Suggestions for Usenet Binary Downloader?

[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/

[Cloq]

If you are looking for an all around binaries sucker, nothing beats NewsRobot. 

What I love the most out of that piece of software is its lifetime registration PLUS registration for all software that the author has made or will make. It's worth every penny.

www.newsrobot.com

[mouser]

price: $27.

Our registration policy is unparalleled in the Internet community: register any sb-software product, and you get them all -- and all future versions -- for life. If you start out with one of our novice tools, you can move right into a professional tool without paying a cent. Your registration is good for life, and covers all future versions.

hard to go wrong with that 

[wr975]

What I love the most out of that piece of software is its lifetime registration PLUS registration for all software that the author has made or will make. It's worth every penny.

-Cloq (April 23, 2006, 11:42 PM)

Lifetime updates sounds nice, but are there updates?

The current version is 9.4, released 4/20//2005 !
SBNews now supports the new yEnc encoding format!

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

-vegas (April 23, 2006, 09:09 PM)

Great link!! 

That's exactly how I thought a newsreader review could be done (if ever).

a.) List common features and compare which Newsreaders supports what
b.) Give a recommendation, but no "Best client is"
c.) Tell users to try and find their best one.

I noted, most clients do not support post RAR/PAR processing. There're external tools available doing it. I used DLdone for a while, but replaced it with Par-N-Rar. It's not perfect, but at least there's some kind of development...

[Cloq]

Lifetime updates sounds nice, but are there updates?

The current version is 9.4, released 4/20//2005 !
SBNews now supports the new yEnc encoding format!

-wr975 (April 24, 2006, 02:50 AM)

Might want to take a look at what the other projects the author makes.

http://www.newsrobot.com/curproj.html

So he doesn't update his frontpage all that often, you might want to check individual project pages for the updates... 

Choose group.. click download... minimize.. pray for enough HD space.  it's that simple!

[jpfx]

newsleecher the easiest to use.
usenet explorer/newspro the best
newsbin pro a happy medium

[XMinus1]

I'm using Newsleecher...

-wr975 (April 23, 2006, 11:25 AM)

Well I've tried it and I really like it.  Newsbin began to act-up (problems with downloading) so I gave Newsleecher a go and I like it, particularly the interface.  I can see that sticking with  BNR2 for as long as I did really left me behind the times:  Newsleecher (and Newsbin, while it worked) are both great and, compared to BNR2, supremely stable and fast.

Thanks for the reccommendation.

[zridling]

XMinus1, I hope you consider a newsreader review! I considered it late last year, but after a little research, learned that much of it was over my head. I've always loved Xnews, but with Newzbin, I've become a NewsLeecher man. The one thing I absolutely hate about NewsLeecher is its lack of a help file. The workflow of XNews seems so much faster.