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Suggestions for Usenet Binary Downloader?

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XMinus1:
Hi Folks,

I've finally given up on Binary News Reaper 2/3 (BNR 2/3) after several years of devoted, but frustrating, use.  Over the years I've toyed with other Usenet Binary grabbers, but their shortcomings always led me back to BNR 2/3.  Now that I've given it up for good I've been using Newsbin Pro, which seems solid and quick (I do have a fairly powerfull machine, though).  I can't think of a major shortcoming at this point, but I'm not crazy about the priority scheme:  BNR allowed the assignment of a numeric priority for a particular file, Newsbin Pro uses a top-to-bottom scheme, which can be clunky when many files are queued.

What Usenet binary downloaders do you use, and why?

BTW, I use another app, Dialog, for text-based Usenet browsing.  I used Agent for many years, but got tired of waiting for an update, and so switched to Dialog, which is similar to Agent in many respects.  I highly reccommend it.

Thanks for the help.

wr975:

Best binary downloader isn't an easy answer and frankly, I don't think it can be given. Everyone has different needs. As example, assigning priorities is important for you, but not for me. Best is to try every client out there and just use the one you like best.

I think the best binary downloader is Usenet Explorer. But it's not easy getting into it. I really tried, but never felt comfortable.


Now here's what I use, and I hope I'm not sounding like a fanboy now:

I'm using Newsleecher. It was the only binary Usenet-client back then which was good enough to make me move on from Xnews. (I still use Xnews for text only groups.) Now, I don't know if I'd choose Newsleecher. I think other programs caught up and perhaps they're better. There are a lot of good ones out there. But I'm quite happy with Newsleecher, so I've no need to test something else joining the neverending quest of finding the perfect program.

Why I use it? Plenty of reasons. Most of all, I just feel comfortable using it. I like the GUI. It's easy to use, but still powerful. It can leech and handle millions of headers without getting a ressource hog and it stores headers in a small database. I can use it on two different computers w/ different IPs the same time and the progam is not blacklisting my registration. It works quite stable, there was a lot of development the last year (not only bug fixes but GUI changes + new major features) and licenses get some extra days whenever they've server troubles. And it has basic text-reader support (reading, replying, posting new.... in future versions Newsleecher should get a full featured text-newsreader, that's something I look forward to).

mouser:
i would love to see a newsreader review (maybe 2, one for binary usenet downloaders and one for article reading/posting)..
anyone want to volunteer to spearhead this? it's definitely something needed.

XMinus1:
Good idea Mouser.  I may give it a try, or perhaps review a series of clients over time.  I agree that apples should be compared to apples.

vegas:
Maybe this information will be satisfying:   http://www.binaries4all.com/newsreaders/

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