Storing large collections of DVDs with small children (1 Viewer)

[TomHansen]

Allright all you large collection owners (you know who you are). I might not meet up to the level as some of you, but I'm pushing 400 titles right now (many more to come), with a few small children running (and crawling) around the house. I currently use floor-standing shelving that I've had to move into the master bedroom to keep the bottom shelf full of DVD from being mauled by the baby.

My wife is not very keen on the idea of having tons of shelves all over the family room filled with hundreds of DVDs either.

So for those of you who have large collections, but can keep them on floor-standing shelves what are some of the options out there. I've thought about going with binders for the disks, but alphabitical storage would mean a lot of shuffling around of disks. I could store them by numerical order according to my DVD Profiler software.

Any suggstions would be a great help!

Thanks,

 

[Ryan FB]

One (relatively expensive, but possibly not compared to shelving for 400 discs ) option would be to use an electronic carousel method. There's three "sub-options" I can think of here:

1) Use a carousel-only device like this one. I'm lazy, and my searches only turned up this model at various places, but there may be higher capacity models out there. You would probably need at least 3, bringing it to around $300+. It's also more easily expanded as far as storage increments go than the other options.

2) Grab a used/new CD-only jukebox/carousel. Load it up with DVD's, and just select then eject and put the disc in your DVD player. The reason I single out the CD-only jukeboxes is because they've dropped like a rock in pricing, and there's definitely 400/500 disc models around. It also lets you use your single-disc DVD player of choice.

3) Buy a DVD jukebox/carousel. A quick look reveals the Sony DVP-CX985V 400 Disc Progressive DVD / SACD Player for ~$400. Although you probably need something with more than a 400 disc capacity...I'd say there's other higher capacity jukeboxes around for a price close to that though if you shop around. If you're really feeling like dropping absurd amounts of money, there's the Kenwood Sovereign/Entre system out there as well (like $1500 for the Entre controller, and $1k for each 400-DVD changer, up to 3 of them).

The binder approach would, of course, be far cheaper than all of these . Or, if you wanted to (and had a lot of free time), you could put all your DVD's in slim cases (i.e. Thinpaks, like some of the new TV boxed sets use) to reduce the storage space and then store them in a closeable/lockable cabinet so the small children couldn't get to them.

 

[Nick_Scott]

Same problem.

The kids kept thinking the DVDs were "books".
My temporary solution was to put the DVD rack in a closet!

However, I'm in the process of building a special rack that will hold 300 DVDs ON TOP of the entertainment center, out of there reach.

nick

 

[TomHansen]

thanks for the suggestions. I used to have a Sony 300 disk mega-changer and outgrew that. I also realized that at some point I'd outgrow any amount of changers I could have. I'd rather pour money into a better quality DVD player then a changer anyway.

I'm hoping for a cheaper solution more than anything. It's also gotta be expandible, as I average about 100-150 new titles each year (usually about 2-3 per week). I'm thining the binder idea might have to be the one I end up going with, maybe I can find some nice three ring holders that I can decorate so they look good. Ugh, what a troubling issue.

Thanks,

 

[Ron-P]

I converted a coat closet in the house over to my DVD cabinet, with a lock. Works perfectly and keeps all those DVDs out of sight and out of hands.


Peace Out~

 

[Glenn Overholt]

I have mine in the changers. You an get more than one. Both Sony and Pioneer have made allowances for buying 2 of them, but you want the cheap route.

After I got the disks in I ended up with the cases (running at 630+ right now). I decided to get some bookshelves 4' long by 1' wide, and used those wall-mounted brackets with the adjustable hangers.

The 1' depth allows me to double-stack them, but you could go with 6". Just start at the ceiling and work your way down. by the time you get down low enough for the 'little fingers' to get at them they will be old enough to understand.

A walk-in closet is one good place, and the garage is another. Around $40 or so.

Glenn

 

[Ali B]

On the basis of the topic header only:

Why would store your kids with your DVDs?


Sorry, I'll get my coat...

 

[Tom Wyatt]

I don't have any rugrats running around, but I did want to get rid of the huge shelving units. I went to the DVD book (much like the CD binders that most people have). Mine are made by Case Logic, and they come with space for 40 dvd's per binder, but you can get extra pages, and fit about 50 dvds per binder. So, I have 4 binders for my relatively small 200 dvd collection.

