Freecorder 5.0

Freecorder Editor's Review

There's an old saying about "jack of all trades, master of none" and Freecorder falls right into that category. 

The most distinctive element of Freecorder is also its biggest drawback, namely the sheer number of things it does. It lets you download online videos, record audio, convert files, and even includes a limited selection of online TV and radio stations. Unfortunately none of these are the best in their class, and it does give the impression of trying too hard.

The key feature, downloading from YouTube and a few other major sites, is undoubtedly the most effective. Just open a video, click on a button in the toolbar installed by the software, and you can instantly download a clip, often in several formats and with a choice of picture quality.

A particularly neat feature is that Freecorder keeps a list of clips you've previously viewed and lets you download them without having to revisit the page. That can be handy if you want to process a batch of clips, or if you want to look through a range of possible clips before deciding what to download.

The rest of the features aren't so impressive. The audio recorder simply takes the "master mix" from your computer, so you can easily have a recording spoiled by an instant message or e-mail alert. And the TV and radio stations are patchy at best.

Pros: Simple to use once installed; can download previously viewed clips.

Cons: Requires toolbar installation, taking up more browser space; not compatible with Google Chrome.

Conclusion: Does its main task well enough, but cluttered with mediocre extras.