REVIEW: Excellent Windows Mobile download tool HandyGet released!

In my well-known article The definitive guide to downloading files, images and saving Web pages with Pocket PC-based Web Browsers (from now on: Download Bible), I’ve already elaborated on WinMobile Download Accelerator (WMDA), the, up to now, only reliable multithreaded downloader tool for the Windows Mobile platform, along with all the (non- multithreaded) tools and Web browsers.

Now, a brand new, excellent download utility, HandyGet has been released. I’ve, certainly, given it a test ride at once to see whether it’s any good.

(Please PLEASE read the Download Bible before going on because, in order to be as terse and up-to-the-point as possible, I won’t elaborate in here in which cases self-standing download tools can be useful, how they can speed up the transfer and what their problems can be. That is, if you don’t know the tests / terminology I’ve introduced in the Download Bible, you won’t likely understand this article.)

Availability

It’s available here. The application costs $19.99 and has 14-day trial with (otherwise) unrestricted functionality.

Usage

By default, it doesn’t monitor Internet Explorer downloads; this must be explicitly enabled (General / IE Monitor).

After this, it’ll intercept download requests and display the download config screen as can be seen in here (the bottom of the dialog is here) and will start downloading at once.

It, unlike WMDA, also has a log dialog, which shows the HTTP request / response headers sent (screenshot 1 (showing the request) 2 and 3 (with the response)).

It, as with WMDA, is able to resume downloads and remember the download list through restarts.

Speed tests

Lextionary test2:13; 2:50; 5:45
Fast source: withTo main storage (x51v): 91 …133kbyte/s (2 times measured); to memory card: 155 kbyte/s
WithoutTo main storage (x51v): 197…207 kbyte/s (measured 2 times)

As can clearly be seen, HandyGet excels at both the “slow-source” and the “fast-source” downloads (compare these figures to the ones in the WDMA section of the Download Bible!). The former are downloaded even faster than with WMDA and the latter only exhibit little speed hit (which is diametrically opposed to the WMDA case.)

text/plain files

(Please see section 3.1. „Content-Type"-related problems (AKA "When I click a CAB link, it's not downloaded but shown!") in the original Download Bible for more generic, not HandyGet-related information on this question!)

Of course, as the built-in Internet Explorer tries to render files like these, the execution isn’t passed to HandyGet when downloading text/plain files. In these cases, of course, you can just enter / paste the URL of the resource you’d like to save to HandyGet. An example of this can be seen here, where I’ve entered the text/plain http://www.octopus-studio.com/ETDict.mdx URL directly into the program.

Note that as with both the other download managers, it automatically copies the URL from the clipboard to the URL field. That is, if you have a link copy-capable, say, PIE plug-in, you can easily download the file even if it’s a text/plain file or you don’t allow for IEM integration.

Summary

Compared to WMDA…

Pros

1. Doesn’t use the main storage at all when downloading to cards; it seems to use an in-memory buffer (it doesn’t use any kind of temporary directory when downloading – only uses about 200 kbyte dynamic RAM for some buffering)
2. Much less speed hit than with WMDA with fast sources – there is no need to disable it at all if you download from fast sources
3. I haven’t encountered problems like WMDA’s “a 0 byte is added to the file” when downloaded
4. Allows for simultaneous downloads (this must, however, be explicitly enabled; then, you can download up to four files at the same time. Other download tasks as can also be seen in here will be paused until one of the current download is finished. It should also be pointed out that, with slow sources (see the WDMA section in the Download Bible for examples!), if you plan to download more than one file, you should enable multiple downloads – individual downloads won’t be slowed down because of this. Kudos to the developer!

Cons

1. Doesn’t make it possible to supply the referrer. This will cause problems with sites like Caiman (please see section 3.3. (Referrers passed to download? The Caiman problem) for more info in the Download Bible)
2. It doesn't let for providing the User-Agent either. This may cause some problems with some WAP sites (see for example Pathologo's comments here. (This will be fixed in post-1.1 versions.)

Verdict

Give it a try – it’s certainly better than WinMobile Download Accelerator in most respects (except for the Referer support)!

Recommended links

The Web Browsers category in the Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine Expert Blogs.

UPDATE (11/02/2006): PPCT frontpage

UPDATE (04/10/2007): Just Another Mobile Monday frontpage