Vote

Remember liner notes? It used to be you could read the copy, so artists tried to actually communicate on the album cover. The quality of information provided on your typical CD packaging is abysmal.

I prefer the plastic jewwl box as it properly protects the CD from damage and is a standard storage medium to suit racks etc.

Recently I have found that the jewel cases are broken(esp stereophile cases) upon shipping. This is disapointing.

I am torn between "plastic jewel boxes" and "Hate them all," but my favorite is two CDs in a single-width jewel box; it always tests my sobriety to see if one of the two doesn't end up on the floor!

Jewel boxes protect the CD, and they are easy to store. The others may look cool, but they really don't get the job done.

I find the hinge part breaks too easily on the plastic jewel boxes

CDs suck major ass... (I was tempted to run this one RL . ..)

better protection and easy storage.

Jewel boxes are a pathetic design, with those weak-ass hinges and unnecessary third piece in the back tray. But the argument for paper is even more stupid. Better for the environment? Who is THROWING AWAY their CDs? This medium lasts practically forever, as should its case. If you're worried about the environment, try keeping your CDs in their cases.

The plastic motherf*#&ers fall to pieces! Cardboard collapses and gets dog-eared. Aiiiieeeee . . . anyone wanna go into business producing solid plastic cases?!

Plastic jewel boxes, that I wish were made better (stronger).

What is required is a tougher variant on the jewel box. If the strength of the plastic could be increased to prevent cracking, that would be very useful. (There is a material that is used to protect glass from fragmenting during explosions that would work well, if the price is within reason. It is an adhesive film, and a thinner version may work well if the manufacturer could be induced to see jewel boxes as an alternate bulk market.) The joints also need improvement. Finally, better packaging helps to sell more of the legitimate product.

Plastic parts can be replaced. Cardboard is integral to the package design. If it gets damaged, it is not easily replaced.

A jewel box like MoFi's Lift-Lock.

The CD should have been designed to retain the disc in the carrier, with a sliding aperture opening allowing the laser access to the disc. This method would not require the disc to be taken out of the case. A few early CD-ROM drives used this method.

booklet's like XRCDs by JVC

Jewel boxes offer the ultimate protection for the disc and booklet. If they get scratched or damaged they can be replaced for 50 cents, and you now have what looks like a NEW CD; try doing that with any of the other types of packaging. By the way, the lift-lock jewel boxes are the best, as they have no stress on the removal of a CD. I also like the new jewel boxes with the clear trays, as art work can be put under the tray. This looks really cool!

The jewel box, although the best of the commonly available options, is still lame—those little hinge arms break off. I think it must have been designed by the person who designed those little stainless-steel teapots that you get in restaurants in North America—the ones that are designed to cool as efficiently as possible and to ensure that most of the tea ends up dribbling onto the table.

MoFi's cases are the best!

I loath the disposable digapack. what a horrable package. jewel cases are worlds better. but i think we can do better, like a case whose hinge flaps won't berak so easilly!!!!

Some kind of foam that is lightweight, yet effectively protects the CD during shipping. Hate paying the excessive air-mail charges if I'm ordering from an overseas site (I live in Singapore)—and the heaviest stuff is the jewel box!

We started with plastic jewel boxes, let's stay with them. It's a standard I can live with.

Just usually throw the disc into one of my mega players and throw away the box, but keep the 'booklet.

Let's face it CD jewel boxes aren't perfect, but they are better than anything else. Having read some of last week's Soapbox I have one comment: don't you audiophiles out there have anything better to occupy your time?!

Jewel boxes break, cardboard falls apart. The first thing I do with a new CD is throw the jewel box away and put the CD in my Case Logic album.

While the plastic jewel boxes are far for perfect, they are a lot better than all the alternatives I've seen. The cardboard sleeves wear out and you lose the artwork. If a jewel box breaks, you can at least replace it!

the DVD boxes are best but there has to be a better way...

I like the new cardboard sleeves. They are less likely to break; however, you can't rest a coffee cup on them. Most important, they take up less real estate, thus creating the illusion that I have fewer CDs than I actually do.

People need to quit dissing the jewel box unless they can come up with a better alternative. And please don't give me that tired cover-art B.S. How many of you have album covers hanging on your walls?

The MFSL cases are the nicest. Paper ones don't stack uniformly or protect the disc as well. They smudge, and you can't use them for coasters in a pinch.