Someone reviewed v on Jul 5, 2022

Pros: 555

Cons: 555

Bottom Line: 555

Betanoob reviewed v6.5 Beta 4 on Jun 11, 2014

4 bucks /mo. GTFO

aszure reviewed v5.0 Beta 7 on Oct 25, 2011

Umm...why did BETANEWS post a BETA? Beats me

borisf98 reviewed v5.0 Beta 1 on Jan 26, 2011

Not sure why betanews posted beta version without posting latest stable version 4.0. It is the best paid Usergroup reader/leecher on the market today. It is much faster and has much more features than previous 3.9 version.

roj reviewed v5.0 Beta 1 on Jan 25, 2011

Definitely not worth it.

Poorly written
Database can't handle load (deadly slow on my quad core and crashes regularly once it reaches a certain size with the oh-so-familiar "application bug error")
Poor threading
Horrendously slow search engine when viewing headers
Interface bugs in general that are never fixed from version to version
Draconian and invasive copy protection scheme that thoroughly pollutes the Registry and hinges on a "phone home" policy

It's also a vehicle for selling his search engine which is a ripoff in light of free or extremely low priced (NZBMatrix costs $12US for ten years) indexing services.

I'm a former customer and I say "not with YOUR money".

ONE star.

The Seeker 11 reviewed v5.0 Beta 1 on Jan 25, 2011

If you're specifically looking for a paid newsreader, this is probably your best bet. However, with the free alternatives out there (Unzbin, SABnzbd etc) coupled with NZB search sites, is there really a reason to pay?

zxen reviewed v3.9 on Feb 12, 2009

This used to be a great piece of software. It did have some bugs and developers slowly but surely fixed them. However not much has happened with it in months and may see the end of it soon.

Pros:
Easy to use interface. Excellent design and simplicity and the included Supersearch is...or was the best around.

Cons:
Supersearch was certainly worth the monthly/yearly subscription. Sadly in the last few months it's had outages lasting days a week. With little to no communication from the software's developers regarding the outages has left many customers miffed.

Bottom Line:
Was once a great piece of software. The interface was easy to use and had many useful features.
All in all: Not worth paying for and certainly not compared to cheaper or even free offerings out there. Button Line, unless it miraculously recovers from its recent failings I'd say avoid this piece of software.

Undesired Username reviewed v3.9 on Nov 10, 2008

Roj is right. This is and always has been buggy crap with a (somewhat) pretty face. It's astonishing that someone could use software like this and either not notice, or not mind, its poor quality.

oleb reviewed v3.9 on Jun 11, 2008

Roj, you're the one who needs a good slapping! Constantly whining like the little girl all over BN. Please STFU.

roj reviewed v3.9 on Jun 5, 2008

What a piece of pure unadulterated CRAP (and this is different from other releases how?)

A friend of mine downloads this garbage (a registered owner - he paid for this junk) and it eats his 20 million header database.

I download this (a registered owner whose license has expired) and it comes up with "your trial period has expired... THE FIRST TIME I LAUNCH IT AFTER INSTALLING THE NEW VERSION!

Hell, I didn't even get a chance to try it - and now I don't want to. I haven't even used it yet and this greedy (expletive deleted) is whining and snivelling for money.

The author needs a b**** slap - this is just more typical poorly written and even more poorly tested code from this moron.

ONE star.

Here's a solution that really works:

Download Grabit. Create an account with nzbmatrix and pay them their 7 Pounds (about $11) for the TEN YEAR subscription. You don;'t need newsleecher's POS database, you have multithreaded downloads and automatic binary assembly and repair.

And it's all free (or nearly so depending on whether you want to go to 900+ day retention beyond the 20 days of nzbmatrix that's offered with the free accounts) and more importantly you don;t have to put up with stupid bugs, incredibly invasive copy protection schemes and yearly EXTORTION for fixes that never ever materialize.

@oleb:

As you can see darling, others also call a spade a spade. I provide working solutions, not lil' fanboi schoolyard tantrums in favor of a ripoff.

pedigree reviewed v3.9 Beta 14 on Mar 21, 2008

Getting better, still a lot of bugs, ranging from mostly annoying to a couple that will start deleting files. Using the RAR/Extract system on a large file system causes download speeds to crater. Give them another couple of months and they might get most fo them sorted out, making it usable. Until then, its Newsbin Pro for me still

Reverb reviewed v3.9 Beta 14 on Mar 21, 2008

It does have a few minor bugs thus the 4 rating but none are show-stoppers and is one of the top 2 Usenet clients for retrieving binaries I have tried. (Newsbin Pro is also excellent but I prefer NewsLeecher's interface). Fastest sorting of retrieved headers, import/export NZB files and built-in PAR support. Don't take my word for it - sign up for any NZB indexing site and see for your self which are the top 2 binary newsreaders used.

