Advice Request Any real IDM alternative in 2022?

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Deletedmessiah

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Try XDM FREE AND OPEN SOURCE

The new versions won't have the same video capture like old one.

1663827876739.png


I can't blame the developer. Too much work for free but its not like IDM anymore.
File centipede is the best free IDM like download manager now except for the issue I mentioned above. It can even download hls videos.
 

amitkumargiri

Level 1
Mar 13, 2022
44
Try this free and support hls video download
The new versions won't have the same video capture like old one.

View attachment 269476

I can't blame the developer. Too much work for free but its not like IDM anymore.
File centipede is the best free IDM like download manager now except for the issue I mentioned above. It can even download hls videos.
 

Deletedmessiah

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Try this free and support hls video download
I'm not looking for recommendations. Sorry for confusion. I was just sharing my findings in previous comments.
Last time I tried Neat I had some issues I forgot now. I'll test it again someday.
Edit: That someday turned out to be today. I remembered my issue last time. Neat didn't allow to use any directory you like as temorary download. It was C. Bad for someone who uses both SSD and HDD. Now it has the option and I can set it to HDD.
 
Last edited:
F

ForgottenSeer 77194

Does any of these pre-allocate disk space and write directly to it. IDM creates temporary files when downloading the parts and then joins them (rebuilding phase). For large files (over 1 GB) it takes a lot of time, and it is unresponsive.
 

Deletedmessiah

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Does any of these pre-allocate disk space and write directly to it. IDM creates temporary files when downloading the parts and then joins them (rebuilding phase). For large files (over 1 GB) it takes a lot of time, and it is unresponsive.
File centipede does that. Jdownloader too but its a lot different from IDM.
Neat and XDM works just like IDM.
 
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amitkumargiri

Level 1
Mar 13, 2022
44
G
I'm not looking for recommendations. Sorry for confusion. I was just sharing my findings in previous comments.
Last time I tried Neat I had some issues I forgot now. I'll test it again someday.
Edit: That someday turned out to be today. I remembered my issue last time. Neat didn't allow to use any directory you like as temorary download. It was C. Bad for someone who uses both SSD and HDD. Now it has the option and I can set it to HDD.
Got it bro......
 
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Deletedmessiah

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The new versions won't have the same video capture like old one.

View attachment 269476

I can't blame the developer. Too much work for free but its not like IDM anymore.
File centipede is the best free IDM like download manager now except for the issue I mentioned above. It can even download hls videos.
XDM developer changed his mind and adding back video detection feature. Good news.

1664552277622.png
 

jackuars

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So, my timeline with various download managers looks like this, at least the ones that I stuck with more than 6 months
IDM->Eagleget->XDM->Download Ninja->File Centipede->Neat Download Manager

There were numerous other download managers that I used to test in between for writing reviews on Gizmo's Freeware. Very few impressed me during the time that I was on Windows and then went on with Linux distro hopping hunt.

When I chose a download manager, I placed importance on these features mostly in this order: -
  • download acceleration,
  • media grabbing ability in browser,
  • extension integration with custom browsers (even non-popular)
  • ability to resume broken downloads & refreshing expired links
  • batch downloading feature
  • ability to create multiple download queues
  • drag n drop file download tasks precedence within UI (when internet speed was slower)
  • categorizing downloaded files
  • scheduling downloads
Various other features like protocol support, export/import, exclusion/inclusion list, speed limiter, multiple mirrors, site manager, proxy support, virus checking etc. were also important.

In the past IDM provided most of these features with few exceptions, but then Eagleget came along and stole the show, providing all of these features for free. When Eagleget turned ad-ware and it's development ceased, an open-source alternative in XDM came along and I was a happy man because it worked beautifully even on Linux. However, its queuing system and usability wasn't as good as Eagleget, it's UI didn't provide drag n drop download precedence, it's development nearly stopped, and it was taking more resources than other alternatives. Then came Download Ninja, but it quickly turning into a paid software and it's development stopped since.

Then I started sacrificing my must-have feature list, because none of them that came after the above 4 provided me with as many features or usability as in the past. Now I've settled with Neat Download Manager for time being for the past 6 months or so, until a good one comes along. It doesn't have many flashy features of it's predecessors, but it works fine. Maybe I'll go back to XDM in due time.

If IDA (Internet Download Accelerator) decide to modernize itself for current generation I might consider using it. It's as old as IDM and still getting updates. Is latest versions of FDM worth trying out now?
 
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monkeylove

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The DL speed for Neat is fast, but videos in 1080p I download from YT keeps skipping in various players.
 
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amirr

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Neat download manager combines file parts :(
I downloaded a 4GB windows ISO and it combined after downloading
In the website of Neat, I read this:
  • Uses an optimized Dynamic Segmentation Algorithm.
But I did not find any setting to disable it.
 

Vasudev

Level 33
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Nov 8, 2014
2,247
I use Uget and uget integrations addon in firefox. In windows the interceptor is a hit or miss but in linux its working fine.
 

Evjl's Rain

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In the website of Neat, I read this:
  • Uses an optimized Dynamic Segmentation Algorithm.
But I did not find any setting to disable it.
I use free download manager because it does not combine parts.
afaik, there is no way to disable it in neat. Realistically, it's not optimized as they claim
 
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jackuars

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I use free download manager because it does not combine parts.
afaik, there is no way to disable it in neat. Realistically, it's not optimized as they claim
Neat has a long way to go in terms of its customisation capabilities and optimization. If it still keeps getting updates and more features are added, its a promising download manager.
 
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amirr

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I use free download manager because it does not combine parts.
afaik, there is no way to disable it in neat. Realistically, it's not optimized as they claim
Thanks, then I will use free download manager because it does not combine parts.

Should I change a setting for that in FDM?
 

Evjl's Rain

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Neat has a long way to go in terms of its customisation capabilities and optimization. If it still keeps getting updates and more features are added, its a promising download manager.
I agree. However, if Neat still causes high disk activity after downloading, it's not worth it
 
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jackuars

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I agree. However, if Neat still causes high disk activity after downloading, it's not worth it
I think there's an advantage to dynamic and multiple segmentation, with faster download speeds and ability to resume download links and refresh expired links. So I think the disk usage after downloading is going to be compensated by lesser disk usage time during downloads due to faster download.

With current internet speeds, however it's hard to see any noticeable differences in download speeds to be honest, unless it's for very large files, where dynamic multiple segments plays a great role.
 

Evjl's Rain

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I think there's an advantage to dynamic and multiple segmentation, with faster download speeds and ability to resume download links and refresh expired links. So I think the disk usage after downloading is going to be compensated by lesser disk usage time during downloads due to faster download.

With current internet speeds, however it's hard to see any noticeable differences in download speeds to be honest, unless it's for very large files, where dynamic multiple segments plays a great role.
no, with free download manager or eagleget, they creates multiple connections but don't take time to combine parts. They place parts next to each other and combine them within no time. Neat, IDM or other download managers place parts randomly on the disk and combine after finishing. Easily noticed by my computer freezing when they are combining with significant spike in disk usage. This has never happened with EG and FDM
 

roger_m

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If IDA (Internet Download Accelerator) decide to modernize itself for current generation I might consider using it. It's as old as IDM and still getting updates. Is latest versions of FDM worth trying out now?
I use IDA for some downloads and it's typically slower than other download managers.
 
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