Are you searching for for new albums by your favourite band or artist manually? Why??
There is a much better sollution! It's called Headphones and is a cross platform application that will run on Linux, Windows and Mac.
Headphones is a dream come true for music freaks with a usenet account. Basically, with this application you enter your favourite artists and bands into Headphones and the application will then search you harddrive for what you got and after that it will search Usenet to see if there are more. If it finds more it will download NZB files and uppdate your collection.
Several NZB providers are supported and Newznab is fully supported, so you can add your nzb7.com API and off you go :)
Headphones will work in the background checking Usenet at time intervals for new releases of the bands and artist you want. If something new is released that is not currently allready on your harddrive it will download.
Headphones is smart and if it finds more than one result it will check by quality (bitrate) and size and download the best version. It can also autmatically get album covers and add metadata.
Best of all, this amazing piece of software is completely free!
Giganews
They are the most expensive provider around. Does that make 'em the best? Well, if you asked that a few years ago the answer would have been Yes. But today the answer is NO. They don't offer more than their competitors.
Easynews
First thing you notice about Easynews is that they are basicaly a web client. With other providers you need to use a usenet client. With Easynews its all there in your browser. It's a bit expensive. So if you need the web interface i guess thats what your paying for.
UsenetServer (UNS)
The last years UNS have built a very nice group customers. And why is that? Well, they just give you exactly what you want. A very stable service. The best speed and retention,, super 24/7 support, the right feature and the best price. You can't beat that really. Recommended!
Eweka
Bad speed, alot of downtime. OK price, but price dosen't help since the product stinks. Stay away!
HitNews
As with Eweka, they have OK price, but they have a stability problem and speed issues. Stay away. Newshosting
They have been around for a while. They are a good alround provider. Nothing special. Price is OK.
AstraWeb
Earlier my number one choice. Astra was the first to lower the pricing aginst the $10 mark. When they did, their user mass exploded. They are now a highroller in the usenet industry. They have among the best retention and prices in the market. Lately tho, there have been both speed issues and retention trouble.
Conclusion
All in all, most of the serious providers are more or less good. They provide almost the same features. Speed and retention, a stable service and the best price is what's important. In my opinion you get that from UsenetServer (UNS).
To get unlimited downloads for as low as $7.95 on UNS, use the link below.
If you download music, movies, tv-shows games etc from internett this will be of interest for you!
There are several ways to obtain the above mentioned material. Bittorrent
Works pretty good with new material. But try to find some old music or films. If you find it, there are to few seeders so the speed is more or less turtle!
Filesharing
There are a bunch, Rapidshare, Uploading, Filesonic etc. They are all limited unless you pay a bunch of money.
P2P
Speed and quality of material is often a pain. You think you download the latest blockbuster, when finished you are the proud downloader of a german porn flick from the 70s.
And then there is Usenet! Usenet is not limited to seeders as the material is located on large server farms. You will get maximum speed even on old material. Usenet is almost as old as internet. It's very stable, and hold an extreme amount of data.
It was a pain in the ass to locate material on Usenet. Material posten on Usenet are often broken down into ALOT of smaller pieces (called Parts). Then some bright heads created something called NZB. NZB is an XML file that contains information on all the pieces that makes the material posted on Usenet.
NZB files are totaly harmeless. They are only text reference to pieces/parts of the posts on Usenet.
OK..so how do i get started useing Usenet and NZB files??
1. You need an NZB client
Just like Bittorrent clients there are a bunch.You could give (http://www.unzbin.com) a try. Its free and easy to use.
2. You need access to a Usenet provider
Some ISP providers include Usenet (NNTP) in their "package", check with your ISP. But you will probably end up useing and external Usenet provider. Because the ones included from you ISP is very limited. It will not carry the amount of material you want. There are a bunch of Usenet providers. UsenetServer is one of the best Usenet providers. Use the link below to get access to their servers. There is a 14 day trial.
3. You need access to a website with an NZB indexer and creator. This is where you will find all the "good stuff". As always, there are a bunch. Most that are worth something charges money, but www.nzb7.com is very good and free of charge.
Thats it really. Three easy steps for all the fun you can handle!
