Download or Stream ... that's the question.

[nithig]

Hallellullia, at last decent broadband has arrived in the neighbourhood and I can get more than kb/s! Being a film lover I have long wanted to be able to watch online or download films to watch at leisure. However, I don't have unlimited allocation - currently 80GB/month which I thought would be tons but with 2 phones also using data the first month with the new service has shown that I need to be careful. So my big question is this: do I download (av. film about 700MB-1GB) or stream (apparently Netflicks info states that SD uses 700MB/hour and HD takes 3 GB/hour). Now 3 GB x 2 (lots of films now close to 2 hrs) is much more than the straight download.
Also haven't actually streamed anything yet so by all means mention your favourite URL for streaming (I don't want to sign up under contract with any service, rather keep it casual).

What's your experience?

 

[Ranger4]

You might keep in mind that streaming at certain times that suit you might also be times that everyone else is also streaming so you might get glitches & reception problems that are most irritating.

If you elect to download it might be best to pick a time when things are quiet, such as very late at night or very early in the morning. That should provide the best speed.

 

[nithig]

Thanks Ranger4 ...
Will show what I've learned hunting about the net:-

[FONT=&quot]How much internet data are you using?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]This handy table shows how much data some standard online activities use. Bear in mind that the figures are only rough estimates - your actual usage is likely be around these amounts, but could be more or less depending on a number of factors.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Activity[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Data consumption[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]One hour of web browsing[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]10 - 25MB[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Download a document[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2MB[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]One hour of Facebook[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]20MB[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Download a music track[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]4MB[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Stream 30 minutes of YouTube[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]175MB[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Download a non-HD film[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]700MB[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Download an HD film[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]4GB[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Stream one hour of non-HD video[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]250MB[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Stream one hour of HD video[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2GB[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Stream one hour of music or radio[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]150MB[/FONT]
​

[FONT=&quot](Information taken from a number of providers, including BT, Virgin Media, and Vodafone)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]___________________________________________________________________________[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Netflix Quality Level[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Usage per Hour in GB[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Usage per Hour in MB[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Better Quality0.7 GB[/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]720 MB[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Best Quality – Standard Definition1.0 GB [/FONT][FONT=&quot]1,024 MB[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Best Quality – High Definition[/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]3.0 GB[/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]2,400 MB[/FONT]​

Ultra HD 7 GB[FONT=&quot]7,168 MB


[/FONT]​