New to usenet, recommendations?

[Samfau2]

Hi all, i've recently discovered newsgroups after wanting an alternative to torrents (which i am trying to stop using for various reasons).

At the moment im on a free trial from giganews. Still haven't quite got to grips with everything, but my first download was a game ISO that i just got an NZB for.

Im very impressed with the speeds i managed to get a 4gb game in just over and hour, not terribly impressed with the giganews price though. Can anyone suggest a cheaper news server? I dont nee SSL and 10 connections is plenty (i think), not sure i need unlimited quite yet, 25gb or so should do me for now.

Also, im using grabIt which is ok, however are there any other free clients that anyone can recommend?

As i said im still not completely up to scratch on everything usenet, so id like to ask what is the best method for downloading games, both new releases and some slightly older games. Are NZBs the best way to go? Any good websites to get them from? Or is there another way i am missing.

Any info/advice would be really useful as at the moment im pretty much a newsgroup noob. :) Thanks

[tesco]

imo nzb files are the best way to go.
At least until you learn how newsgroups work they are a much easier way to get started.
Not sure about the free clients but I like newsleecher the best (gotta pay). I use supersearch though so that's probably why I like it the best. :P

Check out our nzb section: http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/nzbindex.php
Another good place to get nzbs is binsearch.info or newzleech.com.

You'll also want to read the guide to using PARs: http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/f-newsgroups-79/t-repairing-rars-par2-and-quickpar-132644/?
They're for repairing rars which are corrupted (which happens on newsgroups sometimes).

[Samfau2]

Cheers for your reply, may i ask which usenet provider you use? I've been looking at newsdemon, 20gb plus 10gb extra each month, 20 connections for under £5 with the 20% off coupon also on this forum. Sound alright? the retention is not quite as long as giganews, should 110 days be sufficient?

[Funkin']

I think Astraweb is the best deal. Retention is 155+days(increasing all the time), and is only $39 every three months. Check out their site. Plus there was a coupon code floating around here that got you the subscription for eleven a month instead of thirteen. Either way though, it's cheap.

As for a good, free, news client, I personally think Alt.Binz is the best. It can't download headers, but since you're wanting NZB's instead, then you don't need headers.

There was a thread a page or two back with a bunch of NZB sites posted. I would check there.

[John_bones]

Usenetserver are pretty good but lacking on retention @ 101 days. Apparently increasing soon. Maxes out my 8mb connection and offers SSL and multiple ports. Can be handy if your ISP shapes particular ports and obviously covers up what your downloading. They also have a search engine which has groups some of the free searches don't seem to be covering yet. Less than half the price of Giganews. Only ever regretted not having a greater retention a couple of times.

[EyeBaller]

Check out this thread (http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/f-newsgroups-79/t-which-usenet-provider-303294) for more on peoples opinions on which usenet service to use..

Like Funkin' I also recommend Astraweb as the best value for money. This is the link to the $11 a month special for life.. http://www.news.astraweb.com/specials/kleverig-11.html

[Samfau2]

Thanks for the replies all, i kind of forgot about this thread but just saw it in my bookmarks. I checked astraweb out and it looks great, i definately think ill try it they do some great deals. Thanks again :)

[heaveyhaul]

I have been using astra for a while now with newsleecher d/l off nzb while using a free trial, all works great and astra speacial of 110gb for $25 works fine for me

[wasasaw]

i have been using usenext for about a year and a half and have been really happy with it. the only problem i have with it is that it is mainly a earopean usenet provider and im in america, so i get the occasional slow down. i have done the free trials of a couple other providers and nothing has been as easy/simple to use as usenext.

[salaami]

hi guys.. new on this forum and i'l like to say as new to usenet.. its something that ive been considering for almost a year now since i belong to an isp that is more and more getting banned or multiple bittorrent sites... it gets even more disappointing when you spend all that time maintaining ratios when it boils down to nothing..

ive check out the astraweb and somehow the prices seem too good to be true.. i'd like to call myself the avid movie/series buff , casual music listener & gamer.. since my choice was so varied... i thot bittorrent was the way to go as i'd have to move along different newsgroups to satisfy my diverse tastes.. i dunno if i cud be wrong..
i'd like to hear from other ppl who may access different kinds of files.. the best client , someone mentioned alt.binz up there.. for a n00b like me.. and what the ultimate differences would be between bittorrent & usenet in terms of usability and availability..

[mcorleone]

alt.binz is what i use and it's quite good for my needs. i think some of the paid clients have a supersearch feature that searches multiple nzb indexing sites. i usually only use newzleech anyway, and this search is built into alt.binz.

as far as usenet vs. torrents, that is a harder question to answer.

i'm finding that most movies are available via bittorrent before they are availalbe via usenet (or at least I can't find them on usenet) nowadays. for example, there are several movie releases i want to download now but haven't been able to locate them via usenet. they've been available on bittoreent for 2-3 days now. however, files don't always stay active for a long time on the bittorrent network. with usenet, the files should be available anywhere from 100-200 days (depending on your provider).

overall, i prefer not to use bittorrent because you have to share, and are thus distributing pirated content. i'd rather play it safe and avoid the possibility of receiving a letter from the MPAA or a heavy fine.

finally, another alternative to usenet is rapidshare. it's only about $7/month (1 year subscription), and if you know where to look, you can find a lot of HD movies posted on rapidshare before usenet too. i'm not sure how long the files on rapidshare typically stay active. they could theoretically remain active forever, but it is up to the discretion of the uploader.

in summary, bittorrent should have almost everything you need, but it is the riskiest to use and there may not be any seeds for older files. a combo of usenet, bittorrent and rapidshare would be comprehensive.

[EyeBaller]

i'm finding that most movies are available via bittorrent before they are availalbe via usenet (or at least I can't find them on usenet) nowadays.

Make sure you search by filenames not by release names. you'll find most major releases are on usenet within minutes. And you have to realize the indexing sites lag a little too.. but I don't have any problem finding any major release usually within 30mins or so of pre.

[mcorleone]

that is not the problem. i run several different searches trying to find these files.

seems that a.b.hdtv.x264 is way behind nowadays. they are not uploading many of the new releases or are taking extremely long to do so. hoping that they will make a comeback, but for the time being, rapidshare has a lot more of the new HD releases than usenet. :(

[AppleMonger]

If you want another suggestion for service providers, I would suggest NGroups. (http://ngroups.net) I have been using them since October and they're great. It has 100 day retention (which isn't the best, but it's still pretty good), allow up to 12 connection, and offers SSL encryption. Best of all, unlimited accounts are only $15/month (unless you find a special, where there are some right now). As for speeds, it's really fast. Downloading to a seedbox with a 100Mbit connection, I'd max it out while only using ~1/2 of the total connections. Granted, at times, it seems like my speed gets reduce a bit. But overall, it's a great deal.

[P.S. -- They allow paypal :D]