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Data Storage

How Do You Store Your CDs? 184

Posted by Cliff from the minimizing-storage-space-yet-still-convenient dept.
lxs asks: "Let's face it, CDs are a pain. They are a great way to store your data, but when you have hundreds, or even thousands of CDRs and not much physical space, storage becomes a problem. With the advent of DVD+/-Rs DVD-RAM and Blu-ray this problem will not go away, since we all will collect thousends of those in the coming years. Jewel cases take up too much space; CD folders are better, but still wasteful (and expensive); and spindles are great, but you can't find anything. I've toyed with the idea of buying paper CD envelopes, and fill up a couple of old-fashioned 5 1/4" floppy cases with CDs (those were efficient: 200+ floppies in a plastic shoebox!), but there may be a better solution out there. So, Slashdot: how do you store your CDs?"
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How Do You Store Your CDs? More

How Do You Store Your CDs?

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  • I keep the CD's (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    In CD racks. Yeah, I'm pretty boring.

  • Great Question (Score:3, Interesting)

    by mark*workfire ( 220796 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @01:23AM (#6021666)
    I can get a 200+ jukebox CD player for my home stereo. Why can't I buy the equivalent for my PC? Daisy-chaining a couple of those together would be a perfect solution for me.

    • Nakamichi makes a 5 disc SCSI changer [nakamichi.com] that fits in a single drive bay. You could chain 7 of these together to access 35 discs. So, if you put together 6 of these CD-servers, you'd have 210 CD's!

      • Re:Great Question (Score:4, Interesting)

        by walt-sjc ( 145127 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @09:09AM (#6022987)
        Yeah, great except for the fact that it's about 7 times more expensive than a 120G hard drive that holds over 200 CD's, takes much more space, more power, and is slower than snail shit. This is that reason that jukeboxes are all but dead in the computer arena.

        The question was about storing CD's, not accessing them. I keep frequently used CD's on a hard disk that I don't backup (since I can recover from originals farily easily.) For storing, I got huge packs of paper sleeves for the CD's and store them in a modified old dresser that looked nice. Basically I built new heavy duty drawer boxes out of 3/4" cabinet grade plywood for the sides, 1/2" plywood for the bottom, and heavy-duty full extension drawer slides. I put the original drawer front on the box so it looks nice.

        I get about 1000 CD's in a drawer that way, which is fucking heavy - so it needs the modified drawers. I also put in some front-to-back dividers to keep things neat. I use tag-board dividers to label sections so I can find things easily.

        You can also find commercial heavy duty steel units with the right sized drawers from most major office supply companies, but they cost >$1,000.

    • Re:Great Question (Score:5, Informative)

      by arb ( 452787 ) <`moc.liamg' `ta' `absoma'> on Friday May 23, 2003 @02:09AM (#6021805) Homepage
      You mean something like this? [dansdata.com]
    • Take a look Here. [powerfile.com]

    • Re:VCDJ (Score:5, Interesting)

      by jpsst34 ( 582349 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @07:28AM (#6022543) Journal
      Though this doessn't solve the issue of physical CD storage, it is an elegant solution to gain access to all of your CD data at any time without needing to locate the CD.

      Build a Virtual CD Jukebox [linuxjournal.com].

  • cataloging... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by greywire ( 78262 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @01:24AM (#6021669) Homepage
    perhaps more importantly, how do you catalog what's on those disks? Is there some easy to use software for cataloging disks?

    • Re:cataloging... (Score:2, Informative)

      by mungeh ( 663492 )
      Yes: Advanced Disk Catalog
      I've found other tools but this one is the best i've came accross. find it at http://www.elcomsoft.com/

    • Re:cataloging... (Score:2, Interesting)

      by bjb ( 3050 ) *
      I had a friend 20 years ago that used to keep all of his Apple ][ software in 5.25" floppy disk drawers, and catalogued them by an ID number. Yes, there were NO labels on the disk that said anything as to what they were other than "13F3". He just knew what numbers were what.

      Never quite understood why he did that, but I have to admire his ability to catalog things like that.

