Buy or Build

[oges]

Got my latest NRMA open road magazine yesterday and along with it came mail order catalogue.

My current DVD storage has run out of room so I am needing a bigger one to hold my DVD collection. In the catalogue is a DVD storage unit that holds 216 DVDs. It locks up to keep the young fella out and has doors that open up which hold DVDs aswell. It has 'attractive dark oak woodgrain effect' so its not a great quality timber. The asking price is $159 plus $8 postage.

Now the question is, would it be cheaper and easier to buy said unit or could it be built cheaper? I should have all the tools needed to build it, and it would depend on what materials are used in the construction as to what the price would be.

Interested in your thoughts on this.

[bennylaird]

So what sort of videos need locking up?????

Would be much cheaper to build as you can make it siut just what you need and the racks are available from most places as inserts.

[Trav]

Anything with an 'attractive dark oak woodgrain effect' is likely to be either pine with a bit of dodgy stain, or MDF with dodgy veneer. If you have got the tools, do it yourself. I reckon you could get away with timber and all the bits and pieces for less than 100 bucks.

Trav

[oges]

So what sort of videos need locking up?????

Would be much cheaper to build as you can make it siut just what you need and the racks are available from most places as inserts.

When you have an 18 month old who loves opening cupboards and emptying contents of whatever is inside, its best to stop him from doing that.

I wasnt going to use the DVD rack inserts, just sit them on shelves .. but perhaps rack inserts might organise it better

[bennylaird]

PRODUCT INFO - DVD Racks Bulk Buy Special (10)
Click [Add to Cart] to add product




[DVD-Bulk] DVD Racks Bulk Buy Special (10)

Purchase 10 DVD racks and save. Each rack holds 15 DVDs and measures 320mm tall x 160mm wide. Spring loaded for easy access. Use to make new storage boxes or add to existing or modified cabinets. Features one left and one right plastic DVD rack. Box displayed for illustration purposes only, not included.


Normally $69.00 AUD

Sale Price $59.00 AUD

[Wongo]

Definitely build, cos your a woodworker. :)

[seriph1]

yup - build is the go ....... just be advised from someone who knows ...... storage for DVDs and the like can get a bit out of hand as the attached might illustrate ....... and this isnt all I have - it is SUCH fun being obsessive compulsive

:D:D:D:D:D:D

[savage]

Got my latest NRMA open road magazine yesterday and along with it came mail order catalogue.

My current DVD storage has run out of room so I am needing a bigger one to hold my DVD collection. In the catalogue is a DVD storage unit that holds 216 DVDs. It locks up to keep the young fella out and has doors that open up which hold DVDs aswell. It has 'attractive dark oak woodgrain effect' so its not a great quality timber. The asking price is $159 plus $8 postage.

Now the question is, would it be cheaper and easier to buy said unit or could it be built cheaper? I should have all the tools needed to build it, and it would depend on what materials are used in the construction as to what the price would be.

Interested in your thoughts on this.

Definitely make it yourself, it's cheaper, made to measure and gives you satisfaction. Plus, it can be made to compliment your home theater set-up, I have made my own, and will make (in the very near future) a cabinet for home system I am just waiting to get a new TV (haven't decided which way to go yet plasma, LCD or DLP), also made my own speakers (only been game enough to drive them up to half volume).
savage.:)

[seriph1]

my 2 cents worth is that plasma is definitely NOT the way to go - too much pixel crawl and weird stuff going on altogether for me - plus it seems they wear out very fast. I will be looking at an LCD tomorrow for my design work and have decided to take a peek at the TVs while I am there as well. If I was to buy a rear pro, I think it would still be the latest LG 150CM series as the ones I saw a couple of years ago blew everything out of the water. Finally, my all time faves are projectors and believe they wouldve advanced a fair amount since I bought my last Sony, which was stuck back in its box 3 years ago. s p a c e - the theatre frontier, hasn't been conquered in our new (1880) home yet.

[Waldo]

G'day Serif1,

Out of interest what is your design work? I run my own g/design studio and interested to know if you're in a similar situation.

[sol381]

Seriph1 ,was just wondering if the experience you had with plasma was personal or what you have read.. I have a top of the line 42" sony plasma and the picture is far superior to any lcd.. Lcd tvs at the moment are way too expensive and are nowhere near as large as plasma. As for not lasting too long, they recommend it will last 60,000 hours so even at 6 hours a day thats over 27 years. Rear projection tvs are too bulkt and the picture quality is about that of a normal crt tv.

just my 2 cents.
stef

[DPB]

This question reminds me of the story of a young husband and wife staring into the crib containing their newborn child.

With wonder in his eyes, he turned to his wife and exclaimed, "Dear, when I look into the crib, I'm absolutely blown away with amazement!"