The only feature missing is support for text articles so you will have to use a different newsreader for that.

asmithz reviewed v3.9 Beta 14 on Mar 20, 2008

armpit doesn't know anything, and is weak sauce. this is the experts newsgroups reader not a newbs.

armpit reviewed v3.9 Beta 14 on Mar 20, 2008

Unstable, full of bugs and useless "features". Do yourself a favor and try alt.binz

davana reviewed v3.9 Beta 14 on Mar 20, 2008

Still the best! Nothing even remotely comes close. The bugs are realitvly minor. Works perfect for me!

inight reviewed v3.9 Beta 13 on Mar 12, 2008

Thirteen(!) betas of new features while known, longstanding bugs remain??? This product needs a major code freeze on new features and a focus on FIXING long standing bugs and issues that have been around for ages. If that were done this could easily become a 5-star app and I'd be the first to give it that rating. As it stands, I cannot recommend this at all and won't be renewing my license beyond this year. It also doesn't help that some of the ridiculous number of beta releases have remained up for months on end with various excuses. Combine that with the 1-year subscription fee to download new betas, er, releases and you have a serious problem.

aszure reviewed v3.9 Beta 13 on Feb 8, 2008

Been a paying user of newsleecher for about 2 years now. I wont lie, the program has its issues. But it still works fantastic, and does the job better than most, if not all, usenet clients. Not sure why the ratings are so low.

Plus their licensing scheme is fairly interesting too. You can "rent" the program with the supersearch for like $3 a month.

roj reviewed v3.9 Beta 13 on Feb 7, 2008

Why are you surprized?

The bozo who devs this app (which by the way I am a registered owner of since 2.x) has ALWAYS done "business" this way. There are bugs in thus thing going back to the initial 3.x release.

He's all about golly-gee-whiz features, some of which aren't even necessary like SuperSearch (there is a FREE version of that on the web at www.binsearch.net) and other gadfly stuff but the BUGS never get fixed.

It's still an I/O hog. It still has a big-assed memory leak. It still chugs on occasion - even on an Athlon64 AM2 6000+ w/4Gb RAM - because the threading model stinks.

This is by far the worst developed app I use.

The only thing that keeps me using it is the fact that despite all the CRAP in it, it does the job with huge groups better than anything else.

ONE star for a dev that needs a good hard kick you-know-where.

Vimes reviewed v3.9 Beta 13 on Feb 7, 2008

I agree with baarsel as getting to the position of beta 13 in the 3.9 series is ridiculous. Features are being implemented at the expense of resolving some of the long standing ones.
It is relatively expensive for what it does do compared to others for sale, or free.

baarsel reviewed v3.9 Beta 13 on Feb 7, 2008

I started using this program two years ago, but I'm not extending my license this time. This is the 13th beta for the 3.9 series, and it seems that new functions are added to the program, but old bugs are ignored. Take a look at the Newsleecher forums for example, more and more people seem to complain. I'm using SABnzbd+ for some time now, and it's easy to use, simple and very effective. Okay, it doesn't include SuperSearch (or something like that), but it's free, and hey... you can search with binsearch.net, for example! I think NewsLeecher might be a bit overrated. After all: most of the functionality is offered by other (less heavy and far cheaper or even free) programs, and you are mostly paying for the ability to use SuperSearch.

Diam0nd reviewed v3.9 Beta 13 on Feb 7, 2008

#1 usenet client if you're into this kinda ghey stuff. http://www.altbinz.com/ is looking good, BUT still far away from this babe.

fourbigoo reviewed v3.9 Beta 11 on Jan 10, 2008

too expensive

considering alt.binz and grabit are free and provide much the same functionality (NBZ, integrated search, par2 checking and unpacking)

stisev reviewed v3.9 Beta 11 on Dec 30, 2007

Still the best as of 12/30/07, but I agree that alt.binz (www.altbinz.com) is progressing fast! Still not there yet!

armpit reviewed v3.9 Beta 11 on Nov 27, 2007

Not bad but alt.binz (www.altbinz.com) is becoming better and better at a much faster rate than newsleecher.

ritubpant reviewed v3.9 Beta 8 on Sep 10, 2007

Good program but it would be nice if it was free, nevertheless it is a good progeam and as for me it was worth every penny.

*mj* reviewed v3.9 Beta 7 on Aug 23, 2007

Worth every penny, Just keeps getting better and better.

Kolano reviewed v3.9 Beta 7 on Aug 22, 2007

Great program, it's Repair'n'Extract functionality (automated PAR repair, and RAR/ZIP extraction) is invaluable.

I believe this version fixes a memory leak present in the prior beta.

Jeavis reviewed v3.9 Beta 6 on Aug 20, 2007

Great program. But it should be free. Grabit is just as good and is free.

Reverb reviewed v3.9 Beta 6 on Aug 4, 2007

This is definitely the premier Usenet app! I have tried many others and this by far is in a class of it's own. Not particularly suited for text articles but for binaries NewLeecher owns!!!

I heard http://www.altbinz.com/ is supposed to be almost on par with NewLeecher but after having installed, testing exhaustively, uninstalling about 6 usenet clients on my PC someone else can take it from here.

FYI I have tried Agent 3.x, Agent 4.x, Xnews, Newsbin Pro, Newsman Pro, and Ultraleecher .

