Author Topic: The best RSS reader? (Read 15680 times)

MrCrispy · « **on:** November 14, 2007, 04:16 AM »

I know this has been covered before, but I want to focus on some specific features and see if there's anything new. I haven't really gotten on the whole rss bandwagon completely because I just find it easier to visit websites. I've tried a lot of readers (desktop and web) and I've decided I don't care for a lot of web 2.0 features like tagging, social networking etc, since they don't matter as much as the core. What I really want is :-

- get the entire article and keep a copy offline. If the article is not available in the feed then it should cache the web page with all images etc
- get all the comments too
- find duplicate content (since many blogs link to the same article) and keep only 1 copy

Other stuff like opml import, watch folders etc are very common now. What I want is for my reader to basically store all the news I don't have time to read, and then let me catch up later on my laptop when I'm not connected. I also want the entire article available forever if I want to keep it.

I've tried greatnews, feeddemon, sharpreader etc and none of them cache content or work in this way. Are there any others out there?

sri · « **Reply #1 on:** November 14, 2007, 04:37 AM »

Did you try www.feedreader.com ?

Ralf Maximus · « **Reply #2 on:** November 14, 2007, 07:53 AM »

Feedreader does most of those things, with the exception of offline support.

But it MIGHT do the offline thing, since some of its features & settings are kind of buried. For instance, I only recently discovered its fabulous filtering capability. I now have some "smart feeds" set up that show only articles matching a set of included/excluded keywords.

All in all it's the nicest RSS client I've looked at, and the price is right: free.

muntealb · « **Reply #3 on:** November 14, 2007, 07:58 AM »

They all use Internet Explorer's engine to render webpages internally, so if you visit a page from inside the program it is cached in IE (you must set IE so as it will have a large enough cache).

All of the readers allow you to read the articles offline. There is also SendMeRSS ( http://www.sendmerss.com/ ) that sends the articles as e-mail messages so they are stored as long as you like it.

GreatNews has a function to "track comments", but I didn't use it extensively so I cannot tell you how good it is.

Newzie ( http://newzie.com/ ) is a great RSS client and is free. Try it, maybe you will find it useful. It has a module that allows you to track changes in webpages and download them (you can subscribe to webpages).

Try also Newzcrawler (shareware), it has an integrated function to "subscribe" to webpages (they are downloaded regularly to your harddisk), aside from the RSS functions.

rjbull · « **Reply #4 on:** November 14, 2007, 09:29 AM »

Feedreader [...] some of its features & settings are kind of buried.
-Ralf Maximus (November 14, 2007, 07:53 AM)

No-op for me at work, where they use proxy.pac files. I went into configuration and told Feedreader 3.10 to use IE's settings. It greyed out all the other boxes, but it couldn't have saved the settings because it just didn't work, and the HD's light didn't flicker when it should have been saving. By contrast, Great News worked OK first time.

rjbull · « **Reply #5 on:** November 14, 2007, 09:45 AM »

I just find it easier to visit websites. [...] What I really want is :-

- get the entire article and keep a copy offline. If the article is not available in the feed then it should cache the web page with all images etc
-MrCrispy (November 14, 2007, 04:16 AM)

You might try combining Martin Aignesberger's http://www.aignes.com/products.htm Website-Watcher (which can operate as an RSS reader) and his Local Website Archive.

Josh · « **Reply #6 on:** March 12, 2011, 10:53 AM »

Thread necromancy powers, ACTIVATE!

I have to ask, in the modern day, what are a few of the currently more popular RSS readers for the desktop which might also sync to Google Reader?

Darwin · « **Reply #7 on:** March 12, 2011, 01:40 PM »

I'm using FeedDemon Pro 4 - it's excellent. I know people were P.O.'d at Nick (Bradbury, the developer) for charging for the upgrade from 3 to 4, even for those of us who had existing paid licenses for v.1.x or 2.x, but he explained himself and his situation well, I thought. Given that my first paid license was courtesy of having bought an original Newsgator license before Newsgator brought Nick on board, I didn't mind paying the upgrade fee, having enjoyed two full version cycles gratis.

EDIT: PS FeedDemon syncs fine with Google

johnk · « **Reply #8 on:** March 14, 2011, 06:40 PM »

+1 for FeedDemon. I see you've tried it. What was missing? It does have a "prefetch items for offline reading" option.