    • Re:cataloging... (Score:2, Informative)

      by hexidec ( 671597 )
      Try Offline CD Browser if you've got a Window$ box. It's free and easy.

      http://hem.spray.se/anders.peterson/ocdb.html

    • Re:cataloging... (Score:4, Informative)

      by cowbutt ( 21077 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @03:58PM (#6026651) Journal
      $ cat /usr/local/doc/cdcontents/cmdline
      cd /mnt/cdrom ; find * -printf "%s\t %AH:%AM:%AS %Ac %p\n" | gzip -9 >/usr/local/doc/cdcontents/cdnnn.txt.gz ; cd /usr/local/doc/cdcontents/ ; umount /mnt/cdrom ; eject

      Then scribble nnn on the CD's hub, and maybe a few of the more salient contents if I'm feeling enthusiastic.

      I then zgrep /usr/local/doc/cdcontents/* for when I'm looking for files. I use descriptive paths and filenames.

      --

    • Re:cataloging... (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Van Halen ( 31671 )
      Well shoot, I didn't notice this topic until now, and most people probably won't read it anymore. But anyway...

      I've been working up a little backup system to do just this. So far it's just in the first stage, capturing data for the catalog. I wrote a little perl script that'll traverse the CD's directory structure and spit out the full path of all files, along with type, size, date, owner, etc. So, I pop in a CD, go to /Volumes/CD_Name (OS X), run the script and redirect its output to a text file (~/b

  • Face down on my desk. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Lazyhound ( 542184 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @01:26AM (#6021679)
    Unlabeled, too.

    You can start applauding my organisational skills any time now, folks.
    • I do the same, but I occasionally will stack the cd's. If I'm feeling really careful, I'll use an old cd-r spindle for the stack. Oh, I also keep copies of everything and sometimes disk images because my cd's die so often. Maybe it'd be worth taking better care of them...naw.

      • Re:Face down on my desk. (Score:3, Informative)

        by KDan ( 90353 )
        Watch out with the spindles/stacking. I've found that CDs on a spindle or just stacked will get scratched real bad real quick... That's how I've destroyed my RH8 CDs, for instance - just by leaving them stacked up inside a CD pouch or next to my monitor.

        Daniel

    • Re:Face down on my desk. (Score:4, Funny)

      by NeuroKoan ( 12458 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @05:18AM (#6022257) Homepage Journal
      Wow, you put them on a desk!?! Never woulda thought of that. I usually just toss 'em in the corner.
    • I've got a bunch hanging on the wall with pushpins. A few in the bedroom, a few in the kitchen, a few near the computer... stacked three deep in some places.

      I should put them shiny side out. Who needs wallpaper?

  • Spindle (Score:4, Interesting)

    by funkhauser ( 537592 ) <zmmay2 AT uky DOT edu> on Friday May 23, 2003 @01:26AM (#6021682) Homepage Journal
    I got into this very bad habit of storing rarely-used CDs on a large CD-R spindle. It's terribly inefficient. Don't do it. I think that paper envelopes, labeled, and stored as you suggested is a fantastic idea... ahh, yet another project for my summer break. :)

  • storage? we don't need no stinkin storage (Score:3, Informative)

    by gnudutch ( 235983 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @01:30AM (#6021696)

    I regularly record TV shows with EyeTV [elgato.com]. I archive the files to mirrored hard drives, then burn them for viewing on TV. (I have TV-out, but the standalone DVD player looks and sounds better) After I'm done with the CDs I give them away or use them for drink coasters.

    I don't trust CDR for long term storage. We don't know the long term properties of CDR dye, CD's get lost or scratched, I've even bought a 30-pack of Maxell CDR's that had a topside nick in every disc on the same location. CDR will forever be temporary storage to me.

    • Maybe it's temporary to you, but it's still a hell of a lot better than floppies. However, I've never once had a bad disk from TDK, Imation or Kodak.

      I sometimes wonder, when people ask about reliability, how much is due to the media and how much to the CD burner. I have a Sony CD-RW drive which has been burning over the same 3 multi-volume CD sets every few days for over two years without any kind of error. (And yes, I do test my backups from time to time.) I keep wondering when the media will fail, but so

    • >CD's get lost or scratched

      For fixing scratched CD's, I once bought an advanced "CD Repair kit", wich supposedly would be the best thing in the world. That simply sucked, and didn't actually fix any CD I had.

