Bellagio-Italia DVD Storage Binder, Classic Set - Stores DVD Cover Art - Acid-Free Sheets - 4-Pack, Stores up to 192 DVDs, CDs, or Blu-Rays, Brown

Like many people my age I have a lot of CDs purchased over the years, but with all my music now digitized I was faced with a dilemma: what do I do with all these CDs taking up space in my home? Two media towers of CDs taking up space in my home, to be exact. After some research on the internet, I decided that placing all the CDs in binders would be the best way to reduce the storage space they were taking up, and that these Bellagio-Italia storage binder sets would be the best-looking option. I was actually surprised that there aren't more options, as it seems that Bellagio are the only company making binder type CD/DVD storage. It's a good thing, then, that Bellagio makes a fine product. They look good (but there is no way they are actually made of leather--just a nice-looking pleather), are sturdy, and can hold a good number of CDs. I had around 670 CDs and fit them into 11 binders. Where once there were two media towers making it impossible to fully open the door to the bedroom, there is now a shelf of classy looking "books". The plastic inserts seem to be very sturdy and I was able to fit a CD and the booklet in each pocket. I managed to fit 15 pages in each binder; any more makes the binders kind of unwieldy and unable to stand solidly on the shelf. Perhaps, if you are dispensing with the booklets, you may be able to fit more inserts into each binder. I purchased 18 binders (a set of 12 and a set of 6), along with twelve 8 packs of insert pages, which was way too many. This was due to my poor math skills (My 9th grade Algebra teacher was right, bad math will affect my future endeavors!), but now I have 6 binders and a ton of insert pages to do the same thing with my DVDs, so it was kind of a blessing in disguise.

I had two dedicated DVD cabinets and a six-drawer dresser for media storage, and even then I had a lot in banker boxes here and there. My goal is to get all the media I'm keeping into one, 5 shelf bookshelf. I'm about half-way done. I did the math, and these binders compress the DVD storage demands roughly 5:1. So for every five banker boxes, I'm getting 1 banker box of storage in the binders. I appear to be doing better than that in real life, but I've lost count. For music storage, I calculated 2:1 or better. I haven't started that project yet. That's a LOT of furniture space freed up. Good DVD storage cabinets are roughly the same price ($120 or so) for the same capacity or less, but the results here can fit on a single bookshelf. So basically think a small breakfast nook of storage furniture or boxes 5-deep, replaced with a bookshelf, for the same price, and much easier to move between houses. As some have noted, you can't just slide the DVD outside case insert in with the disc. If there's an insert inside the DVD case, it generally fits, barely, in the sleeve with the disc. When I think the external artwork is worth keeping (useful information, better labeling, etc.) I simply fold it into thirds and stick it in with the disc. With so many discs having labels built into hard cases or otherwise useless without the original case, this is as good a solution as I can expect. A wider sleeve pocket would probably make the disc slip around too much when in transit an fall out. It also wouldn't add much to the capacity. As for add-in sleeves, this may make sense if you do not put the inserts in with the discs. If you are saving the inserts, the number of sleeves that come with the binder works out just about right. I have about a dozen I've had to pull out of binders because they included whole booklets, and so I'm putting those back in as I work through the boxes. I'm currently ordering another set of 12 of these, after already buying 18. Given the nature of online storage and occasional problems like iTunes graying out music I've uploaded from my own CD collection because it's "no longer available in my region" (Dear Apple - I have a priority for you), keeping original media seems wise if you want to continue enjoying it. As for quality, it looks great, feels great, and some difficult-to-please people I've shown them to find them awesome. Consistent build quality and no little plastic cutout leftovers to shuck out like corn husks before use. I wouldn't recommend them for cars with small children or dusty locations, but for a bookshelf, they look exceptionally high end, even in the cheapest design. I may get the higher end ones later for things like back-up discs of family pictures, so you know which one to prioritize.

You can already see what you get and how nice these look. Truly a classic, leather-bound book look. The binder feels as nice as it looks too. Sturdy and solid. As a packrat, my only challenge is the inserts. The insert sheets have 2 disc pockets, one over the other, on each side. You can just barely fit a case insert into the bottom disc pocket and it will not completely cover the top pocket. If you want to save the outer case cover, you'll either have to fold it to make it fit or stash that somehow differently.

