# Should I discard all of my DVD cases? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 25, 2008, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-discard-all-of-my-dvd-cases/446805 "2008-04-25T05:55:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-discard-all-of-my-dvd-cases/446805/21 "2008-04-25T18:14:46Z")
OK, I think I am going to do this: put all the DVDs in a folder, but keep the cases for display purposes. That way I could have them all lined up on a shelf, but the actual DVDs would be organized in a folder. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-discard-all-of-my-dvd-cases/446805/22 "2008-04-25T18:26:12Z")
If you’re going to do that, then why not keep the actual DVDs in their cases? Why even bother moving the DVDs into a separate folder if you’re just going to keep the cases? ---
**Author:** ![Sanity\_Challenged](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Sanity\_Challenged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sanity_Challenged)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-discard-all-of-my-dvd-cases/446805/23 "2008-04-25T18:43:18Z")
Just try it. Throw your DVD’s in a folder, and pack the DVD cases off in a box in the back of your closet. If you haven’t felt compelled to pull the box of cases out by the time you move in a couple months, then pitch it. ---
**Author:** ![t-mobileguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@t-mobileguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-mobileguy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-discard-all-of-my-dvd-cases/446805/24 "2008-04-25T18:52:08Z")
Sorry about a quick hijack [QUOTE=beowulff] A 1TB drive is $200. You could put 150-250 DVDs on it uncompressed, and it’s the size of a paperback… [/QUOTE] I would LOVE to do this. But I was under the impression that coping a movie onto a hard drive was illegal. Any additional info? And just so that it’s not a total hijack - I have about 70 DVD’s and I throw out the plastic and put it in my DVD folder as soon as I get home. It’s super nice to just flip pages to look for movies you want. Plus if a friend asks you to bring a movie over you don’t have to decide what you want before you leave the house. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-discard-all-of-my-dvd-cases/446805/25 "2008-04-25T18:53:46Z")
[QUOTE=Mosier] If you lose the folder, is it really that big of a problem? I can’t see a good argument for keeping all those cases. [/QUOTE] There really isn’t a good reason. I’ve thrown most of mine out and keep all my CDs in one of those storage things that has dozens of individual plastic envelopes for each CD. If I care about keeping the printed matter from the jewel case, I just take it out and slip it into the holder along with the CD. ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-discard-all-of-my-dvd-cases/446805/26 "2008-04-25T19:03:12Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] OK, I think I am going to do this: put all the DVDs in a folder, but keep the cases for display purposes. That way I could have them all lined up on a shelf, but the actual DVDs would be organized in a folder. [/QUOTE] This is what I do, with DVDs as well as CDs and video games (I think at this point I have four 256-disc books and several smaller ones). Having everything in the wallets is really convenient, and the cases are all lined up on the bookshelf to satisfy my collector’s mentality. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-discard-all-of-my-dvd-cases/446805/27 "2008-04-25T21:44:16Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] A 1TB drive is $200. You could put 150-250 DVDs on it uncompressed, and it’s the size of a paperback… [/QUOTE] Bingo. CDs/DVDs get opened twice after I purchase them. Once to remove the disc and rip it, and one to replace the disc and toss it in the closet. I still have all the physical copies, mostly because I’ve yet to be that squeezed for space. But if I had to, I’d easily be able to toss almost all of it, saving a few that were especially important to me. ---
**Author:** ![Eric\_Halfabee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Eric\_Halfabee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric_Halfabee)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2008, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-discard-all-of-my-dvd-cases/446805/28 "2008-04-25T21:49:43Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] A 1TB drive is $200. You could put 150-250 DVDs on it uncompressed, and it’s the size of a paperback… [/QUOTE] Depending on how much compression you can stand, you could get a lot more. I’ve compressed 2-hr movies into a 700Mb .avi and it looks good enough on a 17" LCD monitor. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-discard-all-of-my-dvd-cases/446805/29 "2008-04-25T21:56:18Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] If you do end up getting rid of your boxes (and sending them to **drachillix** , which is an excellent idea), might I suggest keeping at least 2 or 3 around so you can take a single DVD to a friend’s house instead of taking the whole binder? Or so you can loan one or two out? [/QUOTE] I use them for recovered data/backups/etc, looks all spiffy when I return a customers stuff in a nice case. We bought a few packs of slim DVD cases for this and the customers always seem very impressed. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2008, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-discard-all-of-my-dvd-cases/446805/30 "2008-04-25T22:45:20Z")
I did this with my CDs long ago, and I wish I hadn’t. While at the time I was proud of myself for organizing my music and saving space, there’s lots of music I never listen to any more. If I still had the cases, I could sell them to a used music store and make $50, or give them away as gifts. But, without the cases and liner notes, the cds have essentially 0 resale value. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-discard-all-of-my-dvd-cases/446805.md?page=1)