      However, I successfully recovered many *unreadable* scratched CD's and DVD's, simply by wiping toothpaste (Crest worked for me) from the center to the border using a soft cloth (and washing it later, of course). Yes, it's weird, but actually works better then the CD repair kits I tested. Try it
      • be careful about that one. toothpaste just fills in the cracks, making them readable by a laser again. however, some older cd-roms run a bit hot, causing a CD with a lot of toothpaste on it to have the toothpaste melt out. its *very* rare, but it could do some damage to your hardware.

        on the same note, i hear of something that will work in the same way but to a much better degree. go to a plastics/glass shop in your area, and ask if they have any polishs or waxes with the same refractive index as CDs (1.55

      • An alternative to toothpaste as a fine grit polisher is Wright's Silver Creme, intended for polishing silverware (like forks, spoons, etc.) but I used it successfully to resurrect several Karaoke CDs when I was DJing for a local bar. Polish radially (from center out to edge) and rinse clean with warm water.

  • IF you're storing SVCDs, DVDs and the like (Score:5, Informative)

    by The_Laughing_God ( 253693 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @01:38AM (#6021722)
    IF you're storing SVCDs, DVDs and the like, you might want to seriously consider the Sony DVP CX860/875 (and related series. They can store up to 301 DVDs (for example) in a box that looks like thick DVD player, and costs under $300

    Downsides: cost (under $1/disc) is a bit more than printing CD/case labels and using jewel boxes. Some of the earlier models weren't compatible with all formats (though I know more happy users who can play their CD-R SVCDs and MP3s than unhappy ones who can't, Sony makes no promises - take some representative samples of your collection to the store to test the one you want to buy) Some of the models, at least, have a limited menu system (e.g. limited flexibility of folder/genre and playlist structure, limited title length, only 16 tracks per CD may show up in the menu)

    Upsides: extremely compact storage for 301 audio or video disks. You can't beat the convenience for a DVD or VCD collection: just point and pick with the included remote. It has a quality DVD and audio player built in, which I consider a big freebie. The on-screen disc selection is great, if you buy a model whose menu system suits you; and they are daisy chainable, so if you need to store another 300 disc is a couple of years, you can tack on a second unit (which will probably cost half as much by then) instead of buying a completely new, larger, unit.

    In short: research the models carefully on the web before buying (some have drawbacks that may bug you) but I know many happy users, and am currently in the market for one myself.
    • I do something similar, except I put all the pages into a big Lever Arch ring-binder so it can fit on a bookshelf.
    • In short: research the models carefully on the web before buying (some have drawbacks that may bug you)


      I just tried this and, wow, the reviews I found [audioreview.com] were not too hot, to say the least. To say the most, it seems that people fucking hate this thing.
      • I had one friend (a Hollywood writer) who swore by hers. Of our friends who saw it, bought one, and liked it, none have posted on the review sites. Of the two who hated it (either because they got shipped a bad 'luck of the draw'; or assumed it could do some , without bothering to ask or RTFM) -- well unhappy people kvetch to every site they can. That's a well known fact of marketing, and if internet reviews in particular. But hey I *like* knowing the worst: that way I'm usually pleasantly surprised by my a
      • The problem is that every single user who has problems goes and bitches repeatedly in multiple online forums about it, and people who enjoy it don't say anything.
    • I had one of those and found it to be not very practical. It takes a lot of bookkeeping to figure out which disc is where, and you still end up having boxes full of now empty jewel cases. I think you are better off keeping your CDs and DVDs on a shelf than to put them into a box like that.

  • Lateral file with Case Logic CD Pages (Score:5, Informative)

    by tm2b ( 42473 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @01:41AM (#6021731) Journal
    Oy, tell me about it.

    I have roughly 1500 CDs. I've ripped them all to an external 160 GB firewire disk (with another one for backup), so I want to store them in compact a way as possible.

    What I do is go buy those CD folders, in as large a size as possible. I cut them open (much cheaper than buy loose pages in packs), take the pages, fill them with CDs by band, and then file them in a lateral file cabinet which also functions as my printer & scanner stand.

    I can get them at any time, and it's still reasonably compact. In fact, right now I'm in the middle of reripping from 256 KBps mp3s to 160 Kbps AACs, so having them arranged this way works pretty well.

    I then spool music to several near-silent computers in the house over Ethernet. In this case, the whole thing is using Macs and iTunes, but it's just as feasible to do it all with x86 boxes - my first rev used an OpenBSD server spooling through icecast.
    • Oh, something I forgot to add.

      A critical piece to this working is that I cut several pieces of MDF to act as seperators in the lateral file cabinet.