JeremyP reviewed v3.9 Beta 6 on Aug 4, 2007

Well, installed the trial version, only for it to tell me the trial had already expired. Good one.

Next?

ballyhairs reviewed v3.9 Beta 6 on Aug 3, 2007

The best in its kind

christoofar reviewed v3.9 Beta 6 on Aug 3, 2007

Not sure what the low raters problems are, but I've been using it (as a registered user)for quite a while, and nothing else comes close. It sucks down binary like a vacuumn cleaner, the SuperSearch feature works a treat, & it uses minimal resources on my modest PC. The premiere app for d/ling usenet

zridling reviewed v3.9 Beta 6 on Aug 3, 2007

Not sure what the hell you guys are talking about with resource use. I've been running NewsLeecher full-tilt for almost four days without a reboot and it's using only 32M of memory and 3 CPU cycles. Stop the lies or buy some more memory.

Dixon_Butz reviewed v3.9 Beta 6 on Aug 3, 2007

Works perfect here! Been a registered user for years. Stability is great for me! Mem and cpu useage is low. A few bugs in the here and there, no big deal. People that have problems probably need more ram, or a better pc. I use dual monitor and have it running while playing world of warcraft. There isn't a program that comes close to newsleecher.

roj reviewed v3.9 Beta 2 on May 27, 2007

This thing is a poorly written, bug-ridden, improperly tested mess. It suffers from sporadic memory leaks and CPU hogging, progress boxes that fail to remove themselves once the operation is completed, remaining stubbornly superimposed over other apps on one's desktop and a development pace that far outstrips stability to name just a few things. The author focuses on new features and selling his Super Search functionality far more than on developing an app with smoothly running solid code. Serious bugs such as the memory leak and CPU hoggin span multiple releases and remain unresolved after at least five versions of the program. The copy protection scheme it uses is invasive and prone to issues, such as on occasion demanding a new license key even when a perfectly valid one has been entered previously. To top it all off, it commands a cadillac price.

All of these issues pertain to both the beta and final versions of the app, between which there is absolutely NO distinguishable difference as far as quality of code is concerned. You as a customer are paying for beta code labelled as a final product due to the level of effort being put into QA.

Note that I have been a registered user of this app since version 2.3 so I am well qualified to make the statements that I have and will suffer no foolishness from fanboiz.

So, at the end of the day, why use this debacle at all? Because when it runs without incident (which is a good 70% of the time), it runs well and no other application in its niche can handle large binary groups with the alacrity of this program. However, if I were the author, I would be embarassed to put my name on such a shoddily maintained and architected piece of code and ashamed to rip people off with the price tag charged for QA levels that only Corel could rival.

I give this app TWO stars for the fact that it can actually deliver what it claims and a slap in the face to the author for insulting his customers with every poorly architected and tested new release.

zipzip reviewed v3.9 Beta 2 on Apr 20, 2007

New improved Newsleecher - with SSL - is a great application if you've got the resources to use it.

And you need a lot. The newer versions - 3.7 onwards - use gobloads of CPU power. I have a dual core Athlon with 1gb of ram, and Newsleecher slows down my machine significantly.

It's a real pain. More time needs to be spent optimising the code than adding new features.

stisev reviewed v3.9 Beta 2 on Mar 17, 2007

Best usenet client ever coded. Hands down.

The only drawback is the fact that the author has bundled Armadillo -- a very powerful antipiracy system with the software. It's not a big deal, IMO.

This is easily the best news client ever

armpit reviewed v3.9 Beta 2 on Mar 17, 2007

Excellent interface, excellent settings layout, Repair'n'Extract works fantastic. At $20 it is cheap.

Raysy reviewed v3.8 on Feb 22, 2007

Great app, very comfortable and a nice interface! Get it, if you can afford it.

SquirrelSF reviewed v3.8 on Feb 14, 2007

using 3.9 beta 1 on Vista RTM and it's so much better than using Windows Mail!!!

ballyhairs reviewed v3.8 Beta 9 on Jan 17, 2007

The best

zridling reviewed v3.8 Beta 9 on Jan 17, 2007

Add a Linux version, too, and it would own it since more people are using Ubuntu now than OS X!

hondaman reviewed v3.8 Beta 8 on Jan 6, 2007

Best by a mile. Cheap bas****s complaining about how much it costs, go get a job. Seriously. Its 20.00 If you cant afford that, just kill yourself.

