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Impressions: "Slappa" Hardbody CD and DVD Cases

post #1 of 15
1/16/04 at 12:07pm
Thread Starter 
I have been looking for a real storage solution for my music for some time. I was forced to move to a much smaller house and therefore less space was available for my thousands of LPs and CDs. I have some pretty nice CD storage racks and shelving but they just take up far too much space and I ran out of room before I even placed the first rack in my listening area. I have records and CDs everywhere and I have to do something. I read all the reviews of the Slappa cases and some of those reviews mentioned they were viable as a long term,space saving storage solution. When I checked out the Slappa line I first handled the 20/20 Hardbody DVD case. This thing is designed and built extremely well and seems to have considered nearly everything. The outer cover is indeed a hard body and the inner sleeves are a stroke of genious. They actually have enough room for the DVD info inserts and the DVD itself located right behind in a very nicely protected sleeve. The sleeve itself is deep enough to hold the DVD but no so deep that it forces you to reach into the sleeve with your pudgy,little fingers,stretching the sleeve out of shape. Each sleeve only holds one DVD and one insert and there is little confusion as to which sleeve holds what DVD as with some poorly designed cases. I threw away the boxes for the 20 DVDs I placed in the Slappa cases because they are are a much better storage solution than shelving. I have ordered a bunch more Slappa DVD cases and I plan on placing all my 600 or so DVDs in them. These things are great.

My CD storage problems as you have read are far more pressing and critical. I needed something now and theSlappa 192 Hardbody CD case worked out to perfection. The CD cases are very similar to the DVD cases in design and function with the difference being the smaller inserts. The inserts are what makes these cases so fantastic. This is such a logical solution that I'm shocked no one else had the gumption to make it work. I've only been using these things a few days but the inserts seem to be really gentle on my CDs and I have not seen anything resembling scratches or scuffs. I went ahead and bought five of these in anticipation of at least cleaning up the 367 empty jewel cases I have from placing as many CDs in my wife's 400 disc changer. This turned out to be a killer solution and was aided greatly with the spine insert labels. If you can imagine the space 367 jewel boxes takes up then you can imagine the space savings I am experiencing using four Slappa 192 cases at 13" wide,12.25"high and 4.25" deep. The difference is huge. I think these four cases are taking up 10-15% of the space all those jewel cases did. Granted these four Slappa cases are only being used to hold the inserts(remember the CDs are in the changer) but I used the fifth to clean some of my own mess and it worked out even better. Just getting rid of 96 jewel cases made a huge visual impact on my space. The size of the Slappa is near perfect for me to slide them into one of my LP racks. I place a label in the spine and drop it into the rack and I have 96 CDs and labels in the space that perhaps 20 records would take up. The one thing I would warn you of when loading up a 192 case is the weight. This thing gets heavier than it looks but the Slappa handles it well and has a nice riveted handle that looks like it could carry much more. Lifting a full 192 case is certainly a two-handed affair.

I have ordered a bunch more Slappa cases and I'm looking to place perhaps 2000 of my less frequently used CDs in them. Right now I have this many CDs in a single custom rack and it is nearly the length of the wall in my space,think about that for a moment. At $42.99 for the 192 Hardbody and $23.99 for the 20/20 DVD case, these may not be the least expensive storage solutions going but they are far and away the most effective. Very highly recommended.
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post #2 of 15
1/16/04 at 12:42pm
Yeah! I recieved one of the 192 books for Christmas. I really like it, being a college student, and being able to bring my favorite 80 or so cd's with me. They are well worth the money, easily being better than anything I bought in the stores.

My only complaint with them, is the way they are constructed is instead of them being pressed in a machine, each individual sleeve is sewn together. While that is a nicer construction, sometimes there are irregularities, and some of the cd's and their inserts dont always fit in easily. Some barely fit in, and some others it's rather tight.

Other than that, these cases are again, highly recommended!