      Without them, once you have more than 20-30 pages, the pages all tend to slump over and slide beneath each other. The MDF seperators keep them in line and firmly packed, they work like a charm.

  • Keep CDs dry. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Futurepower(R) ( 558542 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @01:42AM (#6021738) Homepage
    Big issue: Keep CDs in low humidity. I would like to buy little packages of silica gel dehumidifiers, but I don't know where to get them.

    I've had CDs develop fungus, and become completely useless. Low humidity prevents this.

  • Watch out for that paper (Score:5, Informative)

    by CtrlPhreak ( 226872 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @01:44AM (#6021742) Homepage
    Paper holders in the style of old floppy cases sounds like a great idea (much better than my current shove it back on the spindle system) but you've got to be careful. Being the resourceful (cheap) student that I am, I took at one time to folding up a sheet of paper outa my printer around a cd for safe transport from place to place. After extended periods of time in these sleeves my cdrs began to develop little opaque spots all over the surface and eventually became unuseable. I came to realize that the paper was acidic like all non specialty type and that this was destroying the surface of my cds. So anyway this is my expierience with paper + cds. Now I could be wrong I never really checked into it all that much, and somebody correct me if I am, but I avoid using the paper I have lying around for cds, you probubly need to check out the acidic content of the paper you're gonna use. Floppy cases may not fly because you've got that protective cover on them keeping the actual media away, while on a cd there is no such protection, and the paper will be right in contact with them. So yeah I need a new system going for me too, hopefully someone here will have somewhat of an ingenious idea I can *ahem* borrow.

    Cheers,
    Ctrlphreak

    • Re:Watch out for that paper (Score:5, Informative)

      by adolf ( 21054 ) <flodadolf@gmail.com> on Friday May 23, 2003 @10:05AM (#6023386) Journal
      Acid? From paper? Attacking polycarbonate (see also: "safety glasses") discs? Hilarious.

      Here's what really happened:

      Surface of CD rests against abrasive paper. They rub together a little bit in transit. When this happens, the paper roughens areas on the CD, like fine sandpaper. No chemistry needed.

      Next time, try tyvek sleeves. They cost insignificantly more money, resist tearing extremely well, and don't have such abrasive qualities as paper sleeves.

      Meanwhile, you can restore playability to your CDs. Try automotive carnuba wax, Brasso, or peanut butter - whichever you happen to have handy.

      • "Acid? From paper? Attacking polycarbonate (see also: "safety glasses") discs? Hilarious."

        Do a google search on "acidic paper comic books". The first link to come up to me talks about how even CARDBOARD is acidic. I have a cousin who collects comic books and learned quite a bit about the acidic properties of most paper (and thus the damage that poorly stored comic books endure).

        • The acid issue with paper comes from compounds in the paper forming acid when the paper is stored for a long period of time -- like decades. This is more of a problem for a book on shelf than a loose piece of paper, because a tightly close book doesn't allow the acid to disperse in the air. Possibly old comic books degrade faster because they were made with pulp paper, which isn't as strong. Come to think of it, the common practice of keeping collectible comic books in plastic sleeves would accelerate this
      • Peanut butter? So that's what my girlfriend was talking about!
      • Acid? From paper? Attacking polycarbonate (see also: "safety glasses") discs? Hilarious.
        The top surface of a CDR is only a thin layer of varnish. Just under that is a thin layer of aluminum. Not hilarious.
        Meanwhile, you can restore playability to your CDs. Try automotive carnuba wax, Brasso, or peanut butter - whichever you happen to have handy.
        Mother's Mag Wheel Polish, but only on the bottom surface.
    • Check out papercdcase.com [papercdcase.com]. It won't solve your scratching problem but it will solve your ulgy paper problem.
    • Interesting. We had the same problem with CDs back in the mid90s at NASA's Goddard SFC. Little tiny dots on the backs of discs..like dye was "leaking" out of some of the burned ares. That's not what was happening, but that's what it looked like. It make the discs mostly unreadable. These were '95 era gold discs. I have never seen the problem since. *shrug* I left in '97 so I don't know what was done to mitigate the problem.

