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Editor’s Rating: 4.00 out of 5
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Introduction / Overview

Gigaget v1.0.0.23 - Yet another download managers launched in an already cluttered space of download managers. Giganology, the promoters of Gigaget claims it to be the next generation download manager which utilizes cutting-edge Net Grid technology that improves the download speed by 7-10 times as compared to its competitors in its class. According to Gigaget, Net Grid Technology taps the unused resources of networked PCs and servers, allowing content providers to deliver large files with faster speed.

Features

Gigaget has a simple yet powerful user interface fit for both novice and advance users. It has a very neat task manager where you can sort the downloaded file into different categories. Gigaget integrates well with almost all Internet browsers be it IE6 & 7, AOL, Opera, Firefox, Netscape etc. It has a unique error diagnosis mechanism that helps the users to find the reasons and solutions for failed downloads.

It is one of the fastest download managers we have come across in its category. We tested the software by downloading a 14MB & a 2MB file and to our surprise the 14MB file was downloaded in a record 4 minutes on an average 256kbps DSL connection but Gigaget fails to attain good download speed on 2MB files and it took almost 2 minutes to download the same. Once you start downloading any file, Gigaget automatically pops up and picks up the file. The total download progress is shown in the “drop basket” on the upper right side of the screen.

Other important feature of Gigaget is its customization options. One can set it to start automatically in background when windows start. A maximum download speed can be configured. User can also configure the software to warn him if the download cannot be resumed after pausing

If Gigaget is running in the background, it shows a small blue icon called “drop basket” on the upper right side of the screen by default. This option can be disabled by deselecting “drop basket” option from the drop down menu.

Some of the main features are:

• Ease of use, fit for both novice and advanced users.
• Fully customizable task manager. User can organize the files in different folders.
• Very Fast download speeds. Sometimes up to 800kb/sec.
• It is compatible with almost all Internet browsers.
• It supports major streaming protocols like MMS/RTSP/Flash etc.

Installation

Gigaget is compatible with all windows platforms. You can install it on all windows versions i.e., Win3.1, Win9x, WinXP, WinNT & Win2K. Installation of Gigaget is fairly simple and takes only a minute to install.

1. Download Gigaget.
2. Locate the setup file from where you have downloaded it.
3. Double click setup file to start setup. Click Next
4. Next screen will display you the agreement. Read and accept it to proceed.
5. Choose the location where you want to install the program. The default location is c:\program files\Giganology\Gigaget. Click Next
6. Click Install.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Free of cost
• Very fast download speed
• Simple & clean user interface.
• Secure data transfer. Data transfer encrypted.
• Supports streaming media protocols like Net Transport/MMS/RTSP. It also supports RTMP Protocols that is used by Macromedia Flash Media Server.
• Customizable options for more advanced users.
• Set up your maximum speed to download
• Compatible with almost all browsers

Cons

• It is supported by ads. Although not functional yet, Giganology is planninsg to start ads in near future.
• Not compatible with email attachments and FTP downloads. Does not respond when downloading attachments from web based emails.
• Not very good with downloading small files.
• Maximum speed limit can be set up to 999kbps even if you are using dedicated leased line.
• Slower response while downloading multiple files.
• Bandwidth hungry. It slows down other Internet applications while downloading files.

Conclusion

Gigaget seems to be hype. No doubt its speeds up the download but it’s not the case always. It is excellent handling larger files but disappoint while downloading smaller files, because it takes time to find alternate resources to download the file. It has its own set of negative points. Gigaget could increase the download speed if you are downloading from a slow server and if Gigaget can find mirrors with the same file. In other words, it breaks apart the file in multiple threads and download these multiple threads from separate sites simultaneously, similar to GetRight.