| Product: |
Download Accelerator Plus |
| Date: |
05/08/01 (185 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Is effective in speeding up downloads, great search facility
Disadvantages: Interface really needs redesigning
On a 56k modem, I really didn’t expect there to be any way that I could increase the speed of my download speed from a mere drizzle of data at all, never mind to a huge torrent… That was before I laid my eyes on this latest version of Download Accelerator.
I have used other download enhancement applications before (such as Go!Zilla) none of which made any difference to download times. I even used an older version of Download Accelerator about two years ago and found it to be a bit useless. The only reason I tried it out again (now two versions along the line) was because of the praise given to it by friends recently, and even then reluctantly, expecting it to be unchanged from when I used it for the first time. I was wrong. Download Accelerator has improved significantly over the last few years and while before it was ineffective for me, now I can say truthfully that the speed at which it downloads is truly amazing. For example, I can now download mp3 files (generally around 3.5MB in size) over my dial-up connection in about 10 minutes as opposed to half an hour before.
Aside from the noteworthy acceleration of download speeds, the latest version also has other welcome features. Integrated into DA is full download listing and categorisation support. Even more impressive is its ability to automatically disconnect AND optionally shutdown after all downloads have completed. This is a really practical feature which means you can leave your computer downloading a large file overnight and your computer will automatically shutdown when its finished. It can also resume downloads from sites which support resume (not unusual in a download enhancement app) but where Download Accelerator really is unique is in its ability to resume even if the download is from a non-resumable site using its AutoResume feature – really useful if you have a dial-up connection like me that is always failing :)
Finally, a hidden gem within Download Ac
celerator that goes unnoticed by many is its excellent integrated search function. This allows you to search for specific types of files using applicable search terms. These search utilities run through your browser, but are designed specifically for use with Download Accelerator meaning that each listed file is specifically designed to take full advantage of the acceleration features provided by the app. There are several file category searches available, all of which are extremely extensive and very effective, but my favourite has to be the mp3 file search, which seems to find many more results than most ‘regular’ mp3 search engines.
I haven’t seen how Download Accelerator runs on broadband connections, but I am in no doubt that it is just as effective (seeing as there are special options built into the program that are aimed specifically at users of broadband).
Summary:
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