Finding the right KIND of video files on binary newsgroups

[Roy Keane]

Hi all -

I'm new to the world of binary newsgroups thing and I'm starting to find my way. One question:

When searching and downloading from binary newsgroups, it's possible to download video files in a million different formats - AVIs, WMVs, ISOs, IMGs, etc. Some are more desirable than others (for instance, for the purposes of burning the file to a DVD, ISOs are more preferable to me than AVIs, since AVIs take forever to convert and lose so much quality). But, as far as I can tell, there's no way to know what file type you're getting until after you've...

a) found the .nzb
b) downloaded the file
c) unrar'ed the file

My question is this - if I only want to download video that's only in ISO form or IMG form, is there a trick to figuring this out BEFORE you download/unrar (so far, I haven't found NFOs to be particularly helpful in figuring out the format of the file you're downloading....but maybe I'm not looking for the right clues)? Are there specific binary newsgroup search engines (or specific binary newsgroups) where one can specifically find IMGs/ISOs rather than AVIs?

Thanks, in advance, for any help!

[jagabo]

If it's a multipart RAR you can download the first file and open it to see if there's an ISO inside. Other than that you may have to go with the title, filename, or NFO file.

[Roy Keane]

Good advice on downloading the first file (rather than the whole thing) - thanks!

[jman98]

Well, you can do it the cheap way, or you can do it the better but more expensive way. I do it the better but more expensive way.

I use GigaNews as my news provider. I paid for NewsBin to use with GigaNews. I also pay for NewsBin's search feature. I know exactly what I am getting, whether it is an MP3 file, a FLAC file, an AVI or an ISO thanks to NewsBin. It tells you exactly what it is you are downloading. It has an intelligent way to aggregate parts of the same file so to you it just looks like one file, even if it's in a bunch of pieces. It's pretty slick.

I don't fool with .nzb files. They aren't necessary with NewsBin, although it does support them.

[Roy Keane]

I am using GigaNews....just checked out Newsbin - sounds pretty good. I'm going to check out trial. Thanks for the help