All it needs is OSX support, and it will dominate the world.

iced reviewed v3.8 Beta 8 on Jan 6, 2007

i dont like this because it is a good app but i cant find any cracks for these newer ones. so i keep using newsbin which has nice cracks. and the other guy who said to use grabit cos its free, dont listen to him. grabit isnt even worth free cos its so crappy with its one thread per file and extremely slow hdd lagging decode methodes.. yea go get newbin with crack, seems only 5.3 with crack works hopefully 5.33 will have crack soon

Capn_Tripz reviewed v3.8 Beta 8 on Jan 6, 2007

This is a great app and one I pay yearly for. I personally think it is the best and I've used most, if not all, for file leeching. That's all it is really good for (binaries.) However, the 3.8 series have pretty much been a disaster. It will get fixed and the reason for the explosion is mostly related to Vista compatibility. It will get fixed, but right now it is one bad mess. Stick with the release, not the beta. IF you do go with the beta, don't go farther than 3.8b6.

kooshini reviewed v3.8 Beta 8 on Jan 6, 2007

This app is ok, however why pay when u can get Grabit for free?

http://www.shemes.com/

zridling reviewed v3.8 Beta 8 on Jan 5, 2007

Point well spoken, iNsuRRecTiON; thanks.

iNsuRRecTiON reviewed v3.8 Beta 7 on Jan 5, 2007

Hey,

@zridling

you're not right, I bought Ultraleecher, http://www.ultraleecher.com to support the coder/author, because forum and email support and feedback is great and fast!
And because UltraLeecher have much pontential and better price politics..
I get UL+US (UltraSearch indexing service) for only 15 USD with free lifetime upgrades!
After the final first version is out, you will get for only 23 USD 2 year upgrades.. :)

I don't say Newsleecher is bad, but too much cost for too less!

best regards,

iNsuRRectiON

PS: Happy new year! :) :-P

treworld reviewed v3.8 Beta 7 on Dec 20, 2006

The best newsgroup leeching program out there. Worth the $20 registration fee. Way better than any P2P program or downloading from Rapidshare.

constust reviewed v3.8 Beta 6 on Nov 15, 2006

Much better than Newbin and the author isn't a jerk like Newsbins is.

zridling reviewed v3.8 Beta 5 on Oct 30, 2006

Man, if $20 is too much for you to afford for a good program, then you need never review any shareware, period.

iNsuRRecTiON reviewed v3.8 Beta 3 on Oct 28, 2006

Hey,

if you select an premium unlimited flat with giganews then you get this for free and it is cool and great. (That would be 5)

But if you buy it sole and with SS it's too pricy, so only 3 of 5.

best regards,

iNsuRRecTiON

gate1975mlm reviewed v3.8 Beta 3 on Sep 20, 2006

NewsLeecher Rules Looking forward to 4.0

zridling reviewed v3.8 Beta 3 on Sep 20, 2006

Be warned: NewsLeecher is about to get a lot better in 4.0. But this program has made so much progress in the 3.x version it's astounding. Nothing else comes close right now to its overall quality.

deadmonkey reviewed v3.8 Beta 3 on Sep 20, 2006

Excellent program however it is only $20 if you want just the application. If you want super search (which I don't as I use another service) it is $30. Great value for money IMHO. The developer is damn good at what he does, this is one of the best applications I have ever used.

ballyhairs reviewed v3.8 Beta 3 on Sep 20, 2006

One of the first programmes I install everytime I format.... I love it

hondaman reviewed v3.8 Beta 3 on Sep 20, 2006

Still a bit pricey, but as far as newsreaders go, this is as good as it gets.

-Lord- reviewed v3.8 Beta 2 on Sep 1, 2006

It's good software. It's replaced all of my other ng readers. I wish they'd include a RECENT screen shot of the CURRENT version, rather than just plain old version 1...

zridling reviewed v3.8 Beta 2 on Sep 1, 2006

That's actually one of the best endorsements I've read in a long time.

jasajoh reviewed v3.7 on Jul 5, 2006

Why pay for something you can get for free...right? I have been doing this since I purchased windows 95 floppy disks way back when.

Needless to say, I downloaded a cracked copy of v. 3.7

I loved it so much, I actually forked over $38 CAD for the product. I am thrilled with it. Memory usage does not jump higher than 10 MB, downloading articles and headers. NewsBin Pro 4.x and 5.x cannot claim this. Super Search is a very good feature lacking from most distros. All-in-all, I will continue to be a pirate. But, this is the FIRST piece of software tht I have paid for in over 10 years. It's gotta say something!

zridling reviewed v3.7 on Jun 21, 2006

Good points below. Progress made in 3.5 and 3.7 are what finally weaned me off of NewsBin Pro and Xnews. All-around excellent app.

wickedfeel reviewed v3.7 on Jun 21, 2006

I've been using Newsleecher for about 16 months now. I love it. I do wish they would incorporate more advanced search and discovery features like the powerful Usenet Explorer does, but newsleecher is still great in keeping things simple & fast.

roj reviewed v3.5 on Jun 7, 2006

With this final 3.5 release, the author of NewsLeecher has finally redeemed himself for the debacle that was 3.0. He has turned out a quality product that has been tested properly and is not yet another exercise of "rampant new featuritis at the expense of fixing old bugs". The software is starting to mature.

The code is fast and stable. The interface does need work as it suffers from trying to stuff ten pounds of features into a five pound bag but it can be gotten used to. The price is still a little on the high side but now the software actually is very close to living up to it. It got me to ditch the 2.3 release (the only previous version that was actually worth its salt in terms of stability and workable features) and move lock, stock and barrel to this new version.

