File Hosting Extravaganza

Whats up all... I recently went on the search to find some place to host some images... and it sucked.

Results:
Winner: http://filelabs.net

5. Megaupload - Being that it is in the top 100 of all websites (acording to the alexa rank) I expected much more. Well let me explain myself. I expected much more options for uploads and less propaganda. For every click came an add and in one case, an huge pop up prevented me from seeing the upload box. Next.

4. Imageshack - This site was really enjoyable. You can resize an image, and upload up to 2mb, which is average for an image... but I have some images that are larger than 2mb, and I also want to share more than just images.. sadly it only supports Image and Flash Files. Good experience overall; just not enough features and very slow load times.

3. Rapidshare - My experience at rapidshare was pretty good, however; there is absolutly NO hotlinking and no support for streaming media (audio or video). While it didn't force me to download the image, it would not let me link to it and view it. I had to go to a link, and go through a bit of a process to see it. Also, when uploading a file it makes it quite simple, up to the point that the file is uploaded. It than makes it kind of confusing by saying "Register an account to get the links!", but below that it says "Click here for the links". Click the bottom link, and you have a winner, but it only gives you 1 link; A link to grab the file, no way to link to the file itself. With a max filesize of 300mb, its pretty generous, but it is a bit confusing and a hassle.

2. Photobucket - Photobucket allows you to upload Video's as well as Images. This made me happy. However; it will only let you upload a video of 5mb or less (unless you "Go Pro!" which cost money). It does have embedded video, so if you can get a video uploaded for less than 5mb, you can certainly enjoy the benefits. A downside is that you can't upload anything without first registering an account. While this is understandable, it is also a hassle because you can't even test it out before you register. It has "albums" which are just folders so you can sort your images/videos. It also has some nice flash usage, where you can do slide shows and such. Another down side is the "Bandwidth" limits. I had files go over their "bandwidth limit" in a good 5 minutes.. I am guessing each file gets at best 5mb of bandwidth.

1. FileLabs - This has been my most enjoyable experience so far. With a max upload per file of 500mb, with unlimited storage and no bandwidth limit for both registered and unregistered users, its simply unbeatable. Unlike the other sites that allow such large amounts of data, this one does not bombard me with ads. I can upload up to 10 files at a time, giving each one of them its own name if I want, and to make it even more enjoyable it supports most major file types (within reason, I guess). You can't upload exe's or ISO's or bat's, but that is not such a big deal because I just zip those files. If you register an account you get what they call a "Directory". In this directory you can sort your files, view them by a list or by thumbnails, and receive comments on your directory. Also, when you upload a file you get a HUGE asortment of links, from a direct link (for images apparently) to thumbnail links. It does allow streaming Audio, Video, and Flash. The one downside to this site that is quite annoying to me is that there is no progress bar for your uploads. For a site of this caliber I would expect this to be an essential, however it is not there. All in All, this is by far my favorite.