Personally, I Find The Ripping Noise of Velcro To Be Rather Sexy.....
Written: Jan 04 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Neat, organized discs at your fingertips.
Cons: Hard to clean, doesn't completely protect the CD face.
The Bottom Line: For well under $20.00 you can pick up the perfect gift for the person who seems to have everything :]
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| Freak369's Full Review: Case Logic Cd Visor Folio |
If you are like me and have an obsession with music – then chances are your car is littered with empty CD cases. I’ve gone through more CD organizers than I care to count, all of which ended up in the garbage due to the cheap plastic sleeves ripping. Well, I can’t say that the Case Logic CD Visor Folio solved all my CD problems, but it sure has cut down on the number of scratched, crushed and otherwise damaged CD’s. Not to mention the ones that mysteriously disappear for a few months at a time and resurface just after I replace them.
For those who haven’t seen this – it’s a pretty cool concept. The Case Logic CD Visor Folio straps onto your sun visor via two Velcro straps. Keep in mind that there are two different makes out there, the dual carrier [this one] and the smaller, lighter single panel case that holds 10 compact discs rather than 20. If you have an older car or a sun visor that isn’t too sturdy [in other words loose] – you might want to consider going wit the smaller, single panel organizer.
I highly suggest that you strap this to the under portion of your visor. If you attach it to the inside part, you’ll be flipping your visor up and down constantly rather then just having it hang there and do its job. Some people feel the need to attach it to the inside part of the visor then proceed to swear up a storm when they have to be inconvenienced by flipping the visor down. If that’s your biggest worry in life – guess what – I’m moving in with you.
The Basics
Unlike most ‘slide in’ organizers that have poly or plastic sleeves, this one is made from cotton, polyester and nylon. Granted, your CD isn’t completely protected from the elements or dust, but when slid completely into the slot, they are there until you decide to remove them. Cheaper models will stretch after a while and if you slam on your brakes you might just end up with a lap full of CD’s. My first suggestion is to check each of the compartments for plastic tags, paper, security tags or quality assurance stickers. Any one of these could scratch or damage the playing face of the CD. Second suggestion, when you replace a CD, make sure the top part is visible, this way you won’t have to play a guessing game when trying to find a particular CD.
The mounting of the visor unit is pretty much a no brainer. You position it where you want it [trucks and SUV’s have a larger area to work with] and slide the Velcro straps around the visor. Pull snugly and press the Velcro bands to secure it. I’ve had mine for a while now and I’ve never had any trouble with it coming loose or sliding around. If, for some reason, there is too much slack and the Velcro won’t make a connection, you can slide a CD jewel case under the panel and that should do the trick.
Functionality
For me, this was a great blessing. The multitude of organizers I have had would shock most of you. One thing I always hated was having to flip from page to page to find a CD and then having to fight to get it out of the sleeve. Not to mention the size and bulkiness of some of them – one looked like a school binder and held 84 CD’s plus had room for covers and liner notes – but it was nearly impossible to open if you were behind the wheel of the car. If you really feel the need to have 84 CD’s in your vehicle at one time – then you might want to pass on this or it’s smaller cousin [that holds 10].
If you have a lot of CD’s that you like to have with you [for long trips or commutes] you can add one to your passenger side visor for more storage. This does make it a little tricky to see the different CD’s and I would imagine that it’s almost impossible to do when driving – unless you have really good insurance that is. I added another Case Logic CD Visor Folio to my passenger side visor for my Henry Rollins CD’s. That’s right; Hank has his own section in my vehicle! [God, I really do need help don’t I?]
CD Safety
As I said earlier, I haven’t had one incidence where the organizer slipped out of place. This also holds true to the CD’s remaining snuggly in place once you slide them into the slot. But you have to push them the whole way into the slot or vibrations could shake them loose. None of the CD’s have any scratches from rubbing against the material so don’t worry about that – same goes for the occasional brush against the Velcro – this doesn’t harm the playing surface in the least.
One thing I have yet to run into – the heat. When we go to the desert the temperatures can reach 120 degrees. That’s when I take almost everything out of the vehicle [aerosol cans, window cleaners etc] before we pack it up and move it out. I’m curious to see how my CD’s hold up being so close to the roof [That must have been the most moronic statement I’ve ever made]. I’ve never had a CD get damaged from heat or exposure to the sun – plenty of movies and video games … but no CD’s. One nice thing is the ability to remove them and replace them in about 20 seconds tops. This is also great if you have several of them – you can keep a few in the house and rotate your ‘on the road’ selections.
Cleaning
Well, this was a real issue for me. I wanted something that I could remove and clean “easily” if it got too dirty from general ‘vehicle dirt’ [translation – ketchup, soda, grease etc]. In the middle of a trip to Legoland [big shock] my oldest son threw a french fry at me when we were parked at a rest stop. I didn’t see the offending fry make its landing on top of the CD organizer but when I found it a few hours later there was a nice big grease stain. Being an anal retentive person by nature – this bugged me to no end. I am still trying to figure out how he managed to get the fry in there on the first shot
I peeled back the Velcro strips and started to think of the best way to go about cleaning it. Regular water would do nothing for Mc Donald’s ‘super grease’ and throwing it in the washer was an automatic ‘no’. I was left with either Fantastik or Resolve as my options. I went with Resolve first since it seemed more appropriate. After a few squirts I used an old toothbrush to work the product around. I waited a few minutes and dabbed up the excess fluid and saw that the stain was gone. My only concern was whether it would damage the color of the material.
It wasn’t until the next day that I started to get worried about the residue from the cleaner getting on the face of the CD’s. I took a few older CD’s and slid them into the slots that were affected by the grease stain and subsequent cleaning to see how they would handle it. I did notice some spots on the face of the CD that looked ‘grimey’ – kind of like when you don’t rinse all the soap off the floor and that is the area that attracts and retains all the ‘new dirt’.
So, a lesson learned – if you get such a stain – it’s better to just not use that slot or to pitch it all together and buy a new one.
Skins
The ten CD organizer is available in limited colors – black, deep blue, hunter green and orange. If you upgrade to the twenty count organizer, your get more variety including neon hues, pastels and a few designs.
I choose the standard black case with a black center panel and dark gray trim. The last thing I want is something bright just outside my field of vision :] If you are buying this for yourself or as a gift, you might want to stick with the darker colors if you are going to use it often. The grease from your fingers will eventually start to make it look dirty and as I said above, there’s no real way to get them clean without compromising the safety of your CD collection.
Who Would Love This
This would make a great gift for anyone that had trouble keeping track of CD’s in his or her vehicle. I had several teenager neighbors with birthdays recently and they were more than thrilled to get this as a gift. This is also a great gift for the person that seems to have everything :]
Drawbacks
As I said earlier, your CD’s aren’t completely protected from dust so if this is a huge concern for you – you might want to go with a standard organizer that zips shut or closes completely. I do not recommend this for mini discs since it will be almost impossible to get them out of the slot or view the title of the CD. Other than that it’s virtually perfect.
Stats
Weight 1 pound 8 ounces
Color Black
Storage 20 CD’s
Attachment Method: Velcro
Price: $17.99
Warranty: Yes, 2 years against defects
Durability: Excellent so far
As always, thanks for the read!
^V^ Freak ^V^
Recommended:
Yes
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