"Yes, she responded, isn't our wee one just the most beautiful baby you've ever seen?"

"Oh no, what amazes me is that they can make this crib and sell if for under $100.00?"

From my experience, I don't do woodworking because it saves me money over purchasing the finished product, I do it:


because I love creating things from wood,
I can make it better
and it justifies the purchase of more tools.

:)

[ian]

In the NRMA catalogue is a DVD storage unit that holds 216 DVDs. It locks up to keep the young fella out and has doors that open up which hold DVDs aswell. It has 'attractive dark oak woodgrain effect' so its not a great quality timber. The asking price is $159 plus $8 postage.

the question is, would it be cheaper and easier to buy said unit or could it be built cheaper?Let's be honest here.
It'll be easier to buy the unit.
It'll be cheaper to buy the unit.

BUT
anything described as 'attractive dark oak woodgrain effect' will be cheap chipboard wrapped in paper or plastic — the word 'effect' is the giveaway.
there will be none of the satisfaction that comes from making the storage cabinet for yourself.
no mass produced unit will fit exactly where you want it to

ian

[seriph1]

Apologies for the thread hijack regarding TVs

A total Saturday morning rant follows, with no guarantee of making any sense at all:

sol381 - my experience is a bit of both having owned a range of items though no plasma or LCD TVs.

Owning one - and no offence to owners of any of these - doesn’t really offer a comparison though it does allow one to discover the quirks of the various technologies, depending on "how" you look at TV. Casual users who are just watching a show and don't really have an eye for it, will find all TVs perfectly OK I imagine. I imagine you would’ve researched it against the others very carefully.

For a couple of years I worked in the industry and had a chance to research LCD and CRT projectors along with rear pro TVs. While excellent/good/acceptable and crap examples of all can be found, at the time I settled with what I could afford which was a LOEWE Credo Telly (82CMCRT) and a Sony 400QM LCD projector. Following on from this, I continued the pursuit of the perfect picture and continued to explore all comers pretty closely, including the Sony product (Panels made by Mitsubishi I think). I admit my knowledge/information is not current and imagine all makers will have made substantial advances in the past 12 months.

A good pal bought a Pioneer 42inch, then 50 inch Plasma and we both agreed they weren’t up to the same standard as his Philips 82CM CRT which we set up next to both Plasmas - not saying the Plasmas weren’t ok, just the Philips was better. He finally settled on a Sony 95 CM CRT which is a knockout. Once again, placing them side by side it blew all others away.

It is important to say at this point that I feel if someone likes what they have then that's brilliant - it's not you it's me :D:D:D:D:D:D As folks may have figured, I watch a LOT of movies – I love ‘em and enjoy all kinds. This doesn’t make me the TV guru by a country mile, but I feel my opinions are as valid as the next person’s.

The issues I found with the Plasma was it seemed to have a muddy appearance, as well as an issue with refresh rate but this is evident on LCD as well. All technologies are improving of course so it may be that Plasma and LCD end up in a size war with most other factors being simply functionality and personal taste.

Your statement about cost and size of LCD are not really relevant to the quality or longevity issue for me. Your estimate of 60,000 hours is double the last data I received which stated the colour intensity will halve by 24,000 hours implying it is deteriorating along the way so 12,000 it will be 25% less intense and so on. Cost is dropping and quality increasing all the time. The bulk of a CRT or a 150CM Reap Pro is significant, though again not when assessing the picture quality. For what it’s worth, Plasmas go up to 63 inches to date I believe and LCDs 46 inches, with a 54 being shown around the place though it would be a prototype. Above those sizes a Projector is king – but which projector? Oh Boy ….. here we go again!

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Anyway, my bet is with LCD. Considering it is developmentally a full five years behind Plasma in domestic TV applications, is growing in display size almost daily and dropping in price I think it is going to be fun to watch. I can't wait to build my extension so I can set up my Home Theatre PC system and projector.

have fun!

[oges]

Ok building my own sounds the go, even if it doesnt save me money on buying a ready built one.

Im thinking of rose alder for the unit. Got some from J&C recently and it is a nice timber and available in good widths.

[ian]

Ok building my own sounds the go, even if it doesnt save me money on buying a ready built one.

Im thinking of rose alder for the unit. Got some from J&C recently and it is a nice timber and available in good widths.good on ya.

Post some pics when you're done, plus some of work-in=progress if you have the time

ian

[seriph1]

I'd love to know more about the Alder and what dimensions the material is available in ..... also: do you have a general style in mind for the cabinet? modern? Victorian? Country etc....?

[boban]

I have the DVD plastic inserts. You can have some if you want to pick them up from my mate in Koolewong. I have to check with him first but I think it will be ok. I also have CD inserts if you would like some of those as well.