DVD Spot Shutting Down
10-01-08, 12:58 PM
#126
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10-01-08, 01:17 PM
#127
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Bah, was so happy I stumbled upon DVDSpot a few months ago. Fell in-love and was so happy, since nothing else out there comes close.
Now it's closing, and still nothing else comes close. DVDAF blows, and DVD Profiler is an offline Windows app. I want and need full online functionality, OS-agnostic.
Now it's closing, and still nothing else comes close. DVDAF blows, and DVD Profiler is an offline Windows app. I want and need full online functionality, OS-agnostic.
10-01-08, 05:04 PM
#128
DVD Talk Legend
10-01-08, 05:07 PM
#129
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
I downloaded Libra and played around with it last night. It has some quirks, but it's decent.
It uses Amazon as its database, so it pulls in Amazon images, which unfortunately, are not uniform (sometimes it's a 3d view of the case, sometimes the 2d front cover, sometimes there are discs coming out...etc). On the upside, it's easy to manually change the cover art that is displayed for an entry in your library.
The import function isn't perfect - I exported my DVDSpot collection to .csv and imported into Libra as plain text and it got about 180 of my ~200 titles. I think most of the ones it missed didn't have a UPC, are pretty rare, or are from region 2. I got started adding each title that the import missed and it went pretty smoothly. The region 2 titles are easy enough to add by selecting the Amazon UK database instead of Amazon US and I haven't run into any titles yet that don't exist in the database.
The included skins are all ugly in my opinion. Thankfully, the .xml files that define the skins are well-commented, making it extremely easy to make your own skin and customize the look. I like that a lot.
I really like the other modularity that they put into the program too...you can create tags and filter by the tags, you can enter free text custom information for each DVD, zoom the view of your library, etc. I haven't explored every one of the features, but I'm impressed with what I've seen so far.
The program crashed on me once, when I added the 300 HD DVD to my library, so stability might be an issue, but that's not too surprising, as I don't think it is even to version 1.0 yet.
All-in-all, this is a great application with a lot of potential that will only get better as the kinks get worked out.
It uses Amazon as its database, so it pulls in Amazon images, which unfortunately, are not uniform (sometimes it's a 3d view of the case, sometimes the 2d front cover, sometimes there are discs coming out...etc). On the upside, it's easy to manually change the cover art that is displayed for an entry in your library.
The import function isn't perfect - I exported my DVDSpot collection to .csv and imported into Libra as plain text and it got about 180 of my ~200 titles. I think most of the ones it missed didn't have a UPC, are pretty rare, or are from region 2. I got started adding each title that the import missed and it went pretty smoothly. The region 2 titles are easy enough to add by selecting the Amazon UK database instead of Amazon US and I haven't run into any titles yet that don't exist in the database.
The included skins are all ugly in my opinion. Thankfully, the .xml files that define the skins are well-commented, making it extremely easy to make your own skin and customize the look. I like that a lot.
I really like the other modularity that they put into the program too...you can create tags and filter by the tags, you can enter free text custom information for each DVD, zoom the view of your library, etc. I haven't explored every one of the features, but I'm impressed with what I've seen so far.
The program crashed on me once, when I added the 300 HD DVD to my library, so stability might be an issue, but that's not too surprising, as I don't think it is even to version 1.0 yet.
All-in-all, this is a great application with a lot of potential that will only get better as the kinks get worked out.
10-01-08, 07:41 PM
#130
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It sucks that the site is going away. But it is. For those interested in the statistics it offered, there is a plug-in available for DVD Profiler that supplies all the same stats and a whole lot more. I also heard rumors that there might be another plug-in soon to import DVD Spot collections so people don't have to start from scratch.
10-01-08, 09:42 PM
#133
DVD Talk Legend
I'm not reading through this entire thread for the answer, if the question was asked, so why are they closing down, other than the vague reason on the home page?
10-02-08, 12:52 AM
#134
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I think CNET (or CBS their mother company) has more interest in bigger retail sites and couldn't be bothered by the site anymore.
10-02-08, 02:11 AM
#135
DVD Talk Special Edition
The founder of LibraryThing said in the new bulletpointreview.com forum (basicly the DVDSpot refugee forum) that he was trying to see if he could take DVDSpot over. I don't know how realistic that is or what kind of help he might need, but it could be a (small, dim) ray of hope.
http://http://www.bulletpointreview.....php?f=2&t=136
http://http://www.bulletpointreview.....php?f=2&t=136
It appears Google gets their book info from Barnes & Noble, rather than Amazon. It would probably be easier to search DVD info from B&N since they list the UPC of their product.
10-02-08, 08:30 AM
#136
Challenge Guru & Comic Nerd
A site like DVDspot with all the bandwidth it used, must have cost thousands of $ per month. There are basically no ads, so the only income was referral links, which must have generated less $ than the monthly fees. I imagine.
10-02-08, 08:42 AM
#137
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I downloaded Libra and played around with it last night. It has some quirks, but it's decent.