I purchased 6 of these awhile ago and just recently started reducing my DVD/CD collections. At the time I purchased these, I also purchased extra sheets of disc holders to expand the number of disks I put in each “book”. Since I have DVDs of series with many seasons, I wanted to keep them together in one book. I started with the venerable show ER. I proceeded to put my collection of 16 seasons into 1binder and include the information on each season that was included in the original DVD set. At times I have an over abundance of “procrastination” that is balanced with “persistence”. After dismantling each season and deciding how to fit the included season information; I was able to sit back and enjoy my “success”! One entire series in one disc book. It only took 25 pages of DVD/CD pages to reach my goal. At the completion, I learned, each beautiful disc book is not able to close to “closing” with that many pages in it. I persisted though & that’s why I now have an additional 3 of these DVD/CD books! I can put CD/DVDs into a book and have it close if I limit the number of sleeves to 12-16. Any more and the discs are in danger of not aligning with the others when the book is closed. What I discovered using this product: PRO 1. They look fantastic On my bookcase. 2. The rings that hold the pages are really strong & solid. 3. The holder (book) is well made. 4. The sleeves have a tap at the top of each disc envelope that folds over the disc and when used, keep the disc from falling out when the book is open or pages are being turned. 5. The sleeves are made with acid free material and aren’t flimsy. 6. These is a small slot next to each slot that I was able to put the title & season of the show (from the spine of the DVD box) into for quick reference. At first, I cut the show information and cover down to stuff them into an empty sleeve. Doing this cost me the access of a sleeve... but I had lots of those! Then, by the time I started filling up my 9th book, I discovered I could measure the insert and cover information, punch a couple of hole in them & put them between the sleeves. (Discovering this 8 books ago would have been nice. 7. The overall quality of both the book holders and the disc sleeves have remained consistent and high quality. The new set I have is just as well made as the first set I purchased about 5 years ago. CON 1. They come with a generic label on each spine. I’m still pondering the best way to remove them. Temporarily I just taped my own label over theirs, & I think doing this distracts from the overall look of each book. 2. Sleeve size. I know size matters! If the sleeve holder is too big the disc can slip around in the sleeve & also fall out easily. I spent many hours cutting down the cover that comes with the shows so they would fit into a sleeve. 3. Loss of sleeve for disc to use to hold show content. 4. The first couple of pages with discs keep sliding back and the holders get wrinkles. I have no idea the long term issues this will cause the discs, but I would prefer if when I close a book that the content remains aligned. 5. I purchased 2 or 3 of the extra sleeve holders bundles of 8 sleeves each, offered by the manufacturer. And I have so many left over! The books don’t really hold as much as I thought they could. 6. It’s difficult getting to tab top over a disc when there are 4 discs stored in one sleeve. I found it a struggle to put the tab back over over a disc when I returned a disc to storage. 7. Price point. These are some of the most expensive disc storage options I’ve found. Even though buying more at once is cheaper that buying a single disc book, they are pricey. But considering the consistency & quality, they are a good investment for me.

Holds all my original DVDs from when I was a kid and looks good on my shelf.

Considering that streaming is going to fizzle out if things keep going the way they are, this is an elegant way to organize one’s collections. Really classes up my bookshelf.

These binders are a great looking addition to my media shelf. It's easy to insert the discs into the pages, and I love that there are slots in the upper envelope to hold the DVD case insert if you want (I have a few DVDs that were autographed that I wanted to preserve). You can still fit a disc behind the insert in the bottom envelope, if you just want to store a disc there (special feature disc maybe (?) ) but it's a bit tight, and obviously if you want to take the disc out you'll have to remove the insert. There are slots one the side of the disco envelope for labels. I just cut the titles from the spines of my DVDs and put them in there, takes a little trimming but it works! The binders themselves are just like book covers (obviously). Same weight, and thickness of bound hardback book covers. Sturdy enough, and each binder can hold fifteen (15) full pages without bulging out. The filled pages though, are much heavier than the binders, and they pull a little on the binder-rings, so I would be careful picking them up and putting them down. The label space on the spine is a nice touch, but I had to fiddle with it a bit to get the label in. You can tighten or loosen with a tiny screwdriver (like for eyeglasses/phone). The books are smooth to the touch on the front, back, and spine, so they might take well to printed sticky labels or label maker tape!

I LOVE THESE! We have so many DVDs. They were stored on a small corner wall shelf that had five shelves, and double stacked into seven cube storage spaces. We bought a twelve pack with the added insert packs. Each added insert pack puts each binder at, what looks like, a maximum capacity. All of our DVDs now fit into three and a half cube storage spaces. I have taken thicker scrapbooking paper and made personalized dividers for each section/genre; it makes it a lot easier to find exactly what your looking for, especially if you have multiple sections in one binder. We will be buying more because we used most spaces available in these. We will be using them for our CDs and games as well, as they are all stored in the same cubed shelving in our living room. I'd like to add that today was trash day and they were delivered in the afternoon, while trash is picked up in the morning. Our empty recycling can, the one that is big, blue, and goes on the street for pick up, is now almost all the way full with nothing but DVD cases. I really do hope these stand the test of time, because they look amazing. The only downfall I found was that the fuller you make them, the more the inserts lean out of the right side bottom corner of the book-binder. This looks to be due to weight, size, and the holes for the metal rings/clasps to go through. You have to be sure to slightly support the insert pages as you start to put them on a shelf. It's not a big deal, or a hassle, honestly. I would definitely recommend to anybody. This is a product that I'm glad I spent the extra cash for.