Comments on: I am looking for a free download accelerator/manager for Mac.

Question: I am looking for a free download accelerator/manager for Mac.

anthropoid — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:24:12 -0800

I am looking for a free download accelerator/manager for Mac.

I recently made the switch from Windows to Mac and need a download accelerator/manager. My internet connection stops momentarily every once and a while and is killing my downloads.

I love DAP, but I am not ready to spend the $30 for the Mac version and I was wondering if there are any decent, free download managers for Mac.

Already checked out this listing of download managers for Mac via this AskMeFi thread, but did not find what I was looking for.

Any ideas?

By: ncc1701d

ncc1701d — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:47:18 -0800

download wizard

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:55:22 -0800

MacUpdate is a pretty good resource for finding freeware (or shareware, or commerical demos), complete with user reviews, comments, complaints, and all with a rating system. It's helped me out in a number of similar situations (I want a thing, but not that thing).

By: anthropoid

anthropoid — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:56:39 -0800

Awesome, checking it out now.

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:58:34 -0800

Meant to add: Even if it doesn't help in this particular instance, it's a good site to bookmark.

By: stefanie

stefanie — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:09:31 -0800

If you're using Firefox, you might want to grab the DownThemAll extension.

By: daboo

daboo — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:35:34 -0800

2nd DownThemAll

By: buriedpaul

buriedpaul — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:13:46 -0800

If you decided that you want something more powerful than the free plugins, etc., I'm a pretty big fan of Speed Download 4.

By: anthropoid

anthropoid — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:17:53 -0800

Downloaded a file successfully with Download Wizard, but DownThemAll stopped the download when the internet blipped, and then started the download from the beginning instead of resuming. Weird.

Any other suggestions?

By: mathowie

mathowie — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:43:58 -0800

DownloadThemAll is buggy on a mac. Personally I use Speeddownload, which is about $30 and it works like a charm.

By: flabdablet

flabdablet — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 23:53:26 -0800

Some sites simply don't support resuming an interrupted download, regardless of which tool you're using. Brain-dead, but there it is. If there is one particular site that's always making you start the whole thing over, try looking for an alternative source for whatever it is you're trying to download.

By: anthropoid

anthropoid — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 05:16:47 -0800

Thanks flabdablet, but that's not the issue. Downloads resumed with no problem on my Thinkpad, and also are fine if I am on a connection at another location. It's not the site that's the issue it's the internet connection.

By: anthropoid

anthropoid — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 05:18:51 -0800

@ mathowie and buriedpaul: if I do end up wanting something more powerful (and costly), any particular reason to go with Speed Download instead of DAP, which I've been using for years?