 | Oct 24 2009 |
SHMK Doesn't seem to work on snow leopard. Spinning beach ball and crash when ever I tried to input a url
(Version 4.9.18) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
 | Oct 22 2009 |
FOTODIVR I have used Blue Crab(p) for a while and liked it. So, I sent my money to the developer. I wanted to unlock the product and felt the developer had earned his/her/their money. Paid for it - no registration code returned. Sent a reminder letter the next day. Nothing. Sent a reminder letter three days later. Still no response. And my use of the programme will be crippled in two days. If I do not have a registration number by them, I will ask PayPal to reclaim the payment. (Yes, you can do that). Developer! if you want people to buy your product, you need to learn about service AFTER the sale. One star for service!
(Version 4.9.18) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
| Sep 24 2008 |
RC I just downloaded a copy and using it to download a graphics heavy site. The application quits after 5 min or so. It says this is a "fully functional demo" but is this "auto-quit" part of the demo? If so, how can I fully evaluate the program? As I wrote this "review" I already had to restart the program 3 times so that "5 min" interval is getting shorter. I may start looking for an alternative. Too bad HTTrack is not available for the Mac..... iMac G5, 2Ghz, 1GB RAM
(Version 4.9.12) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
| Sep 1 2008 |
BINARYPACKRAT Yes, this app rocks! It does download images from PHP sites like Blogger. Seems to be very stable as well. The best one of all of the ones I have tried.
(Version 4.9.11) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
| Apr 19 2008 |
ITTY The most important feature I've been wanting for years, from ANY downloader, is the ability to download images from PHP sites. (Coppermine gallery, Gallery II gallery, WordPress gallery, etc.) This is a big feature that should be proudly boasted. Now I can finally download full size images from my favorite artists galleries with lots of options. Tested on MacIntel Leopard 10.5.2
(Version 4.9.6) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
| Dec 10 2007 |
SAME AUTHOR AS HELLOPIG, TRIAL REVIEW i dont know why people say blue crab is slow when operating although downloading can be slower than others. make sure you download the latest version of blue crab. -check whether there is virus. -check whether you have enough memory space and hd space. All these may slow the program down.
(Version 4.9.3) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
| Dec 10 2007 |
SAME AUTHOR AS HELLOPIG, TRIAL REVIEW Site sucker is not really good. it have many limitations. -no javascript, nonlocalize (meaning that you cant download websites with animations...) -cannot download tools from website. Blue crab has many advantages: -able to download flash and 99.9% of all file types. -nice graphic of websites downloaded. -Provide many updates and help -I can guaranteed almost any website can be downloaded. (you have to be patience) Why buy any other software? this product have one of the most updates!
(Version 4.9.3) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
 | Jun 27 2007 |
JPPAGLIARO Some users were complaining of sluggish text field's in the Configuration editor. The cause was: The current browser URL is displayed in certain menu items of the "Grab" menu. As it turns out keyboard processing is related to menu updating, unfortunately, and that caused an overhead when the program was checking for the current URL in the your browser as characters were being typed into certain text fields of the program. This has been fixed by adding an option in Preferences to display full menu items in the "Grab" menu. This option is off by default. To edit the option select "Preferences..." from the Blue Crab menu, and then select the "Behavior" pane. Turn the option on by selecting the "Show full titles in "Grab current web page" menu items.
(Version 4.9) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
| May 29 2007 |
JPPAGLIARO Well, I don't consider your review "real" for a few reasons, which boil down to a sense of unfairness I have about it. I'll point out some of them: First of all your star rating is highly suspcious. For example, you give stability a 1 star rating yet didn't provide any examples of how the program is unstable. The other ratings also seem a bit harsh. I think that people who give 1 star overall ratings are likely being unfair. Then you list your problems with the program, the first of which was the startup window. Restricting demo programs in such ways is common practice, and I don't think it warrants mention in a "review." When real reviewers want to use the program I usually provide a free password so that the window isn't a usiance and they can conduct their experiements without the window displaying. You also don't point out what specific sites you had trouble with, at least in a personal email to me. If you had then I could at least determine if there is indeed a problem that needs to be addressed or not. I'm just curious about why you won't send me the URL of the websites that are causing you problems. Perhaps I can offer a suggestion on how to get it to work better on those sites, or resolve a possible bug in the program, if one exists. The web is a big place, and I know there are sites that don't work as well as others. But I find it hard to believe that Blue Crab doesn't do as well as others on your sites. And until you can prove me wrong I can't change my opinion on that. But if you can then I will openly admit I was wrong ;-) As for the sluggish text field, I do know that there was once an issue of that nature, fixed a long time ago. I'd like to know what version of Blue Crab you are using to be sure you have that fix, because I am not receiving problem reports from others of that nature. Finally, and most importantly, most real reviews provide the pros and cons of each program, not just the one they are seemingly trying to knock. It seems to me that your "review" is more of a means to another end.