      FWIW, I don't think we stored them in paper - they were kept in the original jew

  • I store the CDs in the attic (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Wee ( 17189 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @01:50AM (#6021756)
    Howver, the data they contain gets stored on the biggest set of drives I could afford last year, in an old Athlon mid-tower PC running Red Hat 7.3 and doing RAID1 with the raidtools package. I have no need for a CD's physical media beyond a possible "restore from a fat-finger" type of scenario. I can mount whatever ISO image I need to mount instantly, and I can get to the files over the network if need be. Audio CDs get stored as MPEGs which I can stream to work and other parts of the house.

    With hard disks at about a buck a gigabyte, it only costs around 65 cents to store a completely full CD. Paper holders are nearly useless because you have to look at each CDs face to see what the disc contains (they travel well, however). Jewel cases can cost about 45 cents [sleevetown.com] and they take up a lot of room. Neither of the two are amenable to grep. The convenience I get for paying the "extra" 20 cents to keep them all on a filer is well worth it to me.

    -B

  • discsox (Score:4, Interesting)

    by balamw ( 552275 ) * on Friday May 23, 2003 @01:52AM (#6021765)

    I ultimately settled on DiscSox [mmdesign.com] DJ sleeves in an IKEA shelf for my Audio CD collection (~650 CDs), but I use CaseLogic folders/spindles for most of my data discs. (Stuff I need to find in the folders, spindles for archival stuff.)

    The discsox DJ sleeves are great 'cause they can hold all the inserts from the jewel box, and the DJ insert tabs allow for quick scanning of the sleeves' contents.

    The DiscSox aren't cheap at about $0.50/sleeve, but they hold up better than paper. There are many other [jewelsleeve.com] sleeves like this on the market, but the discsox hold up better in my experience.

    Balam
    • Sweet! I hadn't heard of DiscSox, but they look like a good solution for my 1200+ collection that's spilling out over 4 or 5 shelving systems... Thanks for the link.

  • plumbing insulation (Score:4, Insightful)

    by redwood2 ( 179115 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @01:59AM (#6021785) Journal
    you know those long foam tubes you can get at the hardware to insulate pipes from freezing?

    take a couple of those and stick them on the vertical surfaces of your cave (table legs,shelf edges and stuff) grab the trusty old x-acto and cut yourself some horizontal slits about an inch apart and presto! every narrow vertical surface is cd storage at hand.

    plus, if you drink too much beer and fall over, you don't have to worry about hitting your head!

  • 3-ring binder... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Ayanami Rei ( 621112 ) <rayanami&gmail,com> on Friday May 23, 2003 @02:07AM (#6021797) Journal
    and CaseLogic 3-ring CD storage pages (fits 8 CDs or 4 CDs and 4 booklets per page)

    Make sure to get a binder that's at least 2" thick if you have 10 or more pages because your pages will otherwise be impossible to turn (CDs are suprisingly thick when stacked).

    Also, get yourself some cheap dessicant [brent-krueger.com] and store it with your binder if you're not carrying it around. If you can score the small packets (get 'em from shipping/packing suppliers) you could even tape them inside the binder. Haven't tried it myself, though.

    Interseting ask.slashdot. Cheers!
  • in vacuum-sealed bags [vacuum-cleaner.com]!
  • have you ever searched for a CD 15 minutes? it is the same as you don't have it anyway.
    CD's are good after all, having what you want is also good, but locating the needed CD is much harder. Numbering CD's is very important, keeping them with increasing numbers, also. I took that question much more serious than others, windows users can check disclib [lyrasoftware.com]
    program.

  • Coffee maker filters (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I read this tip in the appropriate section of a household magazine but it seems that once in a decade they actually manage to publish a good tip: instead of 5¼" floppy folders, use coffee maker filters, put CDs in there and you can even write on them. You can then put them wherever you like, even a shoebox or some other container that you can browse easily.

  • How about... (Score:3, Informative)

    by belbo ( 11799 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @03:48AM (#6022068)
    this one [pearl.de] (German, but should be available elsewhere)? Storage for 80 CDs at a price of about 25c/CD, and you can stack the containers.

  • What I Do . (Score:4, Interesting)

    by jantheman ( 113125 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @04:36AM (#6022182)
    1. Number CDs in YYMMDD-char(base 36) format (I'm unlikely to burn > 36 a day)
    2. Get an empty CD can
    3. put in the oldest 10/20 CDs in chron' order.
    4. put a bit on platic sheet - size of a cd + a 1/2" x 1" tab - threaded onto the spindle, and write on the tab the number of the cd it's sitting on.
    5. repeat steps 4 & 5 till can is full.
    6. lock it up & label the can case.

    when you open the can, the tabs spring out.

