs.

If you didn't like any of the suggestions above, it sounds like you may just have to roll the dice.

Here are a few tips:
--Always lock your door--even if you are just going to the bathroom/shower.

--Lock up the DVDs in an out-of-sight location.

--Have fun!

I was worried by your statement:

I can understand the aversion to drinking, but you need to have some fun.

 

[Francois Caron]

How about replacing the dorm room lock with one whose key doesn't match the keys used in any of the other locks? This way, someone can't simply use the school's master key to unlock your door.

 

[ThomasC]

Chris, he was only talking about doing it in his room.

 

[DaveF]

This would be safer for his DVDs (the goal), but it will even worse telling everyone that they can't copy his harddrive full of movies.

The best ideas seem to be keeping them locked up and out of sight. Consider: replacement cost 150 DVDs is about $3000. How would you safeguard a briefcase with $3000 cash in it? 'Cause that's basically what you've got.

 

[Rob Lutter]

I kept mine in a non-chalant filing cabinet with a lock and key (cases and all, so it was pretty heavy). Never had a problem for the 2 years I was on-campus.

Don't flaunt your DVD collection to people you don't trust, that's all