A very well done to the author and most of all to the user community that refused to accept the previous method of developement iterated above and insisted on bugs being fixed and proper QA.

FIVE stars for a sterling piece of code that finally lives up to its champagne price tag. It is utterly indispensible to serious Usenet pillagers.

shrink57 reviewed v3.5 on Jun 3, 2006

I hate paying for software but this was definitely money well spent. It does its job and it does it well.

hondaman reviewed v3.5 on Jun 1, 2006

The best.

Period.

zridling reviewed v3.5 on Jun 1, 2006

Lots of little bugs were corrected in the 3.5 betas and heck, the SuperSearch feature alone is such a big time and money saver. Add customizable keyboard shortcuts and I'd die happy.

Caveat: if you're not the patient and test-oriented type, don't dive into NewsLeecher's betas; instead just stick to final versions.

borisf98 reviewed v3.5 Beta 9 on May 14, 2006

Everything was perfect until beta 8. My recommendation: get beta 7 or even earlier version and enjoy near perfect newsgroup downloader.

zridling reviewed v3.5 Beta 9 on May 9, 2006

If you're a daring Beta tester, this is a solid version to hang with for a while.

rijp reviewed v3.5 Beta 9 on May 9, 2006

I am with Forgie on this one, this is one software package, I encourage, and I have a license for.. Kinda ironic considering its used to download games and software from NewsGroups.. :)

But it is very good software.

jcanutes reviewed v3.5 Beta 8 on Apr 26, 2006

Absolutely love it. Have never had a problem with any of the beta versions.

zridling reviewed v3.5 Beta 8 on Apr 26, 2006

For those new to NewsLeecher, beware of its beta versions and know what you're getting into. They are not always stable, and as a beta, you really should be willing to help test the software and provide feedback. If not, go to their website, download the last stable version, and enjoy. I still can't figure out why no Help File has ever been written for this program, but I've come to depend on it.

Zerbe reviewed v3.5 Beta 8 on Apr 26, 2006

Best reader out there.

forgie reviewed v3.5 Beta 7 on Mar 23, 2006

one of the very few programs I've actually ended up buying. Definitely the best news reader / downloader out there.

pjosephson reviewed v3.5 Beta 2 on Dec 7, 2005

This program gets better and better with each release. I have never had any serious problems. With the final versions (Betas a few nicks, but hey they are betas). In fact, within the last year I have seen the author do a tremendous amount of program updates (from 1.0 to 3.5 all included free). Speaking of the super search, it is well worth the price of admission and it has saved me countless hours looking for something. Yes,there are similar services, but nothing as complete as Newsleecher provides. One note: I wish there was a better help/documentation system for all those newbies I have converted over to this program. (Hint!! Hint!!)

rijp reviewed v3.5 Beta 1 on Nov 29, 2005

Now that's what I call a review, good work Chinch. I am sorry it didn't work out for you, but I haven't had similar probs. I have used 2.1, all beta, and final, and I am on 3.0 version, and looking forward to 3.5. I have tried other "popular" news group readers, but this one really works well. Its very stable for me, and its intuitive.

If I have to get 1 negative, you can only search 3 newsgroups at once, but that super search feature is very nice.. Maybe I don't have something set correctly, but overall I am very pleased with this product. One of the best investments I have made in my software collection.

chinch reviewed v3.0 on Oct 4, 2005

i have also been having random little bug problems with the latest betas.. even when i have the option set to only select 1 newsgroup at a time, it will load 2 or more at the same time, and is not updating properly. things just don't work right really. tons of little problems that add up to annoying little quirks. i'd say stick with the previous final. what was it, 2.3? anyone know where i can find a full release notes for all of the versions? so i can backtrack and find the version before all of these features that i don't use were added (they seem to cause more problems than they're worth). [update: here is the link to see all changelogs/version differences: http://www.newsleecher.c...um/viewtopic.php?t=4848 ]

for instance.. ability to combine several newsgroups into one 'virtual' newsgroup. when you're browsing groups with millions of headers as it is.. who has the balls to combine these and search through them for the better part of the afternoon? to me, that's what the supersearch feature was for.. searching for things that you're looking for without having to download millions of headers and endlessly search through them. with supersearch+newzbin.. any features added in 3.0 seem to be superfluous.

this is just my opinion. others may find a use for it, but it seems the author is adding redundant features instead of adding more options/customization/optimizing the current code to make a more efficient program instead of bloating it up.

don't mean to be so negative, but i just think the focus now should be improving, tweaking and optimizing what is already a full-featured program rather than adding massive new features that slow the program and create more bugs.

wickedfeel reviewed v3.0 on Sep 28, 2005

I thought 2.3 final was the bomb! That was before 3.0. This puts Newsleecher on top of all binary newsreaders easily. God, it's just that damn good. Amazing!

zridling reviewed v3.0 on Sep 27, 2005

Hoo-freakin-rah! I do like that subscription license times start only with final versions, not betas. Also, caching is now perfected in this version.

JeRrYFaR reviewed v3.0 Beta 9 (RC2) on Sep 26, 2005

My favorite news-reader hands down.. I even talked my brother into buying it..

