Using Binsearch to get the NZB you want

Unlike most of the other NZB indexing sites, many of which have a fee and take the guesswork out of retreiving NZB files, Binsearch.com is totally free but very basic and requires you to understand the newsgroup subject headers. This is totally necessary to weed through incomplete and junk postings to find complete content and eliminate wasted downloads.

Here are 10 great tips for using Binsearch to sucessfully locate the NZB you want for large postings such as movies and TV shows:

1) When searching use all words in the title and enter the year. For best results separate the words with a period instead of spaces followed by the release year as generally this is how the file titles appear in the headers.

2) Stay away from red. Anything in red denotes an incomplete posting or one that requires a password to access the content. It will be used to indicate missing file parts without PAR's to repair or "requires password" which means that you will end up with a password protected RAR file requiring you to visit a link to get the password. You will simply be taken to a site where you need to sign up for one or more products or services before getting the password. I have yet to get a password this way and just end up deleting the files and looking for another NZB. Just skip over any postings like this.

3) Go for the green. Green indicates a completed group of RAR files and any associate files for the group such as .NFO's or already created .NZB's. It will also show the total file size for the grouping so you will know beforehand exactly how much you will be downloading.

4) Look for PAR2's. PAR2 files are the only way to ensure a completed posting and NZB newsreaders such as AltBinz and SABnzbd use them to repair, join and extract the content from the RAR's. Always get your NZB from a group that has PAR2's when possible.

5) Look at the total file size. If you are paying by the download you definitely want to find the smallest complete group you can find. Generally, I have found that anywhere from 750-1000 MB constitutes an average standard definition (SD) movie in Divx format, and an hour long TV show in SD between 300-500 MB. If the total file size for the content is over 1 GB it usually comes in two parts labeled as CD1 and CD2. This is so each part can be burned to a standard CD. HD movies and tv shows have much larger total file sizes and unless you pay your Usenet by flat rate and have a fast download speed or prefer HD, I recommend staying with SD.

6) Identify the file format. If you are looking for Divx format the word "Xvid" will get you an .AVI file in Divx format. "DVDRip" means a full length movie
has been converted to a compressed format like Divx. For any file format you download make sure you have the proper file player and encoder. GOMPlayer is a very good free player that handles most all formats.

7) Identify the audio language. If you are looking for audio in English you want to stay away from any postings where other languages are in the title or elsewhere in the subject header.

8) Read the NFO. The NFO file will give you valuable information such as the language, release date, running time, file format, encoding specs, plot, cast, poster, etc. Always click on the "View NFO" links whenever possible.

9) Download the sample. If it is provided and you are unsure of content and it's specifications, select the post where "sample" is listed in the header. This way you'll get about a one minute preview of the content.

10) Test the file. If a sample is not provided, load the NZB into your newsreader, start the download and pause after the first RAR is downloaded. Open the RAR and look for the file. If you don't see, for example an .AVI file when downloading Divx content, the post is bad. You should delete the file parts and the NZB and head back to Binsearch to find another.