Download Demons...

[manimatters]

Hey guys,
which program have you used, and are currently using to download stuff from the web?
What are the best and worse "features" according to you?

Ive used many, one of them being DAP(Download Accelerator Plus), was good in downloading, interface was good, but i consider it bloatware, i specially hate the ads it displays on the download progress window, coz i know its stealing my precious bandwidth!

[Lashiec]

It's a known problem with download managers, seems "ads+download manager" is an unavoidable combination, since the days of GetRight and GoZilla!, and I don't know why...

I use the stock download feature in Opera. I can't get much advantage from multipart download, as my connection is always maxed out by any thing I get, and I don't see anything valuable in download managers that would help downloading in any way. Besides, Opera has mass downloading, so there's even less reasons for having a separate app for that.

I wonder why DAP has a trace cleaner feature...

[Darwin]

I don't usually use a 3rd party downloader. When I do need one, though, I use Stardownloader Pro which sadly appears to have been abandoned. There is also a (likewise abandoned) ad-free freeware version available... http://www.stardownloader.com/downloads.php

NB while it's effectively been abandoned, it still works well for me!

[a_lunatic]

I use Free Download Manager which comes in a lite version with plugins that are in the full version if you don't want all of them.

What is Free Download Manager? It is a powerful, easy-to-use and absolutely free download accelerator and manager. Moreover, FDM is 100% safe, open-source software distributed under GPL license.

[Cuffy]

I use Leechget.........

  I use the freeware and it usually connects with three connections. So far so good!
It works.......... what can I say?


"Welcome to LeechGet!

LeechGet was designed as a fast, comfortable and also powerful download manager, providing all capabilities you need to download files from the Internet quicker and simpler than ever.


Simple to use 


One of the main aspects while developing LeechGet was simplicity - every function must be integrated in an easy-to-use yet powerful interface. LeechGet uses a Microsoft Outlook-like user interface with which many users should already be familiar: a navigation bar on the left and a concise menu provide access to important functions of the program while Wizards are used to perform more complex tasks. Modern styled controls enhance the Look&Feel of the application. In addition, LeechGet seamlessly integrates in the Windows 9x/2000/XP environment and the Internet Explorer, allowing you to easily start and manage your downloads.


And yet powerful 


LeechGet provides many functions such a automatic downloading, download timer, automatic hang-up and shutdown to perform unattended downloads or uploads. A Webparser lets you download complete website with all images and scripts in no time and a history list gives you quick access to downloaded files.



Free for private use

You may use LeechGet free of charge for private use only (LeechGet Personal Edition). However, the Personal Edition comes without support and updates and you can only download eight files simultaneously. For commercial use or just to unlock the restrictions mentioned above, you have to acquire a Premium license for only 17 Euros.

Click here to get more information about how to register your copy of LeechGet!


Please take your time to get familiar with the LeechGet Use Interface and its features.

Click here to see some screenshots of LeechGet in action under Windows XP."

[manimatters]

One of the things for which I use a download manager is to gather links while i browse with my broadband which limits my data transferred, so that i can download later all at one go with my other connection which has a limit on the time of usage.

I wonder why DAP has a trace cleaner feature...

why would someone want that?!

I don't usually use a 3rd party downloader. When I do need one, though, I use Stardownloader Pro which sadly appears to have been abandoned. There is also a (likewise abandoned) ad-free freeware version available... http://www.stardownloader.com/downloads.php

NB while it's effectively been abandoned, it still works well for me!

Ive used stardownloader and what i particularly like about its gui is that its display refreshes faster, so i can look in amazement at the numbers!!

I use Free Download Manager which comes in a lite version with plugins that are in the full version if you don't want all of them.

What is Free Download Manager? It is a powerful, easy-to-use and absolutely free download accelerator and manager. Moreover, FDM is 100% safe, open-source software distributed under GPL license.

FDM is good, but i think its a bit sluggish while loading, im irritated by the flurry of disk activity that occours when i click on a download link! Im a kind of a resource freak, i dont like programs resident in memory, thats why FDM had to start very frequently with me surfing.

Im currently using orbit downloader, mainly because it supports "Social" sites such as rapidshare etc. but i think i need a change, i can do without using a manager for such sites.

[J-Mac]

I generally don't use a download manager. I did use FDM and I remember that McAfee Site Advisor used to scream about it! But I couldn't find anything sneaky about it.

Can't remember when or why I stopped, but I haven't used one in a while.  I agree that many are plagued with adware and worse. Tradition, I guess!

Jim

[Falcon_four]

Hi,

I tend to use a download manager to either grab a large batch of links (e.g. a multi part download listed on a forum in separate parts, all pictures/files/etc on current page, etc.) or to import a url list which can save a lot of time if someone has precompiled a list.  D/l managers are also useful if you have restrictions on your line and want to schedule downloads for later or if you want to set a speed or data transfer limit.  Segmenting does still help if you get a slow server and you are not reaching your line max.  You can also redownload already downloaded files - which can be easier if you downloaded something when you have 20 tabs open and forgot where you got it from!

I used Getright for many years although I have tried others like FDM, Stardownloader, HiDownload.  I found that (when I last tried them) the free ones either lacked a feature I wanted, were not stable enough to use or did not integrate well into my current browser so I usually went back to Getright.  I stopped using Getright recently due to the number of crashes I was getting with the newer versions and various bugs with the file names and download urls.  I am now using IDM (http://www.internetdownloadmanager.com/).  IDM seems to have reasonable low resource usage and the interface is quite clean without too many non-essentials.  It doesn't have all of Getright's features but for what I use it for it is nearly perfect.

