Digipaks or Keepcases?

[balzer]

90% of digipaks I receive in the mail have loose discs or are dinged and cracked --- so we're avoiding them like the plague.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU. It sucks to recieve discs from Europe and wonder if the cases if broken are replaceable. Keep up the great work, back to lurking.

[perybo]

90% of digipaks I receive in the mail have loose discs or are dinged and cracked --- so we're avoiding them like the plague.

I have only received loose and scratched discs in keepcases , never in digipaks. So I guess I prefer digipaks
Actually Pitfall is one of them, but it plays ok so no harm

[godardslave]

90% of digipaks I receive in the mail have loose discs or are dinged and cracked --- so we're avoiding them like the plague.

well, i have never received a cracked digipak in the mail, so there!

[daniel p]

90% of digipaks I receive in the mail have loose discs or are dinged and cracked --- so we're avoiding them like the plague.

well, i have never received a cracked digipak in the mail, so there!

Same here - I loooove getting digipacks, and I've never had any troubles with them, all the way to Australia from region 1.

[ben d banana]

Yeah, but as soon as your digipak is fucked it stays fucked. Didn't any of you people ever own a CD?

[daniel p]

Yeah, but as soon as your digipak is fucked it stays fucked. Didn't any of you people ever own a CD?

So look after it! Sheesh, it aint rocket science...

[ben d banana]

I'm sickeningly careful. I also work in the independent music business and I can guarantee you there is no shortage of broken digipaks out there infuriating innumerable consumers/stores/distributors/labels.

[Matt]

Everyone knows the answer to this question has always been and will always be ThinPaks. The slimness and stylishness of a digipak with the durability and protection of a keepcase.

[Donald Brown]

Everyone knows the answer to this question has always been and will always be ThinPaks. The slimness and stylishness of a digipak with the durability and protection of a keepcase.

Absolutely. It's unfathomable why this case hasn't been adopted as the standard by every company. I've converted all my full-size keepcases to these beauties; they look great and the shelf-space freed up astonishing.

[Cinephrenic]

They should have limited edition copies of these when they release them and have alternate packaging in my opinion. What I hate is when they have those annoying black security stickers inside the clear plastic (which is non-removable).

[Doctor Sunshine]

Of course the title on the spines would have to be microscopic, thus illegible, creating mass confusion and crippling DVD retailers everywhere--minus online.

I think the real answer is digipak repair shoppes.

[godardslave]

Everyone knows the answer to this question has always been and will always be ThinPaks. The slimness and stylishness of a digipak with the durability and protection of a keepcase.

Absolutely. It's unfathomable why this case hasn't been adopted as the standard by every company. I've converted all my full-size keepcases to these beauties; they look great and the shelf-space freed up astonishing.

hmm, but then what becomes of the beautiful booklets and artwork that companies like criterion produce?

[Donald Brown]

I trim a few millimeters from the edges of the cover to make it fit into the ThinPak. As far as the booklet goes, I buy the slim cases that have the little clasps inside to hold the booklet. I don't bother converting to ThinPak the DVDs with the really fat booklets.

[Matt]

Yes, each release its appropriate case. That Renoir Stage and Spectacle box set, for example, had no right to be in separate keepcases. Using ThinPaks would make it take up half the shelf space (which would be 50% less shelf space occupied by a garish clown-colored box). Ditto Dreyer.

[backstreetsbackalright]

I can guarantee you there is no shortage of broken digipaks out there infuriating innumerable consumers/stores/distributors/labels.

Say word. I can't tell you how many times I've bought a CD, opened it, and found that the plastic grips which hold the CD have broken off. The Rolling Stones reissues are particularly bad offenders on this count. This problem is why I never buy CDs and Tower or Borders -- they never take these back, even if I only bought it four minutes previous.

[Subbuteo]

Absolutely. It's unfathomable why this case hasn't been adopted as the standard by every company. I've converted all my full-size keepcases to these beauties; they look great and the shelf-space freed up astonishing.

Same here. I converted 60% of my collection to slim cases. In fact I consider shelf after shelf of dvd cases pig ugly!
These look so much nicer!

[hearthesilence]

Yeah, what's the deal with these death-grip plastic hubs on digipaks nowadays? I saw a clerk at a used CD store CRACK the inner rim on a DVD trying to pry the disc out. STUPID design.