Jibz · « **Reply #9 on:** March 15, 2011, 02:18 AM »

I am using FeedDemon as well. As much as I object to the license roller coaster it has been through, it is one of the best readers I have tried.

Some years ago the adds the free version shows would have made me run away screaming, but today I am not really that bothered by it.

f0dder · « **Reply #10 on:** March 15, 2011, 02:34 AM »

+1 with what Jibz said.

SKA · « **Reply #11 on:** March 15, 2011, 06:43 AM »

Rooster News Agent (RSS reader for Windows- USD 18)

http://www.drivehq.c...eb/brana/rooster.htm

SKA

Tuxman · « **Reply #12 on:** March 16, 2011, 09:07 AM »

I use RSSOwl because of its filtering abilities. Would like FeedDemon but it is payware. Payware blows.

(Other than that, RSSOwl is quite FeedDemon without ads in terms of functionality.)

skwire · « **Reply #13 on:** March 16, 2011, 10:01 AM »

I use RSSOwl as well.

Jibz · « **Reply #14 on:** March 16, 2011, 10:16 AM »

I tried RSSOwl at some point, but since it's Java based it was slower and took up comparatively much memory as I remember it.

Please note that on current computers you likely won't notice it, but since mine is a bit older, stuff like that actually matters

.

40hz · « **Reply #15 on:** March 16, 2011, 10:39 AM »

I must have tried them all at one time or another. But (for now at least) I've given up on stand-alone readers. Between the licensing games, features I didn't want, and miscellaneous interface oddities I finally settled on doing all my feed reading in Firefix using the Sage extension. For anything I want to save for later perusal I use ReadItLater which is synced to my PCs so I can get to my stuff from anywhere. I'll also download and archive the 'keepers' using Canaware Netnotes.

Since I'm usually working on a backlog of about 100+ articles, I'm never short on something to read - even if I can't get a web connection.

I'd love it if could find an all-in-one app to replace what I'm currently using however.

So i'm looking forward to seeing what other folks are using and like.

Tuxman · « **Reply #16 on:** March 16, 2011, 12:44 PM »

For "reading stuff later" I use RSSOwl's "mark as unread" functionality and some Evernote stuff. Good old UNIX philosophy: One tool, one purpose.

(A backlog of ~ 100+ articles can also be handled with RSSOwl BTW. Even in offline mode.)

joiwind · « **Reply #17 on:** March 16, 2011, 01:43 PM »

+++++ 1 RSSOwl for me too.

It may take up some resources, but after having compared it with 'most' of the other readers, I consider it to be the best and most suited to my needs.
The filters are very powerful and if used in conjunction with 'news bins' then you can really sort things out and read through your important news.
I usually keep alternatives of many of my apps (e.g. Opera as an alternative to K-Meleon) but here I've kept only RSSOwl and un-installed all the other RSS readers except for Desktop Ticker from Mike Batt.

timns · « **Reply #18 on:** March 16, 2011, 01:54 PM »

and un-installed all the other RSS readers except for Desktop Ticker from Mike Batt.
-joiwind (March 16, 2011, 01:43 PM)

Nice to know he's still active. I remember his song "Remember You're a Womble" very fondly

joiwind · « **Reply #19 on:** March 16, 2011, 01:59 PM »

and un-installed all the other RSS readers except for Desktop Ticker from Mike Batt.
-joiwind (March 16, 2011, 01:43 PM)

Nice to know he's still active. I remember his song "Remember You're a Womble" very fondly
-timns (March 16, 2011, 01:54 PM)

Well I don't remember that - maybe I wasn't in the UK at that time - but he is active and the Ticker is regularly updated.

skwire · « **Reply #20 on:** March 16, 2011, 02:18 PM »

I tried RSSOwl at some point, but since it's Java based it was slower and took up comparatively much memory as I remember it.
Please note that on current computers you likely won't notice it, but since mine is a bit older, stuff like that actually matters
-Jibz (March 16, 2011, 10:16 AM)

I have an older computer as well (4+ years) and, like you, usually avoid badly-done Java apps.

It may take up some resources, but after having compared it with 'most' of the other readers, I consider it to be the best and most suited to my needs.
-joiwind (March 16, 2011, 01:43 PM)

Absolutely agreed. What RSSOwl offers me more than offsets a bit of slowness and resource usage.