I decided to use DVD profiler for my indexing system, and the dvds are put into order of purchase date. That way, I can just add any new dvds in the back of my latest binder. I have a 3-ring binder that has 2 dvd profiler reports: an alphabetical listing of all dvds with their corresponding collection number, and a "coffee table" report with pictures, in the order of purchase. That way, I can have a look through the book to decide on a movie.

The problems with this system:
1. Multi-disk collections (Indiana Jones, etc.) show up as one entry in DVD profiler - and take up 3 spaces in the binders.
2. There are some cases that are really too nice to just put into storage (indiana jones, alias seasons 1&2, dvd-a disks, etc.)

 

[chris*b]

Electric fence around the DVDs?

While my real solution does not help your situation at all, I use the shelves from boltz.com. They aren't cheap really, but each two foot section holds 252 DVDs, and they look great. They are expandable as well. I have put them in my long hall way so they don't take up an entire wall in my living room. The shelves hold the DVDs very well. They also work perfectly for CD and VHS(yuck!) storage.

 

[andrew markworthy]

We had the same problem until the kids were old enough. We adopted a cheap short-term measure on the grounds that eventually we'd go back to shelving (which indeed is what we've now done).

We got some of those big CD wallets that hold several hundred discs. We put the DVD discs in the wallets, then filled up a couple of big boxes with the empty DVD cases, and shoved the boxes in the bottom of a wardrobe. We put the CD wallets in a nice little chest (which was robust enough to serve as extra seating when closed). Remember to get quite a bit more wallet space than you have discs. That way, you can leave space for any extra DVDs you might buy without things getting too much out of alphabetical order.

We eventually went back to shelves, as I said. I think it's worth pointing out that if you get a fairly tall shelving unit, 400 discs shouldn't take up too much space. We got a nice solid pine unit from IKEA that's about 3ft wide by 7 ft tall, and that easily accommodates our collection of circa 400 discs.

 

[Ivan Lindenfeld]

Great thread! I am dealing with the same issue and have recently moved (9 days after adding a second child to the house.)

I have about 200 DVD's, including about a dozen large collections (OK, not Alient Quadrilogy large

I have a Laurier cabinet / entertainment center that fits around my big screen TV. With my components, some CD's, some VHS and the DVD's the thing is full and I still have 2 boxes or more of media to unpack. And I have a 2 year old, too. Point being (sorry) I want everything in that cabinet.

OK, so VHS is bulky and there is nothing I can do about the ones that have not been replaced by DVD yet.

But for five inchers, I have seen some good ideas in this thread.

I do not want to add shelves to the family room or nearby it. I am not being allowed to use the plant shelf above the entertainment center for media. Actually, I am pretty sensitive about creating mess and tackiness. I mean, Fisher Price toys everywhere is one thing, but a wall of DVD's in the family room is another. Later (a few years later) when the bonus room becomes the theater then rows of media will be aesthetically acceptable.

I really like those carousels that someone pointed out but at $110 each and needing 4 of them for the five inchers in the house, that's a lotta moolah. A changer would be cheaper.

Using a soft case (Case Logic) for stuff has one major drawback for me: many of the media do not have the title printed on the disc! And keeping them in an order is hard as you add new ones. Plus, my wife is not going to pull down a soft case with 300 DVD's in it off of a shelf at eye level without complaining. It's gonna be HEAVY!

I have no problem storing the original cases in a box in the attic but a usable way to do discs only at the viewing listening area is elusive.

This thread has my juices flowing and I will go off to Best Buy and an office supply store at lunch to research.

So my issues are:
1. Fit into the secure Laurier towers
2. Easy to add titles
3. Easy to catalog and to reference that catalog (harried wife with a newborn and toddler at home)

Hopefully other budget limited toddler loving home theater nuts will chime in, Tom!

Ivan

 

[Brian Thibodeau]

I have just over 2000 DVDs.

I've decided not to have children.

Hopefully my girlfriend's OK with that.

Honey...? Sweetheart...?


Actually, I also use the walk-in hall closet in my apartment right now, and will continue to do so when I own a home. If children are ever in the picture, a proper lock will be installed on the closet, 'cuz if I see even one SPECK of spawn-snot on even the most lowly $4.99 B-movie in my collection THAT'S IT, I'm out. Game over. See ya! It's time for the foster home. And hopefully they'll like me!

Seriously, I also used to keep my videos in these big 68-litre Rubbermaid tubs and have gradually filed them up with DVDs as I'm done watching them. Each one holds about 135 discs (compared with about 100 VHS) and so far I've filled about four of them, largely by basic genres (animated stuff, b-movies, box sets, a-movies, etc). Better than cardboard boxes and they keep the dust and silverfish away. The remainder are on shelves in the closet, which is cool as I kind of like them to be out of sight so people don't know the depth of my illness.