The shareware version is definitely worth a look.. ;-)

stisev reviewed v3.0 Beta 8 (RC1) on Sep 17, 2005

cousinkix1953,

you are a moron. Please don't post reviews unless you're willing to TRY the freakin' program.

cousinkix1953 reviewed v3.0 Beta 8 (RC1) on Sep 14, 2005

I won't even bother with NewsLeech or NewsBin. Setting up is too complicated and there is just too much needless Bs to deal with. Never mind this crap. It's easier to install a dozen other file sharing programs in minutes and not have to F@%& with them...

zridling reviewed v3.0 Beta 6 on Sep 3, 2005

Unlike so many others, at least Xnews is FAST, and if you consider 13M a memory hog, then you're really pushing it. Unless you're downloading the Star Wars trilogy, I haven't found any newsgroups with 12 million headers (not even when testing Newsleecher); Xnews does just fine handling over a million, but I don't let my groups get that cluttered.

Like the others said, if you need a child's program to download from Usenet, use something good, like NewsBin Pro, for Vishnu's sake.

Boolah reviewed v3.0 Beta 6 on Sep 2, 2005

As an owner of both Newsleecher and Newbin Pro, all I can tell you if keep the faith, brother.. Newsbin 5 is coming. Once I started using NB5, I havent loaded Newsleecher up since.

JeRrYFaR reviewed v3.0 Beta 4 on Aug 29, 2005

Agreed.. and it just keeps getting better..

zridling reviewed v3.0 Beta 4 on Aug 29, 2005

Then you didn't try Xnews. NL is fine, but it's too often released with significant bugs that are slow to be fixed.

wboevink reviewed v3.0 Beta 2 on Aug 10, 2005

Tried them all, this is the only one I use. This is the first program I ever bought.

Corvid76 reviewed v3.0 Beta 2 on Aug 10, 2005

The king of newsreaders.

hkm reviewed v3.0 Beta 2 on Aug 9, 2005

Pretty decent. I need something that does NZB's, but I think I'll stick with NewsBin Pro.

zridling reviewed v3.0 Beta 2 on Aug 9, 2005

Xnews runs circles around this thing, and does it for free.

BlackAle reviewed v3.0 Beta 2 on Aug 9, 2005

Excellent program, makes usenet so effortless, especially if used with supersearch.

Incidentally it doesn't have a yearly cost (unless you're using supersearch), the fee you pay just entitles you to updates during that period, the program doesn't stop working after the year.

Huntyz reviewed v3.0 Beta 2 on Aug 9, 2005

Great Program, use it with Giganews and not had 1 problem and i dont mind paying for it unlike some of your cheapskates out there....

motiwala reviewed v2.3 on Jul 9, 2005

Armadillo is not a problem for me. Newsleecher has many bug including obvious one needs to be fixed.

I was about to purchase this software till I noticed that my purchase is not for ever, it is definately not worth.

Good price should be somewhere in range $15 to $19 (onetime) and only if they fixes all the bugs

chinch reviewed v2.3 on Jul 3, 2005

i agree with everyone else, the author is overly paranoid about piracy of his program, to the point where he grossly inconveniences paying users. not good.

in response to the previous post, one of the cons mentioned is you cannot remove unused tabs.. when in fact you can.. it's in the view->pages menu. check it out.

other than the support and protection scheme complaints, the actual program itself is top notch. it's the best program for viewing newsgroups, in my opinion. the interface is well done and good looking, it handles large groups and binaries with no problem. the author seems to be good at updating/adding new features, so it seems that it has the potential to be even better in the future.

tommie reviewed v2.3 on Jun 23, 2005

I pay for internet access. Do I have to pay to be able to browse the web or send an e-mail to friends? No! Firefox & Thunderbird.

I pay for newsgroup access. Do I have to pay to be able to browse the groups? What's that? I do? No thanks.

Pros:
* Low memory usage with millions of headers in view (~10 MB)
* Low CPU usage while downloading (~5%)
* Somewhat customizable (interface/program)

Cons:
* Not free
* Not able to remove unwanted tabs
* Not able to specify a range of headers that I want, only able to download all or download a # from the beginning.

If I were the author - I wouldn't even bother trying to protect my application; knowing people can break it.

TC17 reviewed v2.3 on Jun 13, 2005

I've tried the demo and this program is very good. However considering what the others have said here about the yearly cost, and the stupid protection, and changing your serial all the time. It gets and deserves a 1.

I've gone through other programs I've purchased with similar BS. This IS stealing from paying customers, and I am sick of companies that do this. This program is also a perfect example of why warez exists.

stisev reviewed v2.3 Beta 1 on Apr 27, 2005

The best newsreading app for the PC. Hands down.

With that said, you should know about some issues with this program:

1.) The author is a dunderhead; plain and simple. After paying for this program, he provides ZERO support and insists you wait till the next version.

2.) All Newsleecher versions install "Armadillo" one of the most invasive piracy-prevention protection schemes on the market.

3.) Serial# scheme change at each version. How's that for INconvenience.