(Version 4.8.9) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
| May 26 2007 |
DINH I'm looking for an application that can download all the files relating to a website for archiving and evaluation. I'd like to relay my initial impressions on this application: * Nag screen very annoying and wastes my time when I'm evaluating which software I want to purchase... * I'm running a newer MBP and with 90% system idle and 1gb of free memory (2GB total)... Typing text into any of the text fields and moving between dialogs is painstakingly slow in Blue Crab. I type.. I wait.. text appears.. I'm not sure what Blue Crab is doing, I've closed and reopened, etc.. No avail.. No other application is behaving that way.. * In creating a new Grab.. I goto view the configuration.. I change some settings. I close the window, it says I can't save the default?! okay fine... Then I say okay.. It doesn't show me where or how to save the settings to another config.. And then it closes it self automatically and looses all the changes I made. Considering that it takes a significant amount of time to type anything into the text fields, and change tabs, this is incredibly annoying. I finally figured out how to goto the configurations section and create a new config. * After creating a grab, which apparently only grabbed 1 file even though I set it to recursively parse the site as would seem intuitive, it seemed like I only had the choice of "Done" and couldn't re-grab and change settings.. I hit done thinking it'd allow me to change settings, but nope, lost everything I typed in. After evaluating the following applications, here is my ranking for website archiving: SiteSucker - The only application to successfully download my test site in entirety. Also the cheapest coincidentally! DeepVacuum - Almost captured the whole site.. But of course missed the backgrounds and other things which I specifically wanted. Second cheapest ($12). Web Devil - Downloaded some of the site. The browsers seem half-baked for site archiving, its more for downloading galleries of images it seems. It is the most expensive application ($35). Blue Crab - Buggy, non-intuitive, and unusable per my previous description. Only file captured after trialing it was a cookies file. Second most expensive app ($25).
(Version 4.8.9) | |
| [ 11 Replies - Reply ] | |
Replies:
| May 29 2007 |
JPPAGLIARO I have a strong suspicion that you didn't set up the program properly, and that's why you had such bad results. In effect you broke it, probably by creating a configuration that led to no download. Most users find the exact opposite, that Blue Crab is far more accurate when downloading websites than any of the other programs you mentioned.
(Version 4.8.9) | |
| May 29 2007 |
Hmm.. Well. So I believe that it would be silly to write an application that is unusably slow. So from that standpoint, I understand that your obviously not experiencing the same problems I have.. And perhaps other people aren't also. My interest in writing the review was simply to offer a perspective on the several applications available for mac users. A CompSci background helps a little too. The tests were done on a MacBook Pro 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo w/ 2GB of ram. (Reasonable at this time I would think) I'm surprised I'm being blamed for breaking the configuration; as I tried to describe, the application would not save any of my changes to the configurations and the only settings I utilized in the test was the default configs. | |
| May 29 2007 |
JPPAGLIARO Correct, I am not witnessing the text field problem you are describing, nor have I received reports from other users of the problem. I test Blue Crab personally on several computers, ranging from PPC to Intel, but I'll look into it anyway. As for the countdown window that displays when the program is in demo mode: it's to remind you that the program is in fully functional demo mode, and to advise you how many days are left in the demo, when it will expire by date, as well as information on how to register the product. As for price, all upgrades are always free, as is technical support. (Also, Blue Crab provides features the MANY other the programs you referenced don't have.) I'd like to take a look at the website you say Blue Crab could not download. Please send me the URL so I can take alook. In most cases users find that Blue Crab is one of the most complete downloaders, often finding pages the others don't. Moreover, it's relinking mechanism on dynamic websites, such as those using PHP, for offline navigation, is much better: you'll find far fewer missing links. On top of that Blue Crab offers many features that your "initial impression" probably missed. Features all the other programs lack. I should send you some "real" reviews of Blue Crab, in published magazines, that do true side by side comparisons, and Blue Crab always comes out on top in features. As for the user interface and behavior. I agree that the user interface is in ways non-intuitive. It's an old program whose interface will be getting an overhaul in due time. But that issue becomes moot as you use the program, and learn the correct way to use it. Finally, I suggest that you take a look at the Blue Crab Tour on my website to help you get started. It's linked in the Help menu of the program. It provides information on using configurations, and other tips. (By the way, the "Version History" is a good way to see the features which have been added over the past year ort so.
(Version 4.8.9) | |
| May 29 2007 |
I'm not sure why your disqualifying my review as not real, is that solely on the basis that yours did not favor well? My review was simple, I downloaded 4 applications that claimed to do similar tasks. I have a website that needed to be archived and I gave each application a few minutes of my time to see which ranked the best in the following categories: I find it very helpful when other people post similar findings and thought I'd do the same. I'm sorry that something about Blue Crab didn't run well when I tested it, perhaps you did everything right and don't have any memory leaks, infinite loops to no where, etc.. All I can report on is my impressions as a user who wants to find the best solution. I appreciate that the upgrades are free and you are fairly responsive to feedback. Down the road I'll have to check back in and see how Blue Crab is doing. | |
| Jun 27 2007 |
JPPAGLIARO Update: The problem with the sluggish text fields that some users were witnessing has been resolved in version 4.9.1.
