>- Time to download the Blockchain is a bit of a drawback at least until a faste

[AnonMZ]

>- Downloading using the Bitcoin-Qt option for windows, from the http://bitcoin.org/en/ site. <<

It’s been 24 hours now and it is down to 30 weeks left from 256 when it started. But the rate is not linear. It almost appears to slowing down the same as the difficulty graphs. It took about 12 hours from 256 to 62, then 12 more hours from 62 to 30. The bar at the bottom of the gui is less than ¼ full, so it should take about 4 days maybe more for the whole chain to be done.

Notebook, clean installed OS. Dedicated internet access 15Mbps. Cpu running at less that 30% avg, Low RAM usage less than 1 gig usage. Hard drive seems to be running quite a bit but expected.

I can see how this part of the process to get involved with Bitcoin can be cumbersome and unappealing to the average person out there, even prohibitive.

Unless a solution is found, with the present rate, let’s say in the near future, according to this: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Talk:Scalability#Disk_space
Terrabites will be needed vs 15-20 Gigs of storage (today), and one can only speculate how long will it take to get the client synchronized.

Even if you do this, with present hardware, unplug it and store it for a year, then how long will it take to resynchronize the last 52 weeks at the new difficulty levels/chain sizes?

Searching on the net there is a lot of talk about security, and that this is the better way to get involved. (downloading the original as it was meant to be,  Bitcoin-Qt)
     An online wallet is much easier and faster, but if one is thinking of getting involved with more than few hundred or few thousands USD, he/she would be somewhat apprehensive about the security issues, especially in view of all the hacking and funds disappearing from a great number of sites.

A recent example:
https://truthnewsinternational.wordpress.com/2013/12/03/the-heist-of-96000-bitcoins-us-103296000-or-e-76416000/

List of Bitcoin Heists - link from this forum:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=83794.0

Hopefully the next version will be solving some of these issues.

Right now, just to get the feet wet, few bucks and an online site might be the easiest way to start involvement.

[ScripterRon]

You can download the initial blockchain before starting bitcoin-qt for the first time.  This will be much faster since bitcoin-qt is limited by the upload bandwidth of the peer node it is using to download the blockchain.  Once you have downloaded the initial blockchain, start bitcoin-qt and it will synch with the network to get the remaining blocks.

The developers are talking about pruning the blockchain but that is still on the to-do list.

Check here for further information: http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/11592/is-there-a-newer-bitcoin-blockchain-download-available

[ajax3592]

Use Multibit  -  it does not download the whole blockchain, instant connection within seconds 

[niktitan132]

Use light wallets like electrum or multibit.

[AnonMZ]

It took about 3 days total running time to download the client.
274118 Blocks of Transactions
 A little over 14 Gig of memory.

In regards to online/light wallets, again it's security vs convenience. An attacker(s) would most likely go first after where the big loot is (online storage as noted in a sample of links - first post) and second after individuals.

Some of  most secure option from what I've read so far point towards, dedicated computer (keep it off line when not transacting) USB storage - remove wallet.dat from main, and recopy when transact then remove?, and paper.

Thanks for the replies.

[GO123]

Bitcoin-qt is NOT for everybody.
Direct quote from the bitcoin.org download page: "Bitcoin-Qt is a full Bitcoin client and builds the backbone of the network. It offers the highest levels of security, privacy, and stability. However, it has fewer features and it takes a lot of space and memory."

In regards to online/light wallets, again it's security vs convenience.

Hm...true but not completely true.
Putting your btc in a casino or exchange is discouraged due to security reason.
But at least for the above three options, you have full control of the private keys, and it is not that much of a security concern.

[fortunative]

>- Downloading using the Bitcoin-Qt option for windows, from the http://bitcoin.org/en/ site. <<

Searching on the net there is a lot of talk about security, and that this is the better way to get involved. (downloading the original as it was meant to be,  Bitcoin-Qt)
     An online wallet is much easier and faster, but if one is thinking of getting involved with more than few hundred or few thousands USD, he/she would be somewhat apprehensive about the security issues, especially in view of all the hacking and funds disappearing from a great number of sites.

A recent example:
https://truthnewsinternational.wordpress.com/2013/12/03/the-heist-of-96000-bitcoins-us-103296000-or-e-76416000/

List of Bitcoin Heists - link from this forum:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=83794.0

Hopefully the next version will be solving some of these issues.

Right now, just to get the feet wet, few bucks and an online site might be the easiest way to start involvement.

Storing your bitcoins offline in cold storage is a good way to secure your bitcoins, using something like Armory:
https://bitcoinarmory.com/

There are new options coming out that will let you use a "hardware wallet" for keeping your coins easily accessible but preventing any form of hacking.  One promising one that will be out soon is called the "Trezor":
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Hardware_wallet