[Comp] Usenet Deals ... read the first post for the best deals currently on!

[Brandon]

I always hear about these newsgroup offers and have always been interested in trying them out... I guess the terminology is all new to me since I currently just use torrents. Can anyone provide a link or even better explain the difference and the specifics?

Also what the following are and why they matter:

XX Day Retention how long the bins you want to download are available after they're posted
XX Connections in my limited usenet experience, i found that 1 connection = about 1-3mbit download speed capacity
US & EU Servers (I'm assuming server location affects the speed?) pretty much what your assumption is
SSL Encryption isp can't see what you're doing with your connection, harder to throttle?

Thanks in advance guys!

^^

[komal]

I used Newsgroupdirect. They had a cheaper deal around Christmas.

They are a highwinds reseller.

They do not compare to Astraweb.

Don't make a 30 page thread.

If you are very cheap, then go for it.

The speeds are good.

The completion is bad.

[GeneralDisaray]

thanks OP, just signed up $6, can't go wrong

[Cas77]

Been witht hese guys @ $7/month for 5-6 months. Decent...worth $6 for sure.

[SP2010]

I always hear about these newsgroup offers and have always been interested in trying them out... I guess the terminology is all new to me since I currently just use torrents. Can anyone provide a link or even better explain the difference and the specifics?

Also what the following are and why they matter:

XX Day Retention
XX Connections
XX Servers (I'm assuming server location affects the speed?)
XX Encryption
XX Completion

Thanks in advance guys!

http://www.slyck.com/story1376.html - gives you a quick run down, some info a little off but you'll get the gist .. retention = how long a file is available, connections = how many dowload pipes/logins per account, usually 8 can max most peoples download speed - that why I am wondering is dual logins would be permitted to share the account, servers = ya, you would use US, encryption = if ssl is available, completion = chances of getting the complete download ...

[slicky803]

So many good deals for usenet providers. Unfortunately, I find it hard to give up easynews.com's web interface. Nobody else has it! Argh!

[teion_acat]

I used Newsgroupdirect. They had a cheaper deal around Christmas.

They are a highwinds reseller.

They do not compare to Astraweb.

Don't make a 30 page thread.

If you are very cheap, then go for it.

The speeds are good.

The completion is bad.

I concur, I tried many and Astraweb still has the best completion, the best retention and the best speeds. I've been using them for about 5 years

[rob187]

The completion is bad.

What do you mean the completion is bad?.. How bad?

Do you frequently have to use par2 to repair?

Is par2 frequently missing too many blocks to fix?

Any more info would be appreciated, I'm really thinking about buying this.

[Brandon]

What do you mean the completion is bad?.. How bad?

Do you frequently have to use par2 to repair?

Is par2 frequently missing too many blocks to fix?

Any more info would be appreciated, I'm really thinking about buying this.

I'm not sure about the $6/month deal I posted since I just signed up yesterday, but I was with LightningUsenet (which is cheaper but lower retention days), and my completion rate was very high. I only see one failed download in the past month, and that NZB didn't complete on UseNetServer (Teksavvy's service) either.

[G77]

As mentioned above - Lightning Usenet http://www.lightningusenet.com/ is about $3 a month (less if you buy more than a month). Signed up yesterday, getting between 2.5 and 3.5 MB/s on my 30Mb pipe, which isn't too bad, but not as fast as astra (get 3.9MB/s). Retention is about 400 days, a bit less than the "up to 450" they quote.

I now have 3 usenet providers - Cogeco which is included free (retention is less than 40 days), Lightning for anything less than 400 days and then a block account with Astra for anything > 400 days.

[Sousanator]

I'm also new to usenets but I already have a premium Fileserve account (which I use with IDM), is there anything this particular usenet can do that I can't do already (besides getting a scene release 30 minutes sooner)?

[kosai19]

I'm also new to usenets but I already have a premium Fileserve account (which I use with IDM), is there anything this particular usenet can do that I can't do already (besides getting a scene release 30 minutes sooner)?

I was also wondering the same thing... I already have a filesonic and hotfile account. I closed down my old $7/month newsdemon acct after signing up from a similar thread like this one. I remember the old days when newsgroups were the #1 source for files, including really rare material you couldn't find anywhere else. The reality is these days that torrents and filehosting sites are king for distribution of files and not newsgroups. Also, I found nearly 1 out of every 3 programs I downloaded from newsgroups to have viruses in them, so the only thing I could really get were video files from the service. $6 is worth it but newsgroups these days aren't really necessary - makes more sense to get a filesonic account as that's the most popular hosting company these days for $55 a year ($4.58 a month) or stick with exclusive torrents that require invites (since the posters are honorable).

[esq05]

Signed up for this a week ago. Under my connections, they seem to be using astraweb. Thought I'd throw that out there.

[brucedlx]

I was also wondering the same thing... I already have a filesonic and hotfile account. I closed down my old $7/month newsdemon acct after signing up from a similar thread like this one. I remember the old days when newsgroups were the #1 source for files, including really rare material you couldn't find anywhere else. The reality is these days that torrents and filehosting sites are king for distribution of files and not newsgroups. Also, I found nearly 1 out of every 3 programs I downloaded from newsgroups to have viruses in them, so the only thing I could really get were video files from the service. $6 is worth it but newsgroups these days aren't really necessary - makes more sense to get a filesonic account as that's the most popular hosting company these days for $55 a year ($4.58 a month) or stick with exclusive torrents that require invites (since the posters are honorable).

The problem with these file hosting sites is that there are too many, and uploaders all use different ones. It's too expensive to buy premium megaupload, rapidshare, filesonic, hotfile, netload, fileserve etc. accounts.

There is mydownloader.net (one account for all of the above) but using it can be a hassle.

Newsgroups ARE still king when it comes to file downloading. They max out your speed and you can find almost everything, and you don't need to upload. TOrrents are REALLY old and ****** news. Haven't used one in years.

[komal]

Signed up for this a week ago. Under my connections, they seem to be using astraweb. Thought I'd throw that out there.

You are completely wrong. Post some info to back up the BS.