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Rated 2 out of 5 stars
No longer a 3-ring binder
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
First: I ordered this item from Best Buy and it turns out that Case Logic has changed the item - it is no longer a 3-ring binder with 40 disc capacity - the binder now uses plastic straps to bind the pages - but a total of 21 two-disc pages plus 6 disc pockets on the binder itself now yields a 48 disc capacity. The item description on this site is now out-of-date - so be aware of this before ordering online.
I was disappointed to learn about Case Logic's switch to the plastic straps. When my order from Best Buy arrived I thought they had shipped me the wrong item - but actually it's the item itself that's changed. I have some concerns about the new binding system, and it is in some ways inconvenient. However, I'm not sure there's a viable alternative to this product at this point. Mostly what's available is "CD/DVD" albums - that is CD albums that can't accommodate DVD liner notes. I don't know of another product line that provides true DVD-album storage.
My issues with the plastic straps are that I am concerned about their long-term durability - I haven't owned this type long enough to feel confident about this binding system. Also, while the 3-ring binder versions made it easy to take a page out from any point in the album, with the straps you always have to remove and insert pages at the front - this makes reorganizing the album rather frustrating. Additionally, if you rearrange pages, it's then rather difficult to plug the loose ends of the straps back into the binder - you have to tuck the strap ends in underneath all the pages you've just added. Avoid overloading the album - if the amount of stuff you put in makes it a tight fit, then take something out. That will help with all these issues.
The good news about this product, relative to older versions: the pages still have the holes for use with a 3-ring binder, so if you have older albums or alternate binders, you can use the new pages with them. The new pages are also slightly wider than the old ones, which makes it easier to deal with materials that might have been a tight fit before - like certain thick game manuals, etc. Of course, the flip side there is that pages from the older types don't fit in the new binders - so dealing with a collection that spans both old and new Case Logic DVD albums could be slightly frustrating.
Also the disc pockets at the front of the album are a nice addition - less interesting to me since I'm mostly interested in storing discs with liner notes - but the pockets could come in handy, and depending on your needs the extra capacity may be a nice bonus. The packaging suggests using them for convenient storage of discs that might otherwise be simply set somewhere unprotected - this seems like a good way to use them.
The great benefit of these DVD albums is that you can drastically reduce the storage space required for a large collection of videos or games. The plastic strap binding is a bit of a disappointment, but despite that I believe it's still a good product, and extremely useful for dealing with storage space issues.