4.) Price is set idiotically high. Come on, for a NEWSREADING application? $35 should be forever, not per year.

ibod reviewed v2.3 Beta 1 on Apr 25, 2005

Only the best binary usenet program around by virtue of ease of use, useless for text groups if you need those too. This program IS your 'Script Kiddies Leet-Warez' provider.
Ultra-techies are probably better served by more configurable offerings like newspro.
This program is supported most by the community that use it and not be the developer.
Pricing model stinks of greed.

christoofar reviewed v2.3 Beta 1 on Apr 25, 2005

NL loses a point for the horrible way that serial keys are implemented. Almost every other update requires yet another serial key to be downloaded and messed with, and most times it doesn't work correctly. The program itself is *the best* binary downloader out there, but the author needs a reality check in this basic function. As a registered user who gladly forked over my $35, I'd appreciate a little more consideration in letting me be allowed to update my copy easily, without this hassle.

pscowan reviewed v2.10 Beta 1 on Mar 27, 2005

This program is hands down the most useful fast and powerful newsgroup program around. I spent ages trying to find one that did everything i need, when i found this i paid immediately simply beceause of the time saved.
Great program

bunghole reviewed v2.10 Beta 1 on Mar 21, 2005

Just agreeing with others that The developer spends too much time on new features and no where near enough time on fixing bugs. And yes it costs way too much.

stisev reviewed v2.0 Beta 11 RC4 on Mar 15, 2005

The best newsgroup reader. Hands down.

I've tried every single newsreader on FileForum: Gravity, GrabIt, XNews, NewsBin, NewsPro, etc..

Nothing compares to Newsleecher.

One problem about newsleecher though is that it's ridiculously expensive. $35 a year for a stupid newsgroup search (even though the search works great!)? Give me a break.

For some it might be worth it.

hkm reviewed v2.0 Beta 11 RC4 on Mar 14, 2005

I've had problems with all their betas, and some of their "real" versions. I think I'll stick with NewsBin, which is my favorite Usenet downloader.

sfo reviewed v2.0 Beta 10 RC3 on Feb 24, 2005

it's the best, but it's waaaaaaaaay to expense to justify it

CapZap reviewed v2.0 RC2 on Feb 2, 2005

This is a very fine newsreader. It came out of nowhere a few months ago as beta only and has progressed to be a mature, excellent product in a short period of time. I bought a license and use it regularly.

They are moving the newsleecher website at this moment so don't get excited about that. They'll be back up and running in a few days. They are affiliated with Crystal Art Software.

Try it. It's good stuff.

MoeRL reviewed v2.0 RC2 on Feb 2, 2005

This is BY FAR the best Usenet Downloader application in existence.

I've been a paid Newsleecher user since July 2004 and my opinion still has not changed. I've tried them all.. even bought Newsbin Pro before I knew about Newsleecher.. but once I found out about Newsleecher, I never looked back at Newsbin Pro. NL blows NB Pro to pieces with some very innovative and useful features, especially regarding the handling of NZB files and PAR and PAR2 files. Most Usenet users today use NZB files to import file info rather than doing it "the old way", which is browsing groups and downloading headers, which takes too much time and has you download tons of useless headers. If you're really still doing that, I'm not sure where you've been, but go get an account at http://www.newzbin.com, right now. Right. Now.

For everyone complaining about the recent crackdown of newsleecher.com, that's something that's outside of the NL-guys' power, it's not their fault that they got shut down all of a sudden. According to them, they're working as hard as they can on getting the site back online by transferring everything to their own server.

Please see this link if you want more info on the discussion of newsleecher.com shutting down and the consequences, like the version reverting back to trial-mode, even for paid users. http://www.dslreports.co...mark,12508024~mode=flat

That actually happened to me, and one of the NL guys admitted that it is a bug in NL, and that NL isn't supposed to be dependant on the NL servers in order to function in registered/paid mode. It's gonna be fixed in the next release. I was able to access newsleecher.com two days ago and use the LOST LICENSE KEY feature on their site.. the system was up and working, and I got a new and working license key within minutes and was back up ever since without trial-mode problems.

Their customer-support has a history of not being very dependable and solid, but the application itself is the absolute number 1 in its software-category IMHO.

Check out the link above, and good luck.

StrangeShay reviewed v2.0 RC2 on Feb 2, 2005

Would've given it a 5 but it's been a few days and still no word on the problem with the website being down. The developer has all the registered users email addresses, a simple email to let us know what is going on and when it will be fixed would be appreciated.

NL is in my experience the fastest newsreader and eats less system resources than almost all of the other newsreader's I've tried.

As to the person below who has a problem with Armadillo...Armadillo isn't a problem unless you are trying to steal/crack the software.

Boolah reviewed v2.0 RC2 on Feb 2, 2005

Perhaps that's true on a NEW install. My NL is workign fine tho minus the Super Search (Which I never used anyway). Will be interesting to see how all this plays out. This program started off shaky but seemed to hit it's stride. With NewsBin 5 right around the corner, could be hard times for Newsleecher.

lzvk25 reviewed v2.00 Beta 9 on Feb 1, 2005

Atention, this program has an undocumented "call home" feature which renders your key invalid when the Newsleecher site is down. And this happens even if you have already paid, and so far we have not received a word from the support people or the author.