(Version 4.9) | |
| Dec 1 2007 |
HELLOPIG I feel that blue crab is one of the ost comprehensive website downloader, but there are some disadvantage. 1. takes triple as long to download a website although it is more comprehensive than others. 2 Unable to save settings . 3. If there is an internet breakdown or connection to the internet is broken, you have to start downloading files from point one.Unable to save where you have stop! (the worst point)
(Version 4.9.3) | |
| Dec 1 2007 |
Thanks so much for the feedback. I am working on this problem. I use Blue Crab myself, so I know how annoying it can be to need to start a download from scratch under certain circumstances. However, that said, please note that Blue Crab can save its settings in configuration files, and that one setting in particular can help here. It is called "check file modification dates" on the "Grabber" pane of a configuration. If you sleect that option Blue Crab will only download resources like PDFs, images, movies, etc. if they have changed since the prior downoload. This does not affect the downloading of HTML or relinking, so there is still an overhead to re-starting a download. I hope this helps.
(Version 4.9.3) | |
| Dec 6 2007 |
SAME AUTHOR AS HELLOPIG, TRIAL REVIEW I realized that if there is a break down of the internet, it will report errors and stop downloading. Hopefully you will be able to change that. (stop downloading when there is an internet breakdown/disconnection) Hopefully this comment will improve your product> Wish to get a free copy(registered) of your product!
(Version 4.9.3) | |
| Dec 10 2007 |
SAME AUTHOR AS HELLOPIG, TRIAL REVIEW Site sucker is not really good. it have many limitations. -no javascript, nonlocalize (meaning that you cant download websites with animations...) -cannot download tools from website. Blue crab has many advantages: -able to download flash and 99.9% of all file types. -nice graphic of websites downloaded. -Provide many updates and help -I can guaranteed almost any website can be downloaded. (you have to be patience) Why buy any other software? this product have one of the most updates!
(Version 4.9.3) | |
| Dec 10 2007 |
SAME AUTHOR AS HELLOPIG, TRIAL REVIEW i dont know why people say blue crab is slow when operating although downloading can be slower than others. make sure you download the latest version of blue crab. -check whether there is virus. -check whether you have enough memory space and hd space. All these may slow the program down.
(Version 4.9.3) | |
| Mar 16 2007 |
DRAD You might want to also check out Deep Vacuum although it has confusing options when you get the right combination it works well. What has not worked well for me: Speed Download. SiteSucker used to be great but now not so much because hasn't stayed up with OS X upgrades.
(Version 4.8.3) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
| Feb 9 2006 |
JFM When I switched to the Mac two years ago, I tried several tools for downloading websites, inclluding BlueCrab, which did not convince me at that time. I then chose to use primarily SiteSucker. However, recently, I have not been very pleased with performances of Site Sucker, so I decided to try all available tools on one and the same website, and to see what the result would be. Well, although I initiatlly wondered if I should try again Blue Crab, I am glad I did: it did the best job of all tools I tested (half a dozen of them), and by far. Using the same website as a test case, some tools donwloaded only the initial page, other ones downloaded 43 files, or 76 files - despite careful configurations according to instructions. But when it came to Blue Crab... well, with relatively little need for configuration, it donwloaded all files. i.e. more than 1,200! I was really impressed and immediately bought a license. (It is nice that one can use it with full functionality for ten days, so it offers real opportunity to check first if it works properly.) Moreover, since I experienced a problem with one file, I wrote to the developer: he was really responsive, and he wrote several messages to inquire about details, promising to investigate if it was a bug of Blue Crab, in which case he would correct it in the next release. So really an excellent customer service. It is very simple: after testing all available tools for downloading websites, there is no doubt in my mind that Blue Crab is currently the best in its category for Mac users. I advise even people who were not convinced in the past to try it again.
(Version 4.3.8) | |
| [ Reply ] | |
| Mar 22 2005 |
TOPKNOT This is the 2nd time I've tried this program and I must admit I'm pleasantly surprised. It grabbed over 95% of some sites I tested it on without being too slow, which even beats my beloved app of choice Site Sucker . Blue Crab's interface seems to have been improved also since my last review below. I'd like to see a choice in the preferences to enable it to download only the url in question, as it has the tendency to follow links to external directories and sites and download them also. Apart from that I find it a decent app and worth looking at.
(Version 4.1.6) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
Replies:
 | Jul 16 2005 |
MACMAN Is there any similar app which actually handles javascript??
(Version 4.2.2) | |
| Aug 13 2004 |
TOPKNOT I've just tested this program. Despite the long feature list the main core activity of downloading websites is not so hot, and in fact is comparable in accuracy to other similar apps. I use SiteSucker and it