Like most other members here, I've got only good things to say about Usenet-News.net. I've been using them since about a year ago - at the time when no one beat them on retention, even the much-vaunted Giganews. I was surprised that for such a low-cost provider, the tech support is excellent. 24/7 email support, and I always got a reply from support within about 10 or 15 minutes. (After Astraweb, I was almost expecting to have to wait until Monday for a reply)
I wish that more newsgroup service providers would offer this type of non-expiring pay-per-download account, as unfortunately very few providers do (and most of those that offer any non-expiring blocks charge high prices per gig)
Usenet-News is not the only cheap block account provider. Just recently, Megabitz matched their block offerings and prices, but they only allow a maximum of 5 connections (compared to Usenet-News' 20 connections allowance) unless you sign up for automatic payment (no thanks, I'd rather rough it with 5 connections then get hit with automatic charges

)
After having tried Usenet-News block accounts, I doubt that I'll ever go back to using a pay-every-month plan like Giganews ever again. Call me cheap, but to me, paying $10 or $15 or more every month is too much money for what little I download (I also have access to a great ISP newsgroup service and use the block purchase as a supplement)
For anyone who is not a heavy usenet downloader, Usenet-News block accounts are in my opinion the best choice you can make. For alternate choices in block account providers, I'd rank Megabitz in second place and maybe Astraweb third place.
*** Don't anyone confuse
www.Usenet-News.NET with
www.Usenet-News.COM - the .COM address is another separate provider -- and not even worth considering. ***
Another thread on Usenet-News on
http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/showthread.php?t=170326