Spindle vs. Amaray case (vs. CD jewel case?)
 

Is there any real danger from archiving DVDs in standard black, movie-style Amaray cases? In turn, is there any real danger from having discs stored on spindles?

I've leaned towards Amaray cases, as vertical storage and lack of pressure (from stacked discs) logically seem to be better. However, posts I'm reading by admin suggest otherwise. I had never heard of cases distorting the inner hub of a disc, but I figure they're better than stacked discs on a spindle.

What's good and what's bad? Might not the best method of all be the good old, ever-reliable, rock solid CD jewel case?

It's strange how topics seem to come in bunches sometimes. I answered a similar question about DVD storage just today. Go read it, too, that info may help you.

There are so many DVD case styles out there, that I often forget which ones are "Amaray" -- sometimes people aren't even using "Amaray" anyhow. The subtle differences in how the hub grips the disc is what makes them "Amaray" or not. Strictly speaking, I find the M-lock cases to be better, as they don't exert so much force on the disc hub, which can lead to cracks in the media. Some of those DVD movie cases, especially the ones used by studio releases, are terrible about putting such a death grip on your discs that you have to almost bend it to pull it out. That's not good, not at all! It's bad enough on pressed media, but it can mean instant death
for burned discs.

Memorex has good single and double-disc cases, found locally in many office supply and retail outlets.

I store many discs in cases, almost completely using higher-end DVD cases from stores like www.Effectuality.com, www.American-Digital.com and www.GenesysDTP.com. (NOTE: I don't have any affiliates with them. In fact, most of the stores I would suggest for media, and have built affiliate relationships with, I would warn you away from on movie-style DVD cases, because it's cheapy junk.)

Spindles work well for all discs, but they are ideally best suited for discs with a raised innner hub, to separate the discs slightly.

CD jewel cases (full thickness or slim), or even DVD jewel cases (yes, they exist, Apple uses them to sell blank media in!), continue to be a very safe -- maybe the MOST SAFE way -- to store discs.

Thanks admin. I believe Amaray is the one with two, yin yan-style pieces. You depress and the disc neatly pops straight up.

I know those other cases you talk about and yes, they're really bad. When TV-DVD first came out, those digipack (four-disc foldouts) were so bad I stored many of them in slim jewels.

About the spindles, I'm not sure the discs I'm buying (Sony and Maxell) are raised hubs or not. If they're not, is there any damage from those blanks just sitting there? What about manufacturers dealing in spindles to begin with; couldn't they be damaged in processing and shipping?

The spindle-stored non-raised hub media can and often do have scuffs and scratches before they are even burned. It's one more reason to flip a disc over and examine it before using. The bottom discs are often damaged this way, sometimes the top ones too.

The yin-yang cases, yes, those can be quite decent, not exerting excessive force on the hubs of the media.

Run your finger along the disc, starting from the inside hole. You should feel a bump on the bottom of the disc. My Sony-branded discs are this way. Not sure about Maxell -- it might depend on if those are Maxell-manufactured media, or Ritek-manufactured, or even CMC-manufactured discs, as to how they are made.

I get you. It's a slight raise where the clear center meets the foil?

Yep, that's it.