Lidan Download Accelerator

DOWNLOAD MANIA

Download…Download…download….this is the maximum we do when we are on the Internet. The survey shows that out of the total time on net, people spend 75% of the time on download. And this is one of the most of important aspect of Internet. The kind of connection we have we need a miracle object which can help us download thinks as fast as possible. As usual like everyone I tried many permutations and combinations, mean tried many utilities and finally found a stable one.

After spending plenty of time and money on the Internet, I am wary of any product that claims to do anything ’’300%’’ better than what I have now. Usually my PC is so tweaked out already that programs that may yield a 200% percent increase for others do nothing for me. It also resumes files and supports a multiple download list. Go!zilla and Getright move over, there’s a new king in town…

THE APPLICATION

Download Accelerator Plus is small (927kb) and free downloads. Rotating advertisements that appear at the top of the program window and the top of any download windows that you may be using supports it. It integrates with Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator versions 4.x and above. It not only speeds up downloads but it also supports resuming, mirrors searches, and error recovery.

Mirror Searching. This feature finds all of the mirrored sites you can download the specific file from and it will show which site has the lowest latency (PING)

INSTALLATION

The program is simple to install and use. I set it up so that it would catch clicks in IE whenever a download was available.

’’ Note that this will require a reboot for proper functionality. ’’

DAP also features a ’’download basket’’. This is a small window that sits on top of your workspace and allows you to drag ’n drop links onto it which will then initiate the download process. This was my preferred way of doing things as I became familiar with the software. DAP caught my downloads about %80 of the time in IE. It seemed to have problems recognizing .zip files but that may be just an isolated incident with my PC.

DOWNLOADING

After initiating download, the software gives the user the option of downloading right away or adding the file to their download list for later use. After the first download begins is when most users notice an amazing difference in speeds. In my case it increased a download from around 1.5k on a 56kb modem to 4.5k on that same modem.

Speedbit claims that ’’Our users reports up to 300% FASTER downloads(*). Download Accelerator uses unique algorithms to achieve this results.’’

Essentially what this software does is create multiple connections with 4 servers all containing a mirror of the same file. It then uses an algorithm to divide the file into sections and then allow each server to retrieve its respective part of the file.

OTHER FEATURES

Download Accelerator Plus also has other useful features such as hanging up when a download is complete, a built in search engine and virus scan that looks like it is on its way. It also comes with an Easy Update program that will automatically look for a newer version of Download Accelerator.

By using DAP users sacrifice a few features found in other downloading applications. There is no option to shut down your PC after a download or to disconnect or shut off at a specified time. DAP was not as reliable as other programs in catching clicks but this is probably due to its beta status. It would be a nice OPTION for true power users who do not wish to be hassled with the

banner ads to be able to purchase an unhindered version.

REAL TESTING

To check this out, I tried some stunts with my dial up connection at home.

Firstly I tried downloading 2programs with and without download accelerator

With DAP

Time taken: 5hrs .10min (Thanks to ETH giving me a continuous connection, Failed 4 times with VSNL) (Indeed, I really needed lot of patience to wait for that much time)

So you can see that, this application does make a difference.

CONCLUSION

Overall, other than a few small flaws that will probably be ironed out in testing DAP is MUST HAVE. It will truly revolutionize those long downloading sessions many of us endure. It is sure to become the default program for handling large cumbersome files over the web.