    (Do I need to explain the rest?)
    job done

    (oh yes - a little spreadsheet too : cd number,subject type (e.g mp3,pdf,app),extra info (e.g. for albums- artist,album,#tracks,bps,vbr/cbr....))

  • How does Saddam Hussein store his CDs?

    In Iraq!
  • I've got an MSDN subscription (DON'T FLAME!) and every month a new box of replacement CDs arrive, this allows me to collect all of the slips from the old CDs (or any CD that I don't want) and use that.

    The cases are quite good quality (for an MS product).
  • This [romdex.co.uk] only rectangular, so I can stack them.
  • I have started using this brilliant origami-type hand folded paper cd case solution, and you get a side viewable edge. Highly reccomended.

  • WOW DO YOU LIVE IN A STUDIO APARTMENT? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Alpha27 ( 211269 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @08:19AM (#6022728)
    How many CDs do you really have???

    You make CDs sound like VHS tapes. I current store my CDs in loose leaf binders, with CD sleeves. For example, I have a 2" thick binder, with 16 pages, with each page holding 8 CDs; it can hold up to 128 CDs, not including the booklets that may come with the CDs. I like the CD sleeves, and they aren't expensive if you know how to shop. If you go and buy the premade CD books, that will cost you money. If you get a loose leaf binder, and the sleeves, you will save 50% or more off the price of the premade books.

    I'll put it to you this way. DVDs are a better solution, but I don't like their current prices; I'll wait till they come down to the cost of CDs.

    What you need to do is.... House cleaning for CDs. That's right, you need to clean your room. Sorry to sound like your maternal one, but it's the honest truth. I have CDs i know I can throw out. When will you ever play that first version of *insert_first_iteration_of_computer_game_here* again? Sometimes, you just have to throw it out.

    I have old computer books collecting dust. My book collection is a bit heavy considering. I have books double-stacled in bookshelves through out the house.

    You could spend the time putting all the data to DVDs or Harddrives, or just deal with it and clean up your collection.

    *now speaking in a motherly voice*
    Now stop asking slashdot questions, and go to bed, you have work tomorrow. And brush your teeth, I can smell the cheetos.
  • On my iPod.

    All my music CDs have been ripped to mp3s and the actual CDs are in a baggie in a drawer somewhere. I use the jewel cases that the music came in (yes, I'm one of those weirdos who actually BOUGHT music to put on my iPod) to store important data CDs, but I don't have too many of those.
  • Simply paste them to your walls! This way not only will it lighten up your drab room, but they will be easy to access.

    Here's a tip: You can make patterns with the solid sides, or block them together to make a mirror with the other!

  • DiscSox (Score:3, Informative)

    by Gudlyf ( 544445 ) <.moc.ketsilaer. .ta. .fyldug.> on Friday May 23, 2003 @09:05AM (#6022947) Homepage Journal
    I don't work for or are affiliated with the company, but I do use DiscSox [mmdesign.com] for my CD storage. They're a bit more fogriving on CD's than paper envelopes, and the rack's not half bad.
  • I put them in an metal army surplus military case, airtight, about $10 each or so. I use the 840 Catridges, 5.56 MM, 10 Rd. Clips Bandoleers. It will store jewel cases and anything smaller.

  • Dewey Decimal (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 23, 2003 @09:54AM (#6023303)
    This is going to sound quite a bit weird, but where i have them in jewel cases in boxes, or where i have them loose separated by sleeves, I tab them by dewey decimal. (i used to be a library aide.) So when i'm looking for my literature it's under literature by type, fiction by author, and when i want pictures of friends they are under biography.

    I doubt that this would be at all simple for anyone who hadn't been in libraries putting books away for fifteen years of their life, but there you go. I also try to keep a relavent catalogue with cross-indexing, but... didn't i mention i'm crazy?

  • I think it depends on exactly how anal you are about the condition of your music disks. Computer disks don't get the same abuse, but I store them the same way, cuz it's convenient to do so.