It uses Amazon as its database, so it pulls in Amazon images, which unfortunately, are not uniform (sometimes it's a 3d view of the case, sometimes the 2d front cover, sometimes there are discs coming out...etc). On the upside, it's easy to manually change the cover art that is displayed for an entry in your library.
The import function isn't perfect - I exported my DVDSpot collection to .csv and imported into Libra as plain text and it got about 180 of my ~200 titles. I think most of the ones it missed didn't have a UPC, are pretty rare, or are from region 2. I got started adding each title that the import missed and it went pretty smoothly. The region 2 titles are easy enough to add by selecting the Amazon UK database instead of Amazon US and I haven't run into any titles yet that don't exist in the database.
The included skins are all ugly in my opinion. Thankfully, the .xml files that define the skins are well-commented, making it extremely easy to make your own skin and customize the look. I like that a lot.
I really like the other modularity that they put into the program too...you can create tags and filter by the tags, you can enter free text custom information for each DVD, zoom the view of your library, etc. I haven't explored every one of the features, but I'm impressed with what I've seen so far.
The program crashed on me once, when I added the 300 HD DVD to my library, so stability might be an issue, but that's not too surprising, as I don't think it is even to version 1.0 yet.
All-in-all, this is a great application with a lot of potential that will only get better as the kinks get worked out.
It uses Amazon as its database, so it pulls in Amazon images, which unfortunately, are not uniform (sometimes it's a 3d view of the case, sometimes the 2d front cover, sometimes there are discs coming out...etc). On the upside, it's easy to manually change the cover art that is displayed for an entry in your library.
The import function isn't perfect - I exported my DVDSpot collection to .csv and imported into Libra as plain text and it got about 180 of my ~200 titles. I think most of the ones it missed didn't have a UPC, are pretty rare, or are from region 2. I got started adding each title that the import missed and it went pretty smoothly. The region 2 titles are easy enough to add by selecting the Amazon UK database instead of Amazon US and I haven't run into any titles yet that don't exist in the database.
The included skins are all ugly in my opinion. Thankfully, the .xml files that define the skins are well-commented, making it extremely easy to make your own skin and customize the look. I like that a lot.
I really like the other modularity that they put into the program too...you can create tags and filter by the tags, you can enter free text custom information for each DVD, zoom the view of your library, etc. I haven't explored every one of the features, but I'm impressed with what I've seen so far.
The program crashed on me once, when I added the 300 HD DVD to my library, so stability might be an issue, but that's not too surprising, as I don't think it is even to version 1.0 yet.
All-in-all, this is a great application with a lot of potential that will only get better as the kinks get worked out.
The comment about their forums being dead may change very quickly if a majority of us start using this to replace DVDSpot.
10-02-08, 09:24 AM
#138
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Im going to stick with the excel format I guess. I left dvdaf for a reason. It would be like going back to an ex-girlfriend.
edit:
well after reading the last few pages it looks like
www.getlibra.com
www.chasingthefrog.com
Are 2 options.
And the winner is?????
edit:
well after reading the last few pages it looks like
www.getlibra.com
www.chasingthefrog.com
Are 2 options.
And the winner is?????
Last edited by Jacoby Ellsbury; 10-02-08 at 09:36 AM.
10-02-08, 11:58 AM
#140
DVD Talk Special Edition
I've had Collectorz for a few years, and I like it a lot. If anyone is looking for a standalone DVD collector database, I highly recommend it. And I can't get enough of that barcode scanner...
10-02-08, 12:09 PM
#142
DVD Talk Special Edition
10-02-08, 02:47 PM
#143
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The Libra program I thought advertised that you could scan the barcodes in, so you wouldn't have to type all that information over and over again, but I tried it and it was too blurry to read my barcode.
10-02-08, 05:09 PM
#145
Member
You can pretty easily overwrite the sort order on dvdaf, just go to one pager mode on a disc, click edit and then type whatever you want into the sort order box. it will alphabetize by whatever you type in there. Throw in the folder management and you can have it set up exactly like your shelves at home.
10-03-08, 07:48 AM
#147
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I used DVD Tracker for a few years until it went away. Was cheap ($10 year I think) and only showed really what I needed....title, price paid, release date and where I purchased. I didn't (and don't need) color photos of the DVD.
Now that DVD Spot is shutting down, I guess I'll have to update my title list with my Microsoft Works Word Processor. At least it is easily to update and printout.
Now that DVD Spot is shutting down, I guess I'll have to update my title list with my Microsoft Works Word Processor. At least it is easily to update and printout.
10-03-08, 10:10 AM
#149
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You can pretty easily overwrite the sort order on dvdaf, just go to one pager mode on a disc, click edit and then type whatever you want into the sort order box. it will alphabetize by whatever you type in there. Throw in the folder management and you can have it set up exactly like your shelves at home.
10-03-08, 11:06 AM
#150
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I have a friend whose bf is working on the code to create a new site very similar to DVD Spot, only with more of the features members wanted to see. It's still under construction, but check out domodvd.com. Not sure when they'll have it up, but, hey, it's something to possibly look forward to, right?