Vote

Prefer Plastic as it is always the same size, but don't really use any of them since the 200-300 disk changers came out.

If you stack the cardboard ones, you have to take them out to see the titles. And the plastic ones are not durable enough. Consider the durabilty of other formats, like VHS. CD cases are behind in the longevity game.

Anything paper is preferable, whether sleeves or with the plastic insert (you know, the round mounting thing?) The plastic jewel boxes don't hold up well with continual use and components of it are often broken before the cellophane wrapper is removed.

I really dislike the cardboard packaging. Jewel boxes are not perfect, but they protect the CD and fit my storage rack

Much better protection than those cardboard things and it will not look worn out in 20 years. Easy to use for all but most uncoordinated

As much as CDs cost, the package ought to be as elegant as possible. Jewel boxes fill that bill; they just need to be easier to unwrap. As for cardboard or other less expensive media—they have yet to achieve a reduction in the price of a disc. So let's just keep the status quo.

Jewel cases allow artwork to be easily replaced in the event that the case becomes damaged. Cardboard sleeves are difficult to get the CD out of especially when you are driving.

classier....easier to handle....fewer unrecyclables

For new CDs, I prefer the jewel cases. They are more practical to handle than cardboard sleeves, and there is no physical contact between the CD surface and any cover, minimizing the risk for scratches. But all the same, whenever I see those limited CD editions of old analog recordings with mini-replicas of the original LP covers, then there is no question—I cannot resist them. They both look better and often sound better.

I like the jewel boxes but I HATE!!! the stupid plastic on the top edge, which is designed to keep the case closed. The plastic makes it difficult to open the jewel box.

although none of them compares to artwork of LPs!

I don't like the DigiPaks. If you use CD wallets or CD albums, you have no cover art to put in their windows. If you have a CD jukebox (it's the wife's, I swear), you need the cover art for the CD booklet file so you know what's loaded in the machine in which slot. Also, the jewel box protects the CD booklets from being roughed up over time.

I like the original concept that Sony designed that used a caddy.

Pick one damn package and stick with it! I know jewel boxes crack and break and scratch, but not if you take care of them.

Maybe I just get used to it.

H-A-T-R-E-D (thank you, Tonio K.) is what I feel for anything other than a standard jewel box, and please give me "bars" rather than "bullets" in the lid so that the booklet doesn't get notched. When I buy a remastered reissue of a CD I already own and the new one is in a DigiPak or XRCD booklet, I put the new CD in the old jewel box and give the DigiPak/old disc to a friend. I've even been known to BUY an old "unremastered" disc in a jewel box just to have a neat package to put a new disc INTO. I bought the Miles Davis/Gil Evans box when it first came out, and then felt badly "burned" when the contents later appeared in standard jewel boxes as individually remastered discs. When the Paul Desmond box came out I just waited—and so far I've gotten each disc I wanted in jewel boxes, except for "Easy Living" (I'm still waiting). I haven't yet bought Rhino's "Big Ol' Box of '60s Soul" yet either—cutesy, inconvenient packaging which I'm convinced was designed by an art director entirely for the purpose of impressing other art directors.

The cardboard sleeves are more attractive (the graphics look better without being hidden behind plastic), but the jewel boxes are much more durable, fit better into CD racks, and can be easily replaced if needed.

- they don't rattle when stored & bass is played... they fit into my breif case & car w/o splintering!

...with improved hinges

If the Plastic Jewel Box is broken, then you know the contents might be damaged too.

The best packaging so far has been the JVC XRCD stuff.

DigiPaks suck! What am I supposed to do if for any reason the center hub breaks—throw the whole thing out? With a jewel box, if ANY part breaks, I pry it apart with one of the prongs of my handy "Ah-So" wine-cork puller and replace that part. I've found that it isn't wise to be the first on your block to get CDs released in DigiPaks from major labels. Cases in point: both Los Lobos' "Colossal Head" and Joni Mitchell's "Hits" were first released in cardboard only, and a few months later were also available in jewel boxes, as will apparently be the case with Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Greatest Hits II." And also, how am I supposed to store my Clifford Brown "Complete Blue Note and Pacific Jazz" 4-CD set? It's in "folio" form with open-top "envelopes" for the discs. If I put in on a shelf facing UP, dust gets in; if I put it on the shelf facing DOWN, the discs fall out! My solution? Put the whole damned thing in an unsightly and crappy-looking Baggie!

Jewel boxes: easy to store and access CDs (can see name on an album on the side of a jewel box), hard shell protects CDs well, can replace with new, identical jewel box if original breaks.

Just glad they got rid of the longboxes.

Plastic jewel boxes are most durable among the packaginf listed

DigiPaks tend to wear and get tattered on the top edge from pulling them out of CD racks. They are, however, nicely reminiscent of the old LP covers!

CD is the greatest design of the 20th century, and it comes in the worst-designed cases one can imagine. It doesn't take an engineering degree to come up with a much better case for CDs than jewel boxes or DigiPaks.

Jewel boxes, besides protecting the CD, allow tidy storage.

Cardboard but not DigiPaks. Japan puts out a limited-edition cardboard sleeve that is an old-fashioned album sleeve. They not only look great, but take up much less room. Blue Note in Japan has done this with the RVG series, as has Sony with the complete Miles Davis.

I admit I'm a vinylphile but Truth is I can't read the small print that accompanies CD packaging.