We really should put this into perspective. If you have a coin or stamp collection, do you spend or use the items in your collection.
Same thing with DVDs except you do intend to use them
Austin

I buy DVD's in order to own a collection of films and television series which I have an interest in watching. Ownership means I can watch what I want at anytime. Owning large numbers of DVD's means that I have a wide range of choices. It does not matter whether all get watched or watched only once. I am building a library. Having said that, I keep current with my purchases and only have 21 unwatched items at present, three of which are television series.

Hmmm, that begs the question, "Why buy discs in the first place?"

If you have the luxury of watching the films you buy as soon as you get them, then it makes sense to rent. But for those of us who are too busy to watch discs the moment they arrive, buying makes sense. The convenience of having the disc available when we DO have the time is worth the additional cost of purchasing over renting.

People are looking at backlogs as a bad thing. IMO, they're good! As long as discs are being viewed (and simply not being stockedpiled) a backlog is healthy and actually helps JUSTIFY having a collection in the first place.

For those people who say they have watched all of the discs they bought, if they feel like watching a movie tonight, they either have to go out and buy/rent a disc. (or watch one that they've already seen at least twice, unless it was a blind-buy).

Having a portion of your collection that is unwatched, is not something to be embarrassed or ashamed of... embrace it! Enjoy it! It is one of the beautiful things about having a collection!

You make a good point about backlogs. I personally don't have one but I would if I bought everything I wanted as soon as it came out. But some of us really do like to watch the same thing over and over...and over again. Hell 85% of the stuff I buy I've already seen. I try to not blind-buy a disc or buy a disc I only plan to watch once or twice because it doesn't justify the price to me. I just Netflix those titles. What I do buy however I have every intention of watching dozens of times.

More power to those of you who have the exposable income to have a bunch of unwatched movies. It really makes sense to have a fresh dvd to watch at any given time (even more sense if you are trying to build a movie library). I think if I didn't use Netflix I would keep small backlog myself.

I buy something and i watch it, pretty simple. I don't understand why people would still buy so many discs when they have hundreds unwatched.

I'm in the same boat with a lot of the TV on DVD folk. I wasn't that much behind until TV sets started coming out faster. I own a lot of TV on DVD (all the Treks, Angel, Buffy, SG-1, Farscape, etc.) and find myself always catching up on those. I haven't bought Buffy s5,6 yet since I'm still waiting to watch s4. I've been too busy watching so many other shows. It usually takes a bit longer to get through them since I watch a couple of shows at once. Instead of just watching Freaks and Geeks only, I'll mix those up over a week (or 2 or 3) with SG-1 and Voyager. That way, I'm watching various things, but not getting bogged down in just one series. I like the variety.

That's caused me to fall behind on some movies, but I'm not as far behind as I was last fall. I probably have around 10 or so that I haven't watched (movies) since I purchased the DVDs. The unfortunate thing (only in the realm of playing catch up) is that there are more box sets coming. Damn you DVDs!!! Heh, heh, heh....

I decided to force myself to start watching some of my unwatched ones so Im now down to just 4 (A Beautiful Mind, Schindlers List, 12 Monkeys and Once upon a time in America)

The way I look at it, when ive seen the last 4 I can start buying some new one. Now thats a good incentive

I think you should re-read this thread again. There have been many many reasons why people (including myself) have so many unwatched DVD's.

Personally, I like get the best price I can for DVD's. 95% of the time this means pre-ordering on-line. If I waited, I would end up having to buy at a B&M or waiting a week for the DVD I want to watch to get here (and paying a hell of a lot more for it).

Also, since I have so many unwatched DVD's. I never have to worry about not finding something to watch. Do I wish I have watched more of my DVD's? Yes? Do I wish I have watched all of my DVD's? No.

i'm almost caught up, i have the jack ryan movies to watch, castle in the sky, and maybe one or two more.

I have about 5 I have not watched, and I only have 50 or so DVDs (I got rid of over 10+ dvds last month). I hardly buy any DVDs these days because I find most of them unsatisfying and ultimately want to sell or trade it back for a few bucks. It just isn't worth it.

Because I buy what I like to watch repeatedly, films that I enjoy. I have never rented either tapes or discs and I never will.

