everything :P

i have no problem with it

torrents For the win

torrents rule. better resuming due to the pieces, and more peers. plus the torrent programs are much more advanced than direct download managers

Added new option in poll: Circumstantial.

As i reasoned in one of the previous posts on this thread, it all depends on the circumstances, and what u want to download.

Like u DON'T want to use torrent to download a 100kb picture file. Direct download is way easier.
While u DO want to use torrent to download an illegal file that u can't find with direct download.

hahah lol but imho that doesn't really count. although it doesn't state, the subject for this poll is downloading large files (more than 25mb or so), often containing software or media. your browser doesn't use bittorrent to download google.com lol, its a bit different. obviously, you wouldnt download a 30GB Bluray image using direct download, the same as you wouldnt download a 300kb driver using torrents.

Most large files on direct download are split into parts, so I don't see much of a problem with downloading ~30GB files directly.

hmm well yeah but that's cheating :P
the thing i don't like about direct downloads is they fail often, they are more difficult and manual and the speed varies a lot. also, for large splitted files you will need to start each download manually etc while with torrents its usually the other way around: a lot of files (eg a whole season of a show) are put into one single torrent. and often you don't have to unrar/zip a torrent because the entire file/directory structure can be downloaded using torrents which is not possible with direct downloads without archiving of some sort.

torrent speed depends on the popularity of the file though, but its usually not a problem... also torrent downloads arent limited by membership stuff so they are more free than direct downloads

Ge64 Wrote:hmm well yeah but that's cheating :P

Nope :P  Anyone who uploads a 30GB file directly is a complete dumbass (assuming they successfully upload it).

Ge64 Wrote:the thing i don't like about direct downloads is they fail often

Actually direct downloads are probably more reliable than torrents.

Ge64 Wrote:the speed varies a lot

No, speed is quite constant since you're downloading off a server.
Torrent speeds vary a lot, however.

Ge64 Wrote:also, for large splitted files you will need to start each download manually

Not much of an issue.  Usually, right-click » download all does the trick.
You can say that torrents, you have to download a .torrent file, then open up your torrent client, etc etc.

Ge64 Wrote:a lot of files (eg a whole season of a show) are put into one single torrent. and often you don't have to unrar/zip a torrent because the entire file/directory structure can be downloaded using torrents which is not possible with direct downloads without archiving of some sort.

Technically very possible with direct downloading, but no-one ever does it.
Meh, I don't find archiving the least bit annoying...  In fact, it probably encourages smaller files (eg ISOs should always be archived).

Ge64 Wrote:torrent speed depends on the popularity of the file though, but its usually not a problem...

That's kinda right and wrong.  If a torrent has no seeds or leechers, then it's dead...

Ge64 Wrote:also torrent downloads arent limited by membership stuff so they are more free than direct downloads

Not necessarily true either.  You can get private trackers, which do require membership just as much as some direct downloads do.
However, there's typically more content available on torrent.

My take is that I typically find direct downloading _much_ faster than torrents (unless the server is _very_ poo poo, which isn't usually the case).

*changed my vote to Circumstantial