Speed Download 5: Tom’s Budget Software Pick

Speed Download 5 from Yazsoft is one of the most versatile download managers available. You can use it on its own, by dragging or copying download URLs to the application, or it can watch what you’re doing in your browser and intercept any download activity.

Yazsoft: Speed Download

If you’re in the habit of using just your browser’s download capability, then your download management is probably limited to designating a single folder to hold all downloads. It doesn’t take long for this kind of catch-all folder to become hopelessly cluttered and, well, unmanageable (I speak from experience). Speed Download can organize the files you grab from the Internet by placing them into appropriate folders based on their file types. For example, it can drop applications into an applications folder, images into a pictures folder, and videos into a movies folder. Speed Download can also transfer music files to a music folder, ready to be synced with your iPod.

Speed Download also lets you control your upload and download speeds. Most of the time, you will probably want Speed Download to use as much of the available bandwidth as possible. But sometimes a large download can take up so much bandwidth that other activities come to a screeching halt. You can instruct Speed Download to limit the amount of bandwidth it uses, ensuring that you always have some bandwidth available for other activities.

Other Speed Download features include a built-in FTP client, file sharing capabilities, the ability to connect to a MobileMe account, and support for encrypted file sharing.

Speed Download is $25. A demo is available.

See other software choices from Tom’s Budget Software Picks.