After using usenet intermittently for the past 11 years and bittorrent since the suprnova days, here are my thoughts:
Comfort: Newsgroups win, without discussion. You add the .NZB (usenet "equivalent" to the .torrent file), files get downloaded, unrar'd, the ISO moved to the chosen destination on the HDD to the category you set, and then the RAR's are deleted (of course all this is customizable). You can shutdown the computer and go sleep. What you save on the power bill by not having the PC on 24/7 is almost enough to pay for a monthly subscription, I would dare say.
Speed: Newsgroups win. You always max out your connection speed, no matter the age of the file. Old torrents are usually extremely slow, as they are seeded by home connections.
Contents: You can't compare the usenet to a single tracker, but to the cloud. There's no clear winner, if you compare usenet to sites like TPB or demonoid for example. You can't compare it to any private tracker, as they all get squashed. I'll get to the "niche" trackers later.
Searching the contents: There are several automatic and manual indexers (FST is one of them). Also, there are several bt trackers. The difference is you would need quite a lot of memberships on sites to even close to what a NZB indexer can find. It's a clear win for Newsgroups too. Automated indexing sites like NZBIndex.nl or even Newsleecher's integrated SuperSearch blow away any competition. If you got used to the manual indexing, like you see on any tracker, then you'll find FST's NZB section very lookalike.
Cost-effectiveness: I have already mentioned that you don't have to keep your PC turned on 24/7 seeding 365 days per year. You can shut it down any time you want and still get the files when you wish without ratio worries.
Additionally, many people resort to seedboxes to keep their ratios up and build a "buffer". Once you start using newsgroups, and if you ever paid for a seedbox before, you will shake your head in disbelief when you think of the wasted money. The cost of a decent seedbox is enough to let you pay for newsgroups for one entire year. Add to this the power saving, the hassle saving, and do your math. So, saying bittorrent is free and usenet is not, is a false statement. Obviously, BT is populated with kids who live with their parents who cough up the cash for the bills, so they will always argue this point.
Community: What is a community? FST surely is one, xtremesystems is another, etc. In the end of the day, if you are a guy with too much free time, you will see you won't have to participate in some communities you otherwise wouldn't bother to, unless you are expecting some kind of reconnaissance to get you invited to other places. This saves you a lot of time you can spend on other tasks, like banging your wife / girlfriend. Newsgroups is about getting your files and few technical related discussions. Bittorrent is about the drama. So, BT wins on entertainment value, to the day you get bored.
In my personal opinion, for a perfect downloading experience you would use usenet for nearly everything, a couple of niche trackers (BCG, what.cd and a few elearning sites) and places like warez-bb or even emule for very rare contents.
PS: Oh, did I say you don't have to deal with kids who masturbate each other because they "staff" at some site? And who behave like heroes because they can ban you and even tell their buttbuddies to ban you too? Expecting it makes any difference because all summed up you can get the same content at a dozen other places.
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Originally Posted by whatcdfan
I didn't even know there was so much stuff available for download.
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