3G vs HSDPA

[stuckling1]

Here in the UK two large mobile operators, Orange and T-mobile have a roaming agreement whereby customers of one can roam onto the other's network for better coverage.

I live on top of a hill between two cell towers. One is an Orange tower capable of HSDPA connections, the other is a Tmobile tower which can only manage standard 3G.
The Orange mast is further away so generally I get a weaker signal from it. Depending on where in college I stand I find one of the two networks.

I know that the maximum speed HSDPA can provide is 14.4Mb/s, four times faster than normal 3G which is up to 3.5Mb/s
I also know that connection speed degrades with distance.

So which is better:
80% 3G signal or 20% HSDPA signal?

[StuartR]

Why don't you connect to a site like http://www.speedtest.net" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and tell us?