-Dan
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post #3 of 15
1/16/04 at 3:17pm
Thanks, Tubey. I've been wondering about these and just needed someone to push me to order one. I'm getting a 192 disc case for travel purposes. The 208 disc soft cover one I have now doesn't offer as much protection (plus, it may scratch the discs). I've also ordered one of the Walmatz to place over my urinal... now, if only I had a urinal, wouldn't that be cool? Imagine checking out CD covers as you take a whiz!
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post #4 of 15
1/16/04 at 11:12pm
Quote:
While that is a nicer construction, sometimes there are irregularities, and some of the cd's and their inserts dont always fit in easily. Some barely fit in, and some others it's rather tight.
This is my only complaint with my 128 Hardbody CD case. Otherwise, it kicks ass. I got 11 shiny new CD's at Christmas, and not a one of them has a noticeable scratch on it yet after being kept solely in the Slappa case. The included wiping cloth is a major plus. One other caveat about the cases, though it's not really a problem: they're hard to clean. I've gotten a few smudges on the surface of my case because I tote my CD's around in the car with it, and they don't want to come off with water and a rag.
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post #5 of 15
1/24/04 at 5:01am

SLAPPA

Guys and Girls,

I am the President of SLAPPA and was turned on to Head-Fi by our V.P. of Marketing. First off I would like to thank you for your support. The SLAPPA line is new (having been launched 7 months ago) and it did take us more then 18 months to design the lines before we went into production. We tried to make the ideal storage cases for discs and feel that we are on the right path, but have plenty of room for improvement.

The reason for this post is not to pat ourselves on the back or to promote the product, but instead to tell you that any and all suggestions and comments you have are listened to (hard to believe, but true). We may not implement your ideas, but we'll definately consider them.

We plan to launch our new 2004 products in May of this year, and 2 of the features we have been working on were things you had mentioned in your posts. First off, the "irregularity" of the pages.....this is not at all acceptable and we have been working with our factory to insure that the cutting and sewing molds are more accurate, and in short, results in ALL our pockets being the perfect size for discs and covers. If you find the product you have right now is not 100% perfect then please e-mail me.

Secondly, we have found a new material we will use for our base material on our new products. We will call some of our new lines "Graffite". (IE, Graffite Black and Blue combo). In short this material does not leave fingerprints and you will find it is much easier to clean.

Lastly, we are working on I-Pod cases that actually protect your I-Pod players. We're trying to bring to the market the absolute best I-Pod storage cases you can find.

So again, a huge thanks for your support and the best way you could help us going forward is to give to us your brutally honest feedback.

We are continually trying to develop products that we would use for our gear (not simply develop something and then use it because it has our name on them).

Regards

Dominick Martinetti

President
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post #6 of 15
1/24/04 at 5:39am
After having one too many CD's scratched up by "binder and page/sleeve" style cases, I will never go back. I already have to replace some of my CD's. I was really careful, and used so-called non scratching pages.
I even pitched the jewel cases and inserts to save space in my many migrations.

DVD's? No way. Those suckers are far more sensitive to scratching than CD's. I will never ever ever put those into sleeves. If it has to be slid in to the sleeve that contacts the surface, it will scratch it. And even if it made of the softest stuff on the planet, dust and dirt on the inside surface of the sleeve and /or the DVD will cause the scratch. So unless you live in a level 3 clean room, scratches will happen with sleeves.
The #1 problem with sleeve based storage is those cheap die cut clear vinyl. Sure they allow you to put your album inserts in there so you can see them. But the die cutting makes those edges sharp enough that many of them will scratch the crap out of your discs. Make sure they aren't at the edge where they can make contact with your discs. Feel the edges, if they feel kind of rough, guess what?

My favorite disc holder, and the only one I use with anything I value (I still don't put original discs in there) is a round Sony B.Y.O. case. The sleeves are made with all soft cloth. No cheap plastic, or raised rubber bumps. But I still wouldn't trust my DVD's in there. Plus it only holds ten discs. Sony has long since discontinued this case, though.

