The expression on the face of someone who’s just switched from dial-up internet access to fast broadband connection is nothing short of priceless.

Emails arrive at the inbox as if jet-propelled, web browsing has a new snap to it, updating Windows takes minutes rather than hours and online videos become viewable - ­ suddenly the internet seems to offer a glimpse of the enormous possibilities that exist outside of web browsing and email.

After a while, though, it’s easy to forget the massive potential offered by broadband. Browsing and receiving emails quickly is great, but it barely scratches the surface of what a broadband connection can do.

In this feature we’ll explain some of the amazing things that broadband can do, and how you can make the most of them.

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In the brave new world of broadband internet, users are no longer limited to downloading text and tiny thumbnail photos. Instead, the internet gives access to full-screen video, CD-quality music and high-resolution photos. It’s even possible to back up an entire PC over the internet.

For new broadband users, though, the files used in many of these tasks can be frighteningly large. For example, an episode of Lost Season III purchased from iTunes weighs in at 486MB.

It’s important to remember that, although these files are large, the speed of broadband means that they can be transferred very quickly. Our episode of Lost, for example, downloaded in around an hour while we were doing other work on the computer.

Also, the huge hard disks used in modern computers can store hundreds of large video files: a 250GB hard disk, for example, could store 500 video episodes downloaded from iTunes. So, don’t shy away from trying out new uses for broadband ­ the chances are, they’ll take far less time than you’d expect.

One of the easiest ways to start experiencing the joys of broadband is to try one of the most enjoyable forms of entertainment on the internet ­ movie trailers. Start Internet Explorer and, when it loads, click on the address bar. Type www.apple.com/trailers and press Return. This opens a page of 20 brand new movie trailers that can be played back on the PC, with links to pages two and three where there are more.

To watch one, click the picture of the trailer and then on the next page click the Trailer link ­ sometimes there are several different trailers for a single movie, so select one.

That’s it. Simply sit back while the trailer is ‘streamed’ to the PC’s screen. If no video appears, this is probably because the Quicktime video player is not installed ­ to get it, go to www.apple.com/quicktime/download/ and click the Free Download Now button.

If the trailer plays but begins to judder or stop, simply click the pause button at the bottom of the player window and wait for a few seconds before clicking play to continue. Other movie trailer sites that are worth a look include Coming Soon and Yahoo Movies.

Having had the appetite whetted by several dozen movie trailers, it’s only natural for film fans to go looking for the full length real thing. Fortunately, it’s almost as easy to download a complete movie ­ although, unsurprisingly, you will usually have to pay for it.