1. RapidShare needs a client too, even without account and on a single-file download : it’s called your web browser, moron ! And by the way, Opera can handle torrents, so I technically don’t need an adiionnal software. But I prefer to use an external torrent software, because a heavy use of a web browser always leads to a memory leak then browser crash, just browse intensively with 20-50 windows during 10 hours, it’s still garanteed with ANY browser. So… Your argument is INVALID !

2. Spyware & Trojans are massively presents in download platforms (MU RS etc) and much MORE persistent because with torrents, a corrupted/malicious file always looses its seeders by itself, just wait enough time to see the file disappear by itself, whereas google will still find a way to provide you malicious shit packaged in a 4 years old RS file, because RS servers kept it that long…

3. Are you trying to compare my PC with a RS server ? Hmm, that’s stupid : how much RS servers are there ? 10.000 ? 100.000 ? 1.000.000 ? How much torrents / p2p users do you think you will find in the world you MORON, you’re FAR under the possibilities of such a world-wide network, not only in terms of number but also in total performance / bandwith !

4. Slow speed, hmm… False / True : True because when I want a single file AND that the server / mirror is not fucking slow as a pentium II (too much load leads to 0-10 kbs DL, like it was in the 80′s), direct download will always beat p2p. False because when I download lots of files, OR when on of the files is located on such a slow server, OR when I can’t find a specific file on download platforms, p2p networks will nearly always let me what I was looking for, except some very few exceptions, and it is ALWAYS free without trying to limit the performances whereas download platforms will always tend limit free users.

5. Hmmm, some very old torrents / p2p files can be hard to achieve, that’s a fact. But I can’t remember how much THOUSANDS pages of “sorry that file have been removed for reason X” where X is not “because user removed it”. X would either be : “Copyright” or “restricted access to members / premium” or “bandwith limit” or “404″ or “internal error” or “fuck you members my javascript / flash will just fail and my page won’t work”… In terms of durability / accessibility of the files, I would trust p2p networks more than DL platform, as I would ratrher trust an experienced end-user of a product rather that the salesmen of the company selling it..

RapidShare simply sucks.

I will mainly complain about the speed, even if most of what you wrote is WRONG.

I’m getting 3MB/s with torrents, and I’m sharing the connection (with a router) with 2 other computers, so I could possibly get 10MB/s. And my connection is sooo cheap! 10$/month to use torrents, not 100$/month to use that ***** RapidShare.

1. Yes, it does require a client, but if you’re bothering with searching and downloading what’s most likely pirated software, I’d like to think you actually know how to install a damn program. Either way, if you’re really that clueless, there’s always the one-file, right-in-the-middle-of-your-face easy-to-use uTorrent. Really, there’s no excuse there. Not even if you’re blonde.

Plus, considering any serious downloading nowadays on Rapidshare is excruciating if you do not make use of premium link generator websites aplenty, particularly with multi-part archives, it’s actually a lot easier to just use a torrent program.

2. I guess that is the one thing people might find more on torrent downloads than on file-sharing websites – malware and the like. However, if you have at least half of your brain in working condition, you would take the time to read any available comments in the torrent website to check if anyone complained of viruses (and, likewise, if a number of people reprimanded said complainers over false alarms).

Even if you do download files containing malware, if you stick to running what you know you should be running and don’t go poke on unknown files, your computer probably isn’t going to suffer. It’s your own damn fault if you go and double-click on every single file you see.

3. The host computer hardly matters since seeders (other people uploading files after downloading fully) are what really matter here and provide for speed. Also, you won’t get maximum speed with Rapidshare or any other file-sharing website for that matter – unless you pay for it, of course. In my experience downloading games and films and whatnot, I generally hit maximum speed every time and, even if not, it’s enough to finish a large download in an hour or two at most.

Go and download on Rapidshare, with all the waiting time and slow speed. I’m sure it’ll be a day before you see the light of what you’re trying to download, especially if it’s multipart.

4. Read above. Oh, and sure, premium membership gives you a whole lot of bonuses. Well, guess what – torrents are free and give you all the bonuses they possibly can. How’s that for effective marketing?

5. There’s always a problem with older torrents, yes, but most of the times there will be enough seeders to finish it in a reasonable period of time. Most file-sharing websites delete files after some time, and let’s not forget copyright infringement deletion. It’s fairly easy for you to find countless file links for Rapidshare and whatnot that are broken because they have since been deleted for being pirated. Excluding sissy torrent websites like Mininova, such an event will not happen.

I realise that this post is old and, as thus, many things have changed. However, I still wrote this, fearing for the well-being of any naive human being that, while reading this post, so happens to actually become convinced that Rapidshare is better than torrents. Then again, if you’ve got the money, knock yourself out with RapidPro. I’ll still take torrents any day and buy cake instead.

And no, you’re not having any.

1) Ever tried downloading a splitted movie without a client via rapid share? Apparently, not. RS also needs a client.

2) I can put a virus or trojan in a rar, upload it to RS and send you the link even more easily than sending it through a torrent. Plus if a file is fake, chances are that it is not gonna have any seeders after a while.

3) So here you are comparing RS’s hosting services with a single peer. It is like comparing apples with oranges. Try comparing RS with the whole swarm of seeders and see who wins both in terms of speed and resources.

4) Same as 3

5)I wont even bother to reply to this one…

To further nudge people to pay for their new system, they have also made sure that some of their files to be undownloadable to free users, even if they are under 100mb. Instead of asking you to sign up, they will tell you that there is a temporary error and you need to get an account to overcome it.

Basically, file sharing websites are definitely better than torrent, torrent is a thing of the past, you’re downloading movies and softwares illegally, so for a few dollars a month, it’s really not very much considering the speed and availability, but just stay away from rapidshare.

p.s who gets 100 kbps anymore…? my average with say… hotfile or filesonic is atleast 600kbps…. and easily over 1mb on some days.

in this case i got a movie i couldnt even buy. it was so old but the rapid shares had it while a torrent of the same movies will take . 3 weeks to get . in closing i really love the free user ability on rapid share . the archive is beautiful