    I use hard plastic racks (you can get them in 20/30/40/60 & 90-CD sizes; mine are from LazerLine) and put 'em on the wall. You need a 3x3 foot wall space to store 4 90-disk cases. Note: use the good kind of drywall anchors (I use E-Z Ancor, mfg by National, bought from Home Depot, cast zinc) because all that plastic
  • I keep all of my important CD-Rs in slimline cases. They're half the size of regular jewel cases, but still allow for paper labels and protect the CDs. For storage, I have five wood CD holders (each holding 96 jewel cases), plus an Ikea "bookshelf" CD storage unit (holds ~240 jewel cases).

    Unimportant CD-Rs -- things I'm keeping but would never miss -- go back on the spindle.

  • Upside down is wrong, people (Score:5, Informative)

    by slaker ( 53818 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @12:17PM (#6024592)
    If you're someone who stores CDs label-side down on a desk, you're doing it wrong. The label side is much closer and has much less polycarbonate between it and the reflective coating that you REALLY don't want to have scratched. CD Players are designed to read through scratches on the data side of the disc. There's no coping mechanism for damage to the reflective coating.

    My methods for organizing 3200 audio CDs/DVDs: 3 400 disc CD changers, 3 300 disc DVD changers. The contents of each changer are indexed in a plaintext file and a searchable web db. That takes care of about 2/3s of my storage needs, and since all these units have a display and a PS/2 port, it makes labelling simple.

    I like jewel cases, so I keep my cases in them. I got a local cabinetmaker to build me some nice 7' tall shelves to store cases. They're simple, pine construction, but he put on oak trim. They look nice, and keep my collection visible. The overflow is kept in $10 3' bookcases I got from Kmart. I organize cases alphabetically.

    For data discs, I just throw everything in 200-CD binders. Those sit on the bookshelves in my computer room. I have a couple for games, a couple for drivers, one for OSes and apps, and about 10 for my prodigious collection of pr0n.
  • White paper sleeves, which I get in bulk. 6 cents each.

    Then a wood rack, originally designed to hold jewel cases. Can hold a good mix of both.

    Cyberguys.com has them, and Tyvek sleeves, for a bit more money.
  • Mind you, I'd put all the CDs in full sized jewel cases and put all of them in racks on the walls. There's something about an entire room with the walls covered with full CD racks that's somewhat..... appealing to me, but as long as jewel cases cost 3x as much as the CDRs do, there's no real point. I hate storing them on spindles though.

    A preferable alternative would be multi-100 cd changers that can work with data CDs. If the per CD cost of such a changer is cheap enough, a network of them would functi
  • I just use any piece of 8.5 x 11 paper I find to make a sleeve:

    1. Take the piece of paper, and holding it portrait-wise, fold the bottom up to about an inch down the page (try this for a while with a CD in it, and you'll see how it works.)

    2. fold that top inch down into a flap.

    3. Open it up, and fold in about 1.5 inches on each side. (Again, use the CD in it, and you'll see how I mean.)

    4. Toss CDs into the inside flaps, fold it up, and fold the top flap over. Presto! Instant and compant CD sleeve.
  • I came across these recently. I had never seent hem before, they're interesting.
    Basically they're USB CD towers. They do not actually play the CD's, but rather just catalog them, and spit them out at you when you request a disc. They also have some features that allow you to loan discs to friends and they'll track their location and such.
    I like it.

    This one does 75 CD's http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTool s/item-details.asp?sku=K26-2800%20P [tigerdirect.com]
    This one does 100 CD's http://www.tigerdirec [tigerdirect.com]
  • How Do You Store Your CDs?

    On my iPod [apple.com], silly.

  • For you MacHeads out there, I use the program that ships on the MacAddict CD. It's a little shareware app called DiskTracker [versiontracker.com]

    You just pop in your disk, drag it to the disktracker windows, and it creates a catalogue of all the files. Which is the searchable etc.

  • How do I store my CDs? Digitally. Whenever I buy a CD, whether it's music or data, it gets ripped straight to my hard drive and tossed in a corner. Every so often I'll go pick up the old CDs from the corner and throw them away or distribute them throughout the house for use as coasters. If I ever need a physical copy of something again, I just burn it to a CD-R from the image on my hard drive, since CD-Rs are so cheap.

    Of course, I am running out of places to store my DVDs...my hard drive isn't quite big

  • I store my CDs and DVDs (Score:5, Funny)

    by Triumph The Insult C ( 586706 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @02:35PM (#6025873) Homepage Journal
    on kazaa. it's really quite useful.

