Customer Reviews

Atlantic Maxsteel 3020 432 CD/228 DVD/114 VHS/ 8-Tier Media Rack (Black)

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(47)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

i got the black Atlantic 3020 in the mail yesterday and had it put together in about 10 or 15 minutes. i can fit about 220 dvds on the thing, a huge improvement over having the wobbly stacks taking up a corner of floor in my room.

It looks attractive, with a smooth flat balck finish, and seems very sturdy (especially with the provided wall strap for anchoring). If you use this rack strictly for DVDs, and sit them in horizontal rows, you will only be able to fit 6 tiers (leaving two extra) on the rack.

I already have more DVDs than this unit can occupy so i have this idea. The unit seems more than sturdy enough to hold more tiers, and because of my limited floor space, building this thing up vertically would be necessary. I purchasing another Atlantic 3020, and incorporating the parts into the existing stand to make it about 6 or 7 feet high and hold about 10 or 11 tiers. I'm very confident after seeing the construction and utilizing the wall strap that i can pull this off.

All in all i think this is a great unit and would recommend it to anyone who needs a space-effictent media rack.

At the time of my purchase, the black model was 30 dollars more than the chrome model. I don't quite understand that, but the thing is well worth it either color you choose.

After collecting DVDs for years, my collection quickly rose to the quadruple digits. I've tried the wood shelves (good but often too short and too wide), the spinning shelves (holds a decent amount but takes up too much space) and the wireframe shelves (hold low amounts of discs but saves a lot of space). I figured I'd give this one a try due to the low space it uses (due to its height) and the amount of discs it holds.

A correction to the amazon description: According to the box, it only holds up to 450 DVDs (not the 564 they list)

The first thing that came to mind while assembling this disc was the quote above - "You're only as strong as your weakest link".

You do get a number of metal pieces but the feet feel like a light plastic, as do all of the clips. The 'feet' screw into the bottom of each pole but don't screw in completely (this allows them to spin, but also not feel as strong as they should be).
The clips are 2 plastic pieces that 'click together' onto the pole, and then you slide the metal shelves onto it until it locks in place.

Unfortunately, while it is made out of metal, the pieces don't appear to be the sturdiest. The unit comes with 12 shelves and 3 of mine arrived damaged (one of them had the rear disc-holder (that keeps you from pushes cds/dvds off the back of the shelf) bent completely below the rest of the frame. The other 2 damaged pieces arrived with the holes (that you slide onto the metal poles) bent to the point that you can't even put those shelves onto the unit. If they arrived like this, it leaves me a little worried on just how well it will hold up over the years with many pounds of weight placed on them.

Fully put together, I like the size. It's about 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide. It does seem to lean forward when not filled, so I would highly suggest using the included wall-mount to prevent it from tumbling.

A few disappointments with the design: it has trouble holding non-standard sized cases. This means that while it will hold CD's and DVDs, cases like PSP UMD's will not fit due to the metal wireframe. Fortunately, Blu Ray and HDDVDs do fit.

Also, if you set the shelf size to fit a DVD case, it will just fit a standard sized case (if you try to use one in a cardboard slipcover, the bottom wiring of the shelf above will prevent it from fitting into certain areas (it will still fit on the sides of these areas, but not directly beneath them) - this has caused me to re-arrange some of my movies (taking them out of order) to get them to fit.

Overall, while it isn't the quality I hoped for, if it stays as sturdy as it is (meaning: does not bend further than the way it was when it arrived, and does not collapse) I'll be happy with it.


UPDATE: Sept 2008
After moving the shelves to a new location (where they werent tied to a wall), they came crashing down hard. The shelf comes off balance easily (such as if you bump into it) so be careful not to leave it somewhere that it can cause damage (the combination of height, metal and weight of hundreds of movies falling will do some damage). I still recommend it for the fact that its the tallest DVD shelf with the smallest footprint that I've seen.. just take caution and have it secured.

I bought one of these about two years and loved it. When we ran out of space in it, we priced new ones and ended up buying one from a liquidator on eBay. When it arrived without some of the necessary parts, I called Atlantic to purchase replacement parts. They sent them all free of charge. The product and the customer service are great. I'm definitely buying more products from Atlantic.

