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Internet Download Manager 5.18 Build 5 user reviews |
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| Version: Internet Download Manager 5.02.14 | Reviewer: toulinwoek
Read all my reviews
Date: 19 May 2006, 22:07 GMT Overall rating:      | GUI:     Features:     Ease of use:     Value:     

This is the king of download managers (believe me, I have tried about 15 or more of them). Many others -especially the free ones, so watch out- are simply lies and do nothing but keep a list of programs you've downloaded, but there is no acceleration at all, or at least far less than they claim. Not so with IDM, it truly speeds up downloads by up to 500% (five times faster than without it). For those who might not know, it does this by breaking the file into segments, and downloading all the segments simutaneously, then putting the segments back together again. Other programs that happen to work basically do the same thing, but IDM does it more efficiently. The program also lets you set folders for organizing downloads by type (programs, archives, music, video, etc.) and you can create your own custom folders and types. When a download starts, you can do such useful things as change the default folder in which to save that download, change even the name of the file if you like, plus enter a full description for what you're downloading (very useful if you download as many programs as I do). There are a couple of other programs that allow this also, but here's where IDM distinguishes itself: while you're doing all this, IDM is already downloading the file! By the time you get done and click the "Start Download" button, there's a good chance that the download is already complete. This is a great timesaver, compared to other programs don't do anything until you actually click the button to start the download. This makes downloading with IDM "feel" even faster.
I have never encountered a problem with browser integration (it will take over downloads from ANY browser) and with extremely few exceptions, it is smart enough NOT to try to take over certain downloads (for instance, with Webshots photos, which MUST be downloaded with Webshots' own technology). Other than that, IDM is powerful, robust and stable as a rock. My only problem with it is that, although you can export your list of downloaded programs, the export doesn't include your descriptions, so if you import a long list of programs, and you have included such things as version numbers and the like in your description, that information will not be imported. This is a serious enough oversight for me to give it a "Very Good" rather than "Excellent" rating for features.
Otherwise, I consider it perfect, one of the few programs I can say I have no reservations about recommending strongly. |
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