 

[TomHansen]

A lot of good ideas! Thanks everyone for your input. My only problem with the changers, even the ones that fit 400 disks is that at some point I know I'll fill them all up, then I'm back to where I was a few months ago, most of my DVD's were in my old changer, and all the new stuff was on shelves in their cases.

Maybe just relegating myself to keeping them on shelves in another bedroom will have to work for now until the young-ins are old enough to respect them will have to do for now.

I actually own one Boltz wall-mounted rack, which I keep next to the entertainment center and keep all the kids DVD's on (makes it convienent when they watch Finding Nemo and Toy Story 2 400 times a day). But I'm not really a fan of filling my walls with media until I have a dedicated room in which to do so. Ahh, the comprimises we have to make to share rooms with kids, spouses and visitors...

Thanks,

 

[Chad A Wright]

I had the same problem. We ended up buying and finishing out a portable building for my own home office. I keep everything out there. It's a pain having to go outside to get a movie to watch, but at least out there, I can arrange my stuff however I want with no complaints from the wife.

Unfortunately when I bought it, I had no idea how cheap projecters are getting. If I had known, I would have bought a bigger building to house my theater.

 

[Ivan Lindenfeld]

Here's what I found at lunch:

Case Logic style cases up to 300 CD size. 208 size for $40.00

Jewel Case holders, stackable, 30 CD's per for $10.00 each. THis might work as I can stack and layer the jewel cases. But if there are multiple layers, I feel I may as well leave them in a box.

400 CD Sony changer, new $250.00. Had a PC keyboard interface to enter titles and artists, which was useful.

My wife had the idea years ago for my software to just buy cheap large locking 3-ring binders and buy CD inserts. I have been doing that for software. Of course, almost all software says what it is on the face of the CD.

Bearing all of that in mind, here is what I would LIKE to do...

2.5" locking 3-ring binders in more elegant colors (black).
3 ring CD inserts 4 per page, double sided if possible. This would hold CD's, CD insert booklets and DVD's

Regular 8 1/2 x 11 report covers for DVD insert booklets. I should be able to get 2 per insert. Interspere these in DVD collection as necessary. Basically the booklets would be nearby the movie you want but not necessarily next to it.

If the inserts are cheap enough, this is the most cost effective way. It is possible that buying Case Logic 208's is cheaper since the inserts are already included and I saw DVD insert sized Case Logic pages to add later.

I fear the 208's will be very heavy once full.

Everything would be catalogued in alphabetical order by genre. (main sort genre, then alpha). I think I can use DVD Profiler for the DVD's. Otherwise, I'll have a spreadsheet for the CD's. (If nobody has a better idea for them, of course).

This should all fit nicely in my Laurier cabs and be able to be handled by my wife. Each binder would have a Table of Contents and this could be updated as titles get added. Also no binder will be completely filled at first to allow for expansion. Both my DVD and CD collection got a boost for the holidays, but they grow slowly throughout the year. Super Tuesdays at Best buy stopped with the second pregnancy.

It pains me to put away some of the DVD cases, like "From The Earth To The Moon" and "Band of Brothers" since they are such neat cases. I am sure I will leave my Star Trek movie collection on VHS in the collectible box that looks like the Enterprise for display as well.

That's the best I can come u p with for now. Off to research 3 hole cd holder inserts...

 

[Ivan Lindenfeld]

This is an interesting idea...

discsox

 

[Neil Joseph]

Alas, this brings back memories I have 3 boys now but when I had two, and the younger one was crawling, the older one pulled off some dvd's from the shelf and opened them. Then the younger one proceeded to chew on some of them like chew toys. Wouldn't you know it, the one that was damaged beyond repair was Video Essentials, at the time the most expensive title in my collection.

 

[Ryan FB]

I take it he's more of an Avia fan.

 

[Ivan Lindenfeld]

Here is something VERY interestoing but pricy. I am trying to find the inserts ONLY to hold the DVD booklets...

DVD 3 ring binders

Look for "DVD Binder 20"

I worked out that I need space for 1100 "discs" including CD booklets and that does not include DVD booklets, since as you can see I have not found a proper solution yet.

 

[Chad A Wright]

I've used those lare Case Logic binders before. I think the 208 capacity model. When I had it totally full, it was not really all that heavy.