IDM Pro's:

• very stable (or at least i have yet to have any crashes and have downloaded 1000's of files without issue.  It is set to download 4 things at a time plus segments + a virus scan when finished)
• reasonable resource usage
• clean interface
• d/l speed limiting
• scheduling
• site grabber
• authenticated site access
• seems to work on the majority of download sites and it is working perfect with my Rapidshare.com account (premium)

IDM Con's:

• cost around US $30 which you might consider to high
• no support forum
• web page could be better but you can use IDM in trial mode
• icons could be better but I would rather have lower resource usage than skins.

Currently I'm using IDM with Firefox.  I also use the Flashgot plugin - which sends links to a d/l manager.  It has some useful functions such as grabbing only the selected links from the page.

>>>>F-4>>>>

[Lashiec]

I generally don't use a download manager. I did use FDM and I remember that McAfee Site Advisor used to scream about it! But I couldn't find anything sneaky about it.

That's because the clever fellas behind the program thought it could be a good idea to open a software site like Download.com, linked to FDM, but lazy as they are, the site does not have any policy of what kind of software you can submit, so the web is flooding with crappy software filled with all kinds of malware. That's why SiteAdvisor blacklists it, because McAfee also analyzes the software it can be downloaded from a site.

[cmpm]

BitComet here, superfast.

http://www.bitcomet.com/

Has it's own browser if you want it to load also.
I usually don't need it cuz I don't download a lot of large files.
The small ones are already fast enough.

If you want to use it, start it with the icon.
If you don't want to use it close it.
Easy on the mind and eye also cuz of it's look is clean.

Lots of extras.

[Nighted]

Many...

DC++
eMule
FileZilla
Free Download Manager Lite
uTorrent

...all in portable configurations.

[lanux128]

i use Free Download Manager most of the time. it's reliable but in the newer versions, you may have to disable the community/comments thingy..

[tinyvillager]

FlvRecorder-does what the name implies,records those hard to get protocols,i.e. RTMP 
Net Transport-use it every day
HiDownload-Has more features than Net Transport,download youtube,google,etc,but for some reason
i just don't use it as much as Net Transport

VideoGet-downloads from a whole variety of online video sites then converts them using ffmpeg

Out of all of these i use Net Transport everyday,just more fluid,been using it for few years now.
A download program i want but is just too darn expensive is Replay AV,nice features but $49.95 !


And of course all of these would almost be worthless to me if it wasn't for Urlsnooper.

[rjbull]

IDM Con's:

Doesn't work with proxy.pac files, either 

[manimatters]

I tried out a whole bunch of them download managers (again)! with a few ones i hadnt tried before. This time around, my search for "The Ultimate Download Demon" has finally ended. Its "Getright", it has all the options i could think of i wanted, plus has a very neat interface, isnt tough on resources, you can tell it to ask you weather you want it to download the file for you, or would you rather use the default download dialog(useful for small files), has transparency options which are pretty cool, you can ask it to search for mirrors and select the fastest mirrors, it even can accelerate files based on their size(the number of segments it splits a file into can automatically be varied according to file size), plus a whole lot more. Im pretty much of a choosy person, but this has truly impressed me. Its good guyz.

( a word of caution about Orbit downloader, i lost about 500 mbs of downloaded data because of it, I was downloading a large file about 700 mb's in size in parts(about 50 mbs per day), at about the 500 mb mark, i ran out of disk space on the disk where the file was being stored, and then, without warning, orbit reported that the download failed and whoosh, i couldnt do anything about it, i had to download the whole file from the beginning...!)

[app103]

I have been using Flashget for many years. At one time, it had ads, which were removed if you paid for it. Now it's free with no ads.

What I liked about it was it got the job done without wasting too much precious resources, making it good for use on my old pc. At the time I started using it, there wasn't too many that I could use on that computer. (GoZilla was HORRIBLE!)

Now I think I just keep using it because I am used to it.

[manimatters]

Even I used flashget for sometime, but never updated it. Then, one fine day, after a windows reinstall, i downloaded their newest version, but somehow I didnt like it. One of the few things I remember I hated was that I couldnt set the number of segments for a download after it had started, to change that I had to stop and resume the transfer, and there was something in its appearance that didnt fit in for me. I thought of it as another software (there are so many out there) that had gotten bad, instead of improving in the newer versions.

[wraith808]

I use Download Mage and GetRight with Flashgot.  I think Download Mage has pretty much been abandoned, but it works well for me... you can use the demo version for as long as you want to with only a few missing features- it can still be registered, but I had to prod the devs for a few days before I received a key...

[MrCrispy]

I use Orbit because it will download videos from youtube, google etc asnd does it in a very easy way. Other than this there is nothing really that different about the different download managers, they all do segments, browser integration and even look about the same.

[rjbull]

there is nothing really that different about the different download managers, they all do segments, browser integration and even look about the same.

The differences can still be important, though, like whether they support proxy.pac files or not    And IDM has a nice extra, a Site Grabber feature to grab entire Web sites for offline browsing.

[kalos]

I use Download Mage

wow, you remind me years ago when I liked this dl manager
it seems abandoned from 2002

[f0dder]

I stick with flashget (the "lite" version), like app. Does what I need it to do, has a decent UI, and doesn't get in the way. Only thing that annoys me is it's slow "malloc disk space" - the idea is good, but their implementation is horrible. But I intend to RE and fix it

[wraith808]

wow, you remind me years ago when I liked this dl manager
it seems abandoned from 2002

Pretty close to it.  I was able to get a reg code when I finally registered it, but it took a while- and *no* answers from the developers.  But it works, and works well...

[Edvard]

The only thing I use a downloader for is when I really need to grab all the pdf's or whatnots on a page without going one... link... at... a... time...

I have found the Firefox extension Down Them All! to be the best one so far.
I've tried flashget, leechget and freedownload manager.
None of them were as simple to use. (for me anyways...)

[Armando]

Nice one. Thanks.