Sorry for the rant, but I was naive to think that this kind of storage would save space. Instead it wasted alot of money.

-Ed
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post #7 of 15
1/24/04 at 9:49am
Thread Starter 
Edwood,

I hated sleeve based storage solutions myself and I had many scratched CDs to prove it. The Slappa cases are a huge improvement over anything else that I've ever used. There are no cheesy vinyl sleeves to contend with. The parts that your CD touches are constructed of a kind of soft velour and the pockets are of a very high quality stitched vinyl. I would never recommend anything to you that I would'nt use myself and the Slappa cases come with my highest recommendation.
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post #8 of 15
1/24/04 at 10:27pm
Probably the the least damaging of sleeves no doubt, but it looks like you still have to slide the discs in there. So the particle on the surface of the disc or sleeve will cause scratches. Kind of like if you were to clean a disc with a microfiber cloth, but if there are particles on the disc, you will cause scratches by pushing the particle across the surface of the disc.

It's a pain in the ass, but Jewel cases give the best protection bar none. There was a storage case made by Laserline that had inserts that were like the "hubs" inside jewel cases that hold onto the hole in the middle of CD's. The only problem is that they would fall out often.

I know storage is a huge problem for large music collections, but just a warning about sleeved storage.

Man, I don't know how you vinyl guys manage. Moving would suck.

-Ed
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post #9 of 15
1/24/04 at 10:30pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Tuberoller
Edwood,

I hated sleeve based storage solutions myself and I had many scratched CDs to prove it. The Slappa cases are a huge improvement over anything else that I've ever used. There are no cheesy vinyl sleeves to contend with. The parts that your CD touches are constructed of a kind of soft velour and the pockets are of a very high quality stitched vinyl. I would never recommend anything to you that I would'nt use myself and the Slappa cases come with my highest recommendation.
Slappa seriously need to put close up images of their sleeves in comparison to brand "X". They are doing a serious dis-service to their product, as they look no different than Case Logic and Laserline garbage sleeves.
The average Joe will judge by the exterior styling, but obsessed nuts like us cares more what's on the inside.

-Ed
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post #10 of 15
1/25/04 at 12:45am

SLAPPA suggestions

Edwood

Thanks for the input. We had planned to make our d2 pages a focal point of our communications in 2004 (especially in our newly designed marketing collateral).

We also had a plan to make a special section for our I-Pod cases when they launch (a flash script section that gives clear descriptives and moving examples), and now based on your suggestion I think it would be a smart thing for us to do this (a flash section) for our d2 pages.

It is something I will bring up with our web group tomorrow----I will try to get them to complete a d2 page flash section and have it up on our site by end of February.

THANKS for the input!!!

Dominick Martinetti

President
SLAPPA Digital Product Storage
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post #11 of 15
1/25/04 at 1:55am
In December you could get 10% off your Slappa order by using "head-fi" as a discount code. I do not know whether this is still the case. [Sorry for the pun!]
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post #12 of 15
1/25/04 at 3:02am

Head Fi discount

Jeff (and all Head-Fi users). the 10% discount code will be in effect for all of you for as long as we are sponsors of this forum....which I hope is for a long, long time

Regards

Dominick Martinetti

President

SLAPPA Digital Product Storage
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post #13 of 15
1/25/04 at 3:08pm
Hmmm...methinks there is a SLAPPA with my name on it!
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post #14 of 15
1/25/04 at 5:54pm
I've just received my Slappa order (the big carrying case and the CD wall mat) - and I must say I am very impressed! The quality of materials used is absolutely second to none, and I've gone through a lot of CD carrying cases.

It would take a lot to impress me with something as simple as this, but you've managed to do it! The best part about it is that these cases are no more exensive than the ones you can buy in the stores, yet twice the quality.
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post #15 of 15
1/25/04 at 6:45pm
I can now firmly say that a Slappa 192 disc hardbody case will be my next CD case. Half because of the quality which everyone speaks of, and half because it's so refreshing to finally see a company that actually gives a damn about what it's customers say.
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