DrJ reviewed v2.00 Beta 6 on Nov 18, 2004

Best newsprogram there is..
Started using the beta in the beginning and never went back to any other program.

commander2001 reviewed v2.00 Beta 5 on Oct 31, 2004

the best newsgroup program that i have used i give it a 5

xllx reviewed v2.00 Beta 5 on Oct 31, 2004

One of the best usenet programs out there...It is updated constantly and the user fourms are really helpfull if you run across a bug or whatever your case may be...And is well worth the price of admission for what you get in return and you all know what I'm talking bout'...I GIVE IT 10 STARZ!!!!!!

hondaman reviewed v2.00 Beta 5 on Oct 31, 2004

Best there is. Been using it for months now, and I finally bought it. Price is a bit steep though.

NukemanMD reviewed v1.0 Final on Oct 23, 2004

Almost a 5 rating. A solid newsreader. Best feature is its support of NZB files which virtually eliminates the need to download entire groups to locate and download a file.

Has a modest learning curve ... but well worth the time.

lzvk25 reviewed v1.0 Final on Sep 26, 2004

Finally, a really useful news reader. The fact that it can handle multithread downloads plus a stable database, makes it the best.

J_s_u reviewed v1.0 Final on Sep 25, 2004

Really is the best news reader/downloader.

bunghole reviewed v1.0 Final on Sep 25, 2004

its better than most programs of it its type, but one major thing that ive noticed: if i play a game in high priority mode under 2000 or xp, with newsleecher in the background, newsleecher virtually stops downloading. wtf? also it occasionally changes my desktop icons from "large" to "small." again...wtf?

i give it 3 and a half stars

christoofar reviewed v1.00 Beta 31 on Sep 8, 2004

OK - I'm prepared to eat my words. This thing now rocks!. I even plonked down my hard earned $$ for it. Solid app, not prone to crashes as sadly BNR2 still is. Grabit & the others mentioned aren't even in the same league. This thing can max out my cable modem easily. Perhaps a little pricey ($25 would seem a bit more reasonable) but darn if it doesn't work as advertised! Writing an app to handle multiple servers/databases/connections & stay useable isn't easy. This one succeeds.

Lokheed reviewed v1.00 Beta 31 on Sep 8, 2004

The ONLY Newsreader that is nice to look at. Its being developed on the right track and only gets leaner and quicker with each release.

In my opion THE best Newsreader to handle binaries.

BootBlock reviewed v1.0 Beta 23 on Jun 7, 2004

Going against the grain here, I have to say I love this NG downloader. It's definately had its share of problems, but it has been getting better and better. I only wish it had a lot more options for dealing with NZB files as I have no idea what the status of the downloaded files are as they (obviously) disappear from the download queue. Something like a BitTorrent client that shows arranges the NZB files into a single treeview node that lets you see what happened with it at a glance.

lachupa reviewed v1.0 Beta 13 on Mar 11, 2004

Another newsreader with multithread capabilities... well since its shareware i give it 2 stars. Tried, played a lot with it and uninstalled. There are plenty better newsreaders, want names? GrabIt, Xnews, Fortè (at the moment dont support multithread download but future versions will). A true newsgroup downloader MUST use BNR2 (www.bnr2.org). Try it and once understand how make it work, you'll forget about any other newsreader, trust me.

JolinFire reviewed v1.0 Beta 12 on Dec 28, 2003

It didn't make it. SB NewsRobot is better than this one. NewsLeecher did not even work for a simple and light group.

christoofar reviewed v1.0 Beta 12 on Dec 27, 2003

Newsleecher has the right idea (offering multi-server, multi-threading capabilities)but the clunky execution of said idea & the way it lists binary posts as seperated sections is not very useful. BNR2 has this one beat by a long shot, and it is freeware. I can't see plonking down $35 for a beta version, either. Nice attempt, but...

fruityjunkie reviewed v1.0 Beta 11 on Dec 23, 2003

Garbage.. Bloated.. Bad user interface.. Online and offline tasks need to be fixed. Needs to display messages no longer available in the main windows besides the notes window. Does have potential though.
Then again, this is just my opinion; make your own!

roj reviewed v1.0 Beta 11 on Dec 23, 2003

Try GrabIt - it's slick, multithreaded and FREE.

DrJ reviewed v1.0 Beta 10 on Dec 23, 2003

Most amazing newsreader program ever! Best money I ever spend on a shareware product. The future looks VERY bright for NewsLeecher. Keep up the wonderful work guys!

watchout reviewed v1.0 Beta 10 on Dec 22, 2003

The best binary news downloader on the net.. Because of its multi threading capabilities it's truly one unique program. I use it all the time

fusewerx reviewed v1.0 Beta 1 on May 2, 2003

Slick, lightweight, and fast. Does just as it's supposed to do, and does it well. Good job.