First of all, I am going to buy another one, so I don't think it is all that bad. But it is advertised as a rack for DVDs, and it wasn't designed well for that. They give you 5 shelves, but it requires an 8 inch space between shelves to hold the semi-standard single DVD (forget a boxed set, which is taller). The posts that hold the shelves are 29 inches long. Let's see...29 divided by 8 per shelf???? Even if you leave the top shelf at the very top of the posts, you end up with 3 tight shelves, 1 on the top that provides no support, and one shelf of 4 inches in height. No problem, you can just lay your remaining DVDs down, right? Nope, they figured that out in advance and made the damn thing a quarter of an in too narrow to allow three stacks. (That's okay, if you lay them down they just fall out the back anyway.(
Still for the price it will hold a lot of DVDs, I'll just have to order another to hold the rest. A couple of tips: The shelves are supported by little plastic clips that the corner of the shelf slips over. If you snap both halves together, they will not slide up and down, even without a shelf on them. The trick is to snap the first half onto the post, and then slide it up or down until you feel/hear the little "click", which means it has found the groove in the post. Then it is easy to snap the other half on at the same height, because they interlock. It will still be fun forcing the shelf down on all four corners to the same height, but then, it's flexible enough not to be an issue. Second, the little wire supports that are meant to keep things from falling over are virtually worthless if you have the shelf fairly full. Save them for the ends of that top shelf that is hanging out in space, to keep the discs on that shelf from toppling off the side of the shelf.

Putting the shelves together was relatively easy. After I had put it together, I changed my mind on the vertical spacing I wanted between shelves. It was easy to change the heights of the shelves.

These shelves are advertised for holding DVDs and CDs. I use it for holding DVDs and VHS tapes (yes I still have some).

I give this rack system five stars because of the ease of set up, ease of changing shelf heights, and the quantity of DVDs that it can hold, and the price. I am sure you can find better (sturdier) shelving, but at what cost?

I have not yet used the straps that come with the rack for anchoring the shelves to the wall. The foot pieces can be adjusted. I adjusted the front legs to be a bit taller than the back legs so that the rack naturally wants to tip back into the wall. If you are worried about a small child trying to climb up the shelves, you should use the wall straps.

If/when I fill this DVD rack and need more storage space, I will buy another one of this brand and size of rack.

Length:: 4:43 Mins

This is a video of me putting together this shelf - it took about 10 minutes in real time.

It's easy to put together and the shelves can be adjusted to your own preference.

This rack is a substantial chunk of metal (~40 lb). It is quite strong and quite tall. I have a different rack for holding up a 36" tv that uses the same construction and assembly. This medai rack can definitely hold the weight of 800+ CD's and I will definitely buy a couple more to hold my collection. It looks nice and the little dividers are quite handy. Now to find 100" of continuous wall space in my theater room....

A word of warning though, with the full weight of 800+ cd's, you will definitely want to make sure that you anchor this rack to the wall or at the very least use the adjustable feet to angle the rack to where the back poles touch the wall at the top. This will help ensure that it doesn't fall over as it is quite narrow in depth.

Also, because of it's height and weight when fully populated, this media rack can wobble a bit from side to side (racking) which is true of any such similar storage system. Anchoring helps this as well.

Update April 2010:
I now have 5 of these racks to house my 4000 cd collection. These racks are quite versatile and have worked very well for me over the years. Since I have 5 racks, I set them up side by side to give the overall system better rigidity. Because of the extreme weight of 800 cds, you do need to anchor them and adjust the height of the feet so that the rack tips backwards and rests on the wall. Use a little common sense when filling the racks with cd's, 800 of them weight an awful lot (over 100 lbs in my case) so use a little physics and you'll be served well.

And for those that complained about the plastic feet, there is a solution to that as well. Just go to a hardware store or a big box store and get a different style of foot. Heck, if you've got extra knob style drawer pulls lying around, you can use them too.

It's exactly what I needed... it holds the most dvds while still being a small enough size that it doesn't overwhelm everything else in the room. Very easy to put together. The only downside to me is that if you don't intend to keep cds on it, you have one unusable shelf, or one extra shelf. The way it goes together, you can't make all 8 shelves hold dvds... it's just slightly not tall enough to do that. But if you intend to keep cds on it as well, it could be perfect for you!

A reviewer mentioned only being able to get Six of the Eight shelves in when storing DVDs. I was actually able to manage Seven with a tight fit, though I'm downgrading to Six to keep my boxes in shape.

Another review mentioned how flimsy the shelving was. It can be... or it could be considered 'adjustable.' My wood floors are uneven. The wide feet pivot slightly, and have long screws to accommodate uneven surfaces.

Now, my own thoughts: I've bought wooden DVD storage units that claim to have Six shelves, but Two of the levels had to be laying down, and the unit was flimsy. With this unit, you have Six shelves of DVD's with a little room to spare. the unit comes with dividers, or side guards, whichever you decide. It is sturdy yet adjustable, easy to put together and disassemble, the shelves have a half inch 'guard rail' on sides and back to prevent spills. The shelves are adjustable at half inch intervals.

I really can't say anything bad about this system. I've bought Three different DVD storage systems, thrown away one, and upgraded from the other. This one FINALLY does what I need it to; it stands up all my DVDs for easy access and holds them ALL. :)

The items ordered arrived very quickly. In fact, I wasn't ready for them when they arrived so it took me a couple of weeks to open the boxes. The quality of the items was good - there was a bit of rust on the ends of the bars from either condensation or water, but they cleaned up good. The shelving was easy to put together and looks really great. I can't wait to start organizing my media!