Well I only own about 59 DVDs so far. Some are television shows. That is all I have been collection over about 5 or 6 months is television shows. As for if I have seen all of them.. I just finished watched
Angel - Season 1 (bought it blind)
Dark Angel - Season 1 (bought it blind)
24 - Season 1 (bought it blind)
So I have finished and am cauht up on all my television shows for the time being. I just ordered 24 - Season 2 and I haven't seen it yet. I am caught up on my shows for now but when 24 gets in the mail, I'll have to watch it. As for movies in my collection I only have a couple in my collection I haven't watched it. So right now I am caught up on most of what I have bought but if you were to ask the question differently if I am caught up on my DVD shopping.. then That is a new topic all together.

A word of advice, open your dvd's when you buy them.
It took me about 5 - 6 months to get to watch one of the Simpson's seasons. When I opened it, it was missing a disc. I had to beg and plead with BestBuy that I just opened it. I had my receipt and the wrapper. Eventually they let me exchange it.

BTW, I'm way behind too. Buying all three boxed sets of James Bond killed me. 137 (at least some of them were gifts).

My question was in the context of people who immediately watch the stuff they buy and don't have a backlog of unwatched discs. I have a decent sized collection myself and virtually never rent so I know the benefits of purchasing vs. renting.

You can never be 100% positive when a disc is going to arrive (if you order it online), or when you receive it from Columbia House. So I find it strange that people can receive a disc and watch it that day or the next.

If your daily schedule is so flexible that you can alter it with little or no "lead time" to watch a disc that just arrived, then it seems like there is less of a benefit to having a collection than those of us with a backlog.

The more I think about it, the more I'm of the opinion that it is MORE bizarre to NOT have a backlog!

99% is good enough for me. where I order from, imports and domestics, they arrive on time...the day after I order them...except for that 1% that may get sidetracked in the mail system. I use express/overnight and track every order I place.

since I buy around 10 a week...it's not difficult to cover them all in a 7 day stretch. an order arrives twice every week....usually Tuesdays and Fridays. just because I have no "un-viddied" dvds at this moment....does not mean that I dont have some as my new additions are in their own little stack....at least for the week. I also always have time and room on the schedule for rotating my older titles on a regular basis. I do have it lucky though. owning a company allows me to make my own schedule and if I feel like just letting my employees break their backs without me....so be it. God knows they are paid well enough.

Completely off topic . . . gut, this is the first time ever that I've looked down at your sig and actually recognized most of the titles in your "most recent additions" list.

Someday, somebody is going to figure out a way to pull off a subscription based service that uses video on demand that will render collecting obsolete.

Imagine having instant access to 25,000 movies (and television series) instead of the dozen or so ppv channels most cable providers have now, all in (most likely) High Definition video and digital sound, all for a reasonable monthly fee.

It's a long way out. Lots of hurdles in the way. Image and sound quality are currently hindered by bandwidth limitations. The legal problems in determining how the studios get paid from that monthly fee. Not to mention resistance from a culture that has been hooked on collecting hard copies of music and movies for many years. Someday it's gonna happen though. Personally, I think it would be kick ass. I'd probably never buy another disk if I truly had instant access to anything I wanted to watch without compromising image and sound quality. I like to own things too but if this became a reality, what would be the point in owning?

Personally, I find that idea a little disconserting. I like my collection . . . it's got an imprint on my personality that having access to "all" movies doesn't exhibit.

That's what I mean. I think a lot of people would resist it in the beginning. There are indications that this will happen eventually though. It's potentially a huge revenue generator for the studios and the cable/sat companies even at a flat fee. Consider the amount of households that have cable/sat service. Then consider the amount that would happily pay an extra monthly fee for the ultimate movie collection (my guess is, that's a huge number). Dividing the royalties up would be tricky but I'm sure it could be done. The technology is the main thing preventing it from taking place but that will change in time.

No matter how vast your collection gets, very few people could match something like that. This is all probably 10-15 years away at least though. Just an interesting thought to ponder.

There's been talk of game services like this for a couple years now in Japan. They want to do away with hard copies of games. You'd just pay a fee and play the game that's streamed to your gaming system via broadband. There's one in the works for the states too I think. Called The Phantom or something. I think it's way too soon for something like that to be successful but if they're already working on it, they'll get it right sooner or later.

what I don't understand is why every time a thread like this comes up there's always someone who says "hey, i don't smoke or drink or do drugs so it's cool!" what the **** does that have to do with anything?!??!?!?! My usual first thought to such comments is that you should really go have a drink and lighten up a little....

on topic - after creeping back up into the 30s of unwatched titles again, i've wittled it back down to 10 or 11 in the last month or two....i've been sick as hell and watched probably 12 movies in the last 3 days though....which helps - as does the fact that i've been broke and just can't afford any new purchases right now.....so it goes.....