I think it uses file compression to download fast and then take a while when you launch it due to decompressing.
I think you are right as well, but I still couldn't get it in 3 hours. I downloaded a 1GB game this weekend and it took about 20 minutes
There may be something weird about the file that makes it take longer. Maybe the compression requires more bandwidth than normal. Is your Steam client or ISP throttling you?
I'm using Cox and I don't think they throttle. I pay for the first tier speed and its very consistent. Its just not very fast, thats all. Great for streaming video, audio and doing some MMO's on two or three computers. Downloading huge games isn't so great
