FastPCTools’ Fast-Video-Downloader-v3.1.0.63-2020-05-03 for me is functional, has some aware maturity – kudos, and yet, has a way to go to get to v4 …
Good:
– it works, so far, for me, mostly getting YouTube, and getting way more results than free alternative AbelsSoft YSD YouTube Song Downloader ( which also gets videos, not just songs – FastPCTools Fast Video Downloader can convert to MP3, but does not appear to make both a video and audio copy at the same time, and does not say if it tags songs, and certainly not albums, the way AbelsSoft Youtube Song Downloader does ),
– seems to keep track of already downloaded stuff and stuff in process, so it pops up an “are you sure” about any attempts to download again ( I do not know if this is from it’s own list, such that if we rename or move a video that has already been downloaded, what does this software know about prior downloads? ),
– it offers a list of “sizes” available for some videos so we can select our preferred “720” or “1080” resolution or “small” “medium” “large” file size,
– searching seems to produce an endless volume of results – kudos,
– shows a total number of something on the download tab name,
– seems stable and functional even on a resource-shy old Intel Centrino Duo processor ( 2400×2 Dell laptop, Windows 7 64 Pro, 4 GB RAM ) at the same time that I am browsing with Google Chrome with 55 tabs browser open ( does anyone have a better tab history and queue resource? ).
Needs work:
– please make all windows resizable, we have BIG screens,
– please make tabs appear as windows side by side so we can see everything happening in the program at once, that is, when I add a video to download, I want to immediately see it go into the download progress list, all visible on screen at the same time, we have BIG screens,
– please provide smarter options to reduce the program popping up subsequent repetitive questions, for example, I want best quality up to 720, so if a video also offers 1080, don’t ask me if I really want 1080, just accept my prior preferences to downsample and down-convert for anything that only offers 1080,
– make the little red round circle showing total-something to be more meaningful, such as instead of just one number like ( 175 ), whatever that means over time, instead show maybe red, yellow, and green circles, like automotive traffic control lights, such as
– – red = stopped or paused or in queue or failed ( 100 ),
– – yellow = in process of downloading and or converting ( 50 ),
– – green = ready to go, completed ( 25 ),
– add the ability to toggle selection of any list as all-on or all-off, such as when downloading a playlist, let us select all rather than us having to click each item … wait a minute, STOP THE PRESSES, I just discovered that if I RIGHT-CLICK on such a list, suddenly such a menu as I ask for pops up in SOME places – kudos, but make it more obvious that such options are available, such as at the top of any column, the way other programs do, and add such an all-on / all-off toggle everywhere,
– and the ability to select by criteria, such as select all completed, or select all in process, or select all failed, and then do something specific like pause, save for later, export to list, delete, remove from list, try again, search again, search elsewhere, and so on,
– details, details, details, we LOVE details, so please do tell us everything you can possibly know, such as resolution, bit rates, length, color depth, location on the web, location on our disk, names in titles, let us search, sort, and select among the information available, and then let us do something with the results,
– and, like Musicbrains Picard for music, and IMDB Internet Movie Data Base for movies, is there anyone ( FastPCTools, for example? ) who is developing an accessible database with fingerprint identifiers, such as … intelligently looking for titles at the beginning, …looking for the Movie Industry serial number code number at the end ( sometimes blurry, but I can figure it out, then I look it up at places like [ https ://www. filmsonsuper8. com/censorship/mpaa-film-numbers-52000.html ] for example ), and so on, so we can start to properly and coordinatedly identify what we’ve got in our movie and video libraries, and help others know and identify what they’ve got, and add library science to all of this?
I observed/experienced NO problems, failures, misrepresentations – kudos to FastPCTools.
Value:
Is FastPCTools Fast Video Downloader, at $60 per year, worth more than free alternatives?
Well, their programming to keep it working across many different websites that constantly change their access schemes does really require that FastPCTools invest constant attention to keep their Fast Video Downloader program working, so ongoing payments to the programmers food-and-rent-fund ( at least ) makes sense somehow.
But they have to get copies in our hands, and keep those copies in our hands, whether we pay or not.
So, perhaps they could make downloads from YouTube always free, as a come-on, in order to keep their program under our fingertips, the way AbelsSoft YouTube Song Downloader does, with free updates forever as YouTube keeps changing at their end … but then FastPCTools could increment other sources, and features, as paid-subscription up to whatever level FastPCTools considers market-savvy – I’m just exploring marketing ideas here.
But, it is not worth paying for to me, because I have alternatives, and they have no control over that.
I have already compensated for many shortcoming and compromises in this and other programs by using a variety of alternatives, and more than just the Internet, including Cox Cable ( -w-a-y- more than $60 per year ), Netflix ( again, -w-a-y- more than $60 per year, but some DVDs just don’t show up elsewhere ), plus my local libraries ( FREE – I have 40+ libraries near me, including the US LOC Library Of Congress, and I have my LOC Reader’s Card on me all the time for uninterrupted access! ), so I will use this program free on occasion when it’s faster and easier than alternatives, and I will offer my recommendations to others, including reviews here at SOS and elsewhere ( that’s my payment, you’re welcome ).
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Codicil: part of my personal goal of how I want to be in the world is to strive for inclusivity for everyone worldwide to have equivalent consideration and access to the same resources, where some of us, like me, trade reviews for gratis-software, hoping to make the programmers better and better, and some of us can only get some of this fee-based software legitimately at places like SOS, either way, I treasure and support SOS with whatever I can, and I salute the community here.
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