Zamtuk wrote:
No, its certainly not the price. It has just been a few years (like 3) since I last used it, and when I noticed the different price structure, I figured that it was either worth it, or that there was something better out there that I don't know about. I also wanted to know the alternatives so I can get a better deal/longer contract with giganews.
Ah ok, well I suppose it depends on your usage. The main alternatives are Rapidshare type services )of which there are a bunch), and Torrents.
Torrents
-much slower
-seeder dependant
-pretty useless for older stuff
-torrent sites dropping like flies for legal reasons
I use torrents only for that rare piece of software or specialized multimedia I can't find on the newsgroups. It has it's place but certainly not as a primary source.
Rapidshare (direct download) type services.
-Must subscribe if want any substantial amount of data
-there are so many direct download services now that it's likely you're files will be on another service, thus increasing your monthy subscription or forcing you to pay for a month to get one particular file.
- around a 2GB file limit even if subscribed on main services like Rapidshare, making it completely useless for any larger file needs.
-files constantly being removed per legal violations and by request of the owner with copyrights.
I use direct download for iphone apps (a few MB in size) and other small releases when only one file is needed, so you don't need to subscribe and aren't hit with the 30 minute waiting game. On the rare occasion, I've subscribed to rapidshare, or another services, when I find a rare, sizable, collection of files I want and only can find them on the direct download service, but again, never as a primary source.
Giganews with Newsleecher/Supersearch is so incredibly efficient and easy, I can't see an alternative that's better. Supersearch is what makes this work. You could use the $3/month supersearch service combined with a different usenet provider and this is when money comes into play. Giganews is the best, most retention, most reliable, service. To my knowledge, there isn't a better newsgroup service out there, only possibly a cheaper service that would satisfy your needs if you are completely a mainstream user and are just looking for the "release of the week".
Even if you don't feel you need the unlimited 24/month (or 29.month ssl secured) service, Giganews is still the way to go as you can easily add more GB by resubscribing right when you hit your GB limit, for another month starting at that date so you're covered no matter what....for example...you have monthly 12.99/35GB service that started on the 1st of the month....you use up your 35GB by the 20th, you simply pay your 12.99/35GB on the 20th, and giganews sets your new 12.99/35 monthly charge to the 20th of each month...pretty damn easy and all you're doing is moving your monthly 30 day window.
There's no reason to not go with Giganews/Newsleecher/Supersearch except for financial reasons or if you are a light user and don't mind taking your valuable time (you are slowly dying with every breath you take) to find files you wish to see.
Giganews isn't some secondary seller. They have their shit together.
From Giganews directly:
12 Reasons to Use Giganews Usenet Newsgroups
Giganews newsgroups provide the fastest, most reliable Usenet experience on the planet. Our news servers offer the highest quality newsgroup retention and completeness available. Keep reading to find out why.
1. Reliability
At Giganews we know that, to you, reliability actually means usability. This is why we've always offered you excellent completion, the world's longest binary and text retention, and congestion free systems — all supporting a service which practically never goes down!
2. Retention
With the world's longest newsgroup binary retention of 584 days and text retention of 2456 days, you'll get all the articles you're looking for without having to camp out in your favorite groups.
3. Speed
With multiple gigabit-plus backbones running at a fraction of capacity, Giganews gives you all the speed you'll need to enjoy your favorite newsgroups. Our extensive network of private connections to Internet Service Providers allows many of our members to connect with super low latency and minimum hops. Use our speed tester to see for yourself.
4. Completion & Propagation
As the world's largest Tier 1 Usenet provider, Giganews is the source for more Usenet articles than any other server on Earth. Combine this with our extensive network of Usenet peers and you start to see why Giganews is the only newsgroup server able to truly offer greater than 99% completion. This extensive network of Usenet peering relationships is also what allows us to push your posts out to Usenet servers around the world.
5. Uncensored Newsgroups
Giganews provides access to over 109,000 uncensored newsgroups. You'll be able to find all the information you're looking for without having to worry about missing articles in your favorite groups.
6. Experience & Expertise
Giganews' reliability and high service levels are byproducts of our years of experience developing and managing large scale commercial Usenet servers. With hundreds of Terabytes of storage, thousands of megabits per second, and millions of users around the world creating challenges on a daily basis, you have to have the history and know-how to keep things running smoothly. It's this experience and expertise which allows Giganews to sustain our high service levels when other providers are scrambling to correct problems from the "weekend rush”. Giganews gives you a service backed by the world's most advanced team of Usenet professionals working around the clock to make sure we're there when you need us.
7. Support
Giganews provides 24/7 e-mail support on all accounts. Our Usenet professionals will respond the same day; however, most tickets are answered within minutes. If you're having trouble with your Giganews account rest assured that someone is available to help you figure out the problem so that you may continue to enjoy Usenet.
8. Value
The value of Giganews' service is in our reliability, high completion rates, and our expansive retention times. Other providers come and go with unlimited accounts and good retention, but in the end it always comes out to more of the same: downtime, missing articles, and a congested Usenet system. Giganews virtually never has these problems. Our members don't complain about dropped connections, congestion, or missing articles. Giganews' members are able to utilize Usenet and go on with their lives. Of course you can always hack your way through bad service to save a few dollars, but ultimately the money you save is negated by the time you spend to save it. Giganews gives you a service which is always there, always high quality, and always exceeds your expectations.
9. Privacy
Giganews respects your privacy, which is why we will never share your information with outside parties or track your downloads unless required by law.
10. Security
Help protect yourself from identity theft, secure your username and password, and work around artificial bandwidth restrictions with Giganews' optional 256-bit SSL Encrypted Usenet™ package
11. Spam
Over the years Giganews has been an industry leader in stamping out spam on Usenet. In combination with our active monitoring of spam sources on Usenet, Giganews has a cutting edge spam filtration system designed to keep unwanted articles out of your favorite groups.
12. Flexibility
No one service is right for everyone, so at Giganews we offer you multiple options to fit your needs. You'll also get the ability to control and monitor your service through our advanced web based Control Panel.