If they want a cheap alternative to jewel cases, do something like, I don't know, King Crimson's mini-Lp reissues. Thin, coated sleeve for the disc that fits into a thick, snug cardboard sleeve (replicating the Lp cover), and if turned the right way, the disc is secure. Takes up less space, adequate protection, not a hassle to retrieve.

[skuhn8]

I remember borrowing my buddy's "the Office" 'DVD and spending a good five minutes trying to coax the DVD out of the case...before finally cracking the center hub. I've never broken a borrowed item in my life until then. Left me embarrassed and pissed off. With all the options available can they not find one that is appropriate to the use? I mean: it's assumed that during it's life it will be pulled out dozens of times. Or is this just built in obsolescence rearing its ugly head again?

[Tim]

I too have always wondered why ThinPaks aren't standard. I first learned about them on ordering DVDs from France, some of which come that way, either in the clear snap cases or in the cardboard variant that MK2 supplies for its special edition of Truffaut and certain other titles. The spine lettering is perfectly readable, much clearer than on CDs.

Since I am in a small apartment and short of storage space I have always been interested in the possibility of converting my collection. Can Donald Brown or anyone else clarify how well trimming the covers to fit the ThinPaks works? My concern is that the spine material will end up half on the front or back cover. Does trimming both edges leave you with a readable spine on most DVDs?

Two other quick questions. First, thin cases are available in the UK in 7mm or 9mm thicknesses. Is one to be preferred? Second, is there such a thing as a two-disc version? Or is it better just to leave multiple sets in their original cases?

Any help much appreciated.

[Donald Brown]

Can Donald Brown or anyone else clarify how well trimming the covers to fit the ThinPaks works? My concern is that the spine material will end up half on the front or back cover. Does trimming both edges leave you with a readable spine on most DVDs?

Two other quick questions. First, thin cases are available in the UK in 7mm or 9mm thicknesses. Is one to be preferred? Second, is there such a thing as a two-disc version? Or is it better just to leave multiple sets in their original cases?

Usually trimming both edges evenly makes for a well-centered spine, but certainly not all titles are centered perfectly. They're sometimes weighted toward one side, in which case I'll trim more off one edge and less off the other to compensate. It's simple enough to gauge this.

There are slim cases made to hold two discs and even more.

[Tim]

Following the helpful advice here I've done a wholesale conversion to ThinPaks. The results look great and have provided crucial room for new purchases. Some releases don't convert easily, such as those with thick booklets and those with cardboard covers (snap cases?), and I have left those as they are.

However I have quite a few 2-DVD sets that I would like to convert. There is such a thing as a ThinPak Dual (apparently it has the same spine thickness as the standard ThinPak but a deeper hub that can carry two discs), but the only European agent for NexPak/Thinpak will not supply this in quantities under 5000! I have seen other products advertised but so far they either have the same spine thickness as a standard DVD or they have no booklet clips.

Does anyone know of a US source for a ThinPak Dual, or indeed any slimline case capable of holding two discs and an insert? Advice would be much appreciated.

[Titus]

I dig the digipacks as well. The only damaged one I've received was the Denmark release of the Europa Trilogy (of course a European set, thus making it a hassle to do anything about). It wasn't bad, so I left well enough alone, but I picked up Breaking the Waves in the same order and both discs were dislodged and their holders were broken. I exchanged it for a new one (they had me foot the shipping bill, naturally), and after a month the replacement arrived........and one of the discs holders on this one was busted as well. Not only that, but they obviously knew it was broken, as they taped the disc in place!

Needless to say, I'm probably not going to be doing much business with laserdisken again anytime soon.

Errr, sorry about the off-topic tangent, but I've needed to vent that for almost a month now.

[tasog37]

I rather like the digipack's. I think they look elegant are much neater than your standard keepcase; for example, see Fanny and Alexander, that set looks beautiful.

I have had little trouble with getting dvds out of them, but whoever mentioned The Office, that is the only one I have trouble with.

[Matt]

So, which do you prefer: digipaks or keepcases?

I have voted and I prefer keepcases. Actually, I prefer ThinPaks. Also, I work in a library and I go out of my way to replace digipaks with keepcases for our DVDs. You can't imagine how fun it was for me to throw out that Rules of the Game monstrosity.

[Steven H]

I predict this will turn into the most visited thread. I vote digipack. Here's to fashion before comfort.