Need advice from expert Newzbin users...

[jbloggs]

What I want to know is how are you making the most of Newzbin site, how are you leveraging their features?

Issue right off the bat I see is that when doing a search, it will just list the name (or description containing part of the name being searched) and you have to click into it to find out if its DVD, DVDrip, x264, etc and who the ripper is or the release group tags. I find that very tedious. What I would find help is if the listing was like on other sites like Nzbmatrix or nzbsrus, where the description has everything in it, e.g. MyMovie (2009) Xvid RIPPER.

So I'm thinking that it must be me not knowing how to effectively use the site.

Advice appreciated.

[c0ld]

You can't filter by scene group unless you search in condensed mode, but the rest of it is dealt with by attributes in report mode. Just select what you need here (http://www.newzbin.com/search/?fpn=p), and save the search for later.

[jbloggs]

Thanks.

ok, for me its not really good, I prefer to see exactly what it is at glance and NZBMatrix fits that bill.

[c0ld]

Hmm, content wise, the results would all be the same if you search specifically enough. If you need to quickly see the release group and other details, just mouseover the last icon in the row on the left of each result.

It would be a useful feature to be able to search for a report with both X in the report name and/or Y in the header name. Atm, you can only search for a string in the header with a raw/condensed file search.

Still, you can also specify the usenet poster if that helps narrow down the results.

[Beck38]

How Newzbin is run (or, conversely, not run) has morphed slowly over the years.

There is/used to be, a pretty detailed 'how to' manual that the human 'editors' used to try and keep things 'standardized'.... that has really gone the way of the dodo in recent years.

I, along with many others, simply gave up trying to maintain some kind of standard(s). In their quest to index everything/everywhere, instead of going more the automated route (like many other indexing sites), they relied completely on humans.. and we all know how good those creatures are at maintaining any kind of discipline!

I've found that just about the best site out there today IS nzbmatrix, tons and tons of stuff newzbin 'misses' is there; whether how much of that is due to newzbin letting the 'tail wag the dog' re: their continued legal problems, is unknown. But they do 'take things down' upon 'request'.

The bottom line is, one has to do 'due diligence' in searching for things one wants, in the format or 'style' one needs. I always look at the actual commercial disc first (DVDEmpire or Amazon or sometimes some fan site) to see what the basic specs are (HD, audio types, any commentary, etc.), and then go a-searching for something that comes closest to what I want.

It's a lot of (manual) work. Certain groups/persons who 'do it right' (by my calculation) gets top honors in my book. So I have canned 'searches' on their particular headers on the search and listing sites.

So, before I start d/l'ing something, I do a quick search for anything 'better', and then commit to the x-hours.

Again, would be nice if it were more 'automated', but folks either won't put decent information in an 'nfo' (if they have one at all to begin with), and then that info would need to be automated somehow, or rely on those humans. Your best bet is still, rely on that computer between your ears.

[c0ld]

I've found that just about the best site out there today IS nzbmatrix, tons and tons of stuff newzbin 'misses' is thereThat's often mentioned on this site. Never seen it myself. Some examples would be nice.

eta; In fact, here's a simple test, in an area I know best; CBTs.

Total training
nzbmatrix: 10 results
newzbin: 21

Lynda.com
nzbmatrix: 90 (ish?) difficult to tell because you have to count them manually.
newzbin: 96

VTC
nzbmatrix: mixed results when searching in 'everything'. There's no specific category for CBTs, so you have to add up results from all the badly matched categories: ebooks: 6, Apps: 23, total: 27
newzbin: 54

Train Signal/Trainsignal
nzbmatrix: 7
newzbin: 47

This is all despite the fact nzbmatrix has double the retention of newzbin.

[Rart]

Well for starters anything outside newzbins 240 day retention. (Which is a lot considering many provides now have 550+ days retention)

[c0ld]

Well for starters anything outside newzbins 240 day retention. (Which is a lot considering many provides now have 550+ days retention)
Yes, see my edit. Even with the half the retention, newzbin still fairs well. I just did a count up of the R5s on each.
newzbin: 480
nzbmatriz: 600ish (again, no exact figure given)

So, 480/238 days = 1.7 R5s a day on Newzbin
and, 600/568 = 1.05 R5s a day on Nzbmatrix

What good is having such a long retention if you miss half the posts?

eta; Blurays:
newzbin: 1164
nzbmatrix: 857

Divx/xvid TV:
newzbin: 58,037 xvid, 865 divx
nzbmatrix: 30,249 combined

DVDs:
newzbin: 17,430
nzbmatrix: 20,572
(still a higher post per day count for newzbin though)

[Rart]

What good is having more posts per day when I search for a single episode and get 10 exact copies, each in the exact format?

[c0ld]

There'll be more than one copy of an ep on nzbmatrix too, it's not really a con.

Then again, you can't do this on nzbmatrix;
http://v3.newzbin.com/search/?searchaction=Search&fpn=p&group=alt.binaries.teevee&category=8&u_nfo_posts_only=0&u_url_posts_only=0&u_comment_posts_only=0&u_show_passworded=0&a_name=teevee%404u.tv+%28teevee%29+&u_v3_retention=0&ps_rb_source=256&ps_rb_video_format=131072&ps_rb_language=4096&sort=ps_edit_date&order=desc&u_post_results_amt=400

[Rart]

I'll admit that some users may want the flexibility, but it renders the post/day argument a little more irrelevant.

[c0ld]

Well, they both have copies, but I suppose the true measures are speed of reporting and 'unique files'. Difficult to compare.

eta; quick comparision of report times, with s6 of lost;

Lost S06E06 HDTV XviD 2HD
nzbmatrix: 00:07:10
newzbin: 14 minutes
Lost S06E05 HDTV XviD XII
nzbmatrix: 00:07:09
newzbin: 8 minutes
Lost S06E04 HDTV XviD P0W4
nzbmatrix: 00:07:31
newzbin: 26 minutes
Lost S06E03 HDTV XviD 2HD
nzbmatrix: 00:06:46
newzbin: 14 minutes
Lost S06E02 USELESS INTERNAL HDTV XviD
nzbmatrix: 00:07:50
newzbin: 14 minutes
Lost S06E01 E02 HDTV XviD 2HD
nzbmatrix: 00:07:41
newzbin: 11 minutes
Lost S06E01 HDTV XviD P0W4
nzbmatrix: 00:08:05
newzbin: 13 minutes

There's some kind of bug with nzbmatrix dates in gmt, but accounting for that nzbmatrix is a consistent 8 minutes. Almost definitely a bot.