It sounds to me like you have dial-up internet...if that is the case, I would not recommend using Limewire to download video files...if you do want to try it, make sure you use Bitzi. If Bitzi doesn't have the file, definitely preview the file when the download hits 10%!

The more you compress a video, the poorer the quality. There are, however, many video files that are large, and still not very good quality. And, as you say, there are smaller video files that are fairly good quality.

You have no idea HOW the video was recorded/ripped/encoded...therefore, you have no idea what quality you will be getting based only on video size.

As for video conversion software, what is the source of your video? If you are using video that has already been compressed, the output quality may be quite low. I personally would not attempt to download a video file that was half the size of what I expected. Plus, many people take files from LW and then convert to another format (DVD, etc.) causing further loss of quality...

Good Luck

P.S. Super Converter is a free converter...I haven't had much success with it, but I think it will do what you are trying to do, and I have heard some have had success with it. The original download page doesn't seem to be working, though...try the link I gave and select 'free' at the bottom of the screen.