so is the general consensus that rapidshare is better except for the megamanager add-on? Does rapidshare download quicker or have a search function? any other advice you guys would have for someone who would purchase one or the other?

I have & use both - as Tatts says, RS is more popular and definitely more generous for the rewards points if you intend to share - but my MU speeds are far better.
It seems like RS is consistently under 100KB/sec - with occasional (1:5) spikes to faster, while with MU single link files (music or flix) I often get >1.2MB/sec.
But I don't use any of their 'managers'.

Get RS if you can only do one, just because it is the 'standard'; and I also remember that MU free was easier/faster.

makes sense, thanks post

I pay for RS and feel ok about it. I post my own uploads on a collector account so they never get deleted. The added benefit, in my humble opinion, is that RS is becoming the standard, even for the rare shit. If I am on a tear and posting to the Steppin Razor thread, I search Rapidlibrary for albums not in my collection. I download them first to check the bit rate (thanks, Postmoves) and if they are acceptable, I post the existing link rather than buy/find/upload from elsewhere. US$20 bucks for three months of RS is worth it to me for all the music I traffic in this forum. Incidentally, I guess I just upload the obscure/boring/unpopular stuff, because I certainly don't generate anything in the way of reusable rapid points. I believe the most I ever made from an upload is 30 points. I'm sure I'm doing it all wrong, but it works for me.

in my opinion the only download manager to use is internet download manager. its the bomb. will download from pretty much any file hosting site and is incredibly quick.

yeah i have a rs premium account and yeah you gotta pay for i.d.m but its worth it.