  • KDS CD Organizer (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ctr2sprt ( 574731 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @04:42PM (#6027029)
    It's a PC tower-sized box with 75 motorized trays. It has a keypad on the top so you can operate it manually (if you want), but it also connects via USB to your computer and comes with software to manage your CD collection. Two cons: first, the software only works in Windows (I talked to KDS, they have a Linux version in the works); and second, it only holds 75 CDs. But this second problem isn't as bad as you might think. What I did was sort my CDs into a couple different stacks. It turns out that I only use about 50 CDs on a regular basis. The other 300 or so got put on spindles and stuffed in a closet.

    Anyway, the software supports many of these attached to one computer, so you can buy as many as you need. Obviously real estate starts to become a concern, but you can always buy a long USB cable and stuff these out of the way somewhere. Still, though, it's a pretty nifty arrangement, and I like mine a lot.

  • DJ binders (Score:3, Informative)

    by Krellan ( 107440 ) <krellan@NOspAm.krellan.com> on Friday May 23, 2003 @04:42PM (#6027031) Homepage Journal
    I use DJ binders. They are large binders that hold around 200 CD's at a time, originally intended for use by DJ's at clubs and such.

    Here's an example:
    [targus.com]
    http://www.targus.com/cases_media_104_208.asp

    CD's are stored 4 to a page, and pages are double-sided. CD's are stored in plastic sleeves, and the plastic is flexible enough to allow the liner notes to be placed behind the CD when stored. Putting liner notes behind the CD also marks the proper location to put back the CD when you are done using it.

    When filled, each binder is around 3" thick. It fits in a standard shelf, and its height is roughly that of standard paper in the US (11"). The only disadvantage is that the binder is rather wide, and can require a deep shelf to store without risk of toppling out.

    The plastic cases for CD's are then thrown away. I keep interesting ones that would be hard to replace if ever needed (imports, etc.) and use them as generic cases for CD's I frequently use, keeping them outside of the binder.

    The result? Around 40GB of music on the hard drive, and all CD's safely tucked away in binders!
  • I've ordered a few things from Buy.com (no, I'm not trying to endorse them) and the boxes they ship most of their small stuff in (Software, CD/DVDs, etc) is perfect for two rows of CD Jewel cases (I'm sure you can get those boxes elsewhere). They'll hold about 50 cases each (more if you use slim packs) and I stack them 3 high. Build/buy yourself some cheap shelving and label the boxes. It might take up more space than you're looking for but it's fast and flexible; and protects the CDs decently.

    Now I've
  • http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item =2531766562&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOAB:US:6
  • With 2600 audio CDs and a growing but comparatively small (under 100) DVD collection, I just started buying Boltz [boltz.com] racks. Sheet steel, assemble yourself, really easy. The CD racks hold 55 CDs per shelf, have 11 shelves in a 5'8" high unit for 605 total. The expansion racks are simply a rack without one side, and bolt through the side of what you've already got. Different finishes, matte black industrial or satin finish for that cyber/Gattaca look. Their TV/component stands are heavy enough gauge steel to be
  • Here's how I do it:

    * Standard 3-ring binders (label them according to how you would like to sort your CD's.. by function, alpha-numeric, or both).

    * Case Logic Album pages.
    - 8 cd's per page (double sided)

    Here's the link: Case Logic Album pages. [casedirect.com]

    I think the price is reasonable, and keeps them very accessible, uses little space.
  • I store lots of mine in 128 CD (4 on a page) and 64 cd (2 on a page) soft wallets. The ones i use often get stacked on CDR spindles or free-standing in a handy spot

  • I recently bought a bunch of single cd envelopes from Office Max ... really cheap. Under ten bucks for 200 if I remember correctly. Then I got some cd size metal boxes from Crate and Barrel.

    I stuck all my cds in the sleeves / boxes with the liner notes, tossed the jewel cases, alphebetized them, and the cases are now in the closet. Took about an afternoon, and the space savings is tremendous. I've found I have not pulled out a single CD since, so the initial thought of having my alphebetizing screwed u

  • If you are going to go with a jukebox, as some people are recommending, consider getting one that interfaces with your computer. That way, you don't have to manually catalog everything that's on it. A company by the name of PowerFile makes them, and there seem to be BSD drivers for it (I'd guess they either have been ported to Linux or would be easy to port).

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