Thread: ScienceHD (SHD) Review

ScienceHD.me

Tracker's URL: http://sciencehd.me

Signup URL : https://sciencehd.me/applications.php

Tracker Type: eLearning

Tracker Birthday: 4/22/2009

ScienceHD is a tracker that specializes in eLearning content related to science and science fiction. It is a relatively small tracker, with a very active community of people who share interests in scientific disciplines and documentaries. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of the content is video, however, the content is not restricted to high def, especially older television shows which are only in SD. The tracker has gone through some significant changes over the last week, most notably the elimination of the 3GB/month download quota.

Home/News


Tracker Stats
A few notable things I'd like to point out in the stats:

• Although the user base is small, note that the average number of torrents seeded per user is ~20.
• The site tends to run very close to the maximum number of users, so they can be picky at times with their applications.
• There are ~4 torrents per user, much higher than most private trackers

Torrent Categories


Browse Page


Freeleech

1,473 out of their total 6,408 active torrents are freeleech, including the two spotlighted torrents of the week.

Forums


Rules
Highlights:

• Note the exceptionally detailed filename requirements, which you should pay careful attention to if uploading to fill requests or to share videos found at other sites.
  
• As noted about, the only requirement is some type of activity once a month (no longer requiring a minimum download)
  
• Note the specific rule about sharing of credits - they do not want users exchanging credits for "rep" (or in T-I lingo, iGiver). Given how small their userbase is, be very careful with your credit giveaways, since it might be relatively easy for them to identify users here breaking that rule.
  

Bonus System



Userclasses/Promotion


Invite System

1 invite costs 1,000,000 credits and is only available to graduate-level users, so finding an invite outside of a promotion period is rare. With the recent 2nd birthday promotion, all active users did receive at least 2 limited-expiration invites. That said, the most common way to join is to submit an application using the link at the top of the review.

Application tips (from their application page):

• We at ScienceHD are interested in users who are interested in science. These applications are accepted or denied on the basis of your responses, so it will benefit you to answer the questions completely and honestly.
  
• The more effort you put into the application, and the longer your answers are, the more likely you are to be accepted -- an actual person will be reading these and deciding!
  
• Do NOT use a proxy, VPN, etc. when filling out this application. If you do, you will be denied.
• If you were previously disabled, do not attempt to apply here. Instead, come into IRC and talk with us!
  

IRC Details


Donation System/ Page

It is rare to find a site that is so honest and realistic about their operational costs, which is posted on their front page as 130€/m


Ratings & Personal Commentary

Community (2*pi/5)

For its size, I have not seen a more active and passionate community for a private tracker. In their main IRC channel, the number of members chatting is about half of T-I's, which is impressive considering T-I's userbase is ten times larger. The user to torrent ratio is dramatically higher than comparable sites, and everyone I've interacted there is extremely friendly and helpful. There are lots of fun promotions and contests on the message boards, where it is quite easy to rack up hundreds of thousands of credits. As part of the birthday festivities, the site hosted an IRC scavenger hunt that involved going from room to room solving riddles related to the site and science. It's easy to tell that this tracker is not a place for collectors - for its tight-knit community of members, this is their virtual home.



Content (4/5)

ScienceHD is not going to have every brand new 0day/scene release out there - there are many other trackers for that sort of thing. However, if you are looking for older documentaries, ScienceHD's content is unparalleled. Series are extremely well organized and filename restrictions make it easier to put their video content into a home digital library. The older stuff is extremely well-seeded, considering how rare some of it is, and not having a user max on seeded torrents keeps it that way.

Speeds (3.5/5)

Much of the content is obviously hosted on seedboxes, and my personal seedbox will max out its connection easily on torrents uploaded in the past 3 months. However, because of the much smaller community, you should not be expecting speeds as fast as other larger trackers.

Finally, a niche tracker that makes sense to me! I just joined myself, exactly what i was looking for. More History, Nature, and Space then you can shake a stick at. It's missing a few specials I was hoping to find but at the same time it has many things that I would have otherwise never known about.

I just send my application :) Im very interesting in history channel documentaries thx for the info and for the application tips

I just sent in an application to this tracker. Thanks for the info and this post, if I had not stumbled upon it, I would not know this tracker exists!

how is this site? I was unsure when they ask for a profile links on the trackers u use.

the site is fine...nothing wrong with giving profile links to the trackers you use..didn't you do basically the same thing to get into T-i? giving your profile links should be the least of your worries, filling out the questions where it pleases the person who checks the applications is the hardest

It seems this site is too small,why many people want to join?

well its a niche tracker..niche trackers don't have a huge userbase. The amount of members don't make a site, the staff and its content make the site ;)

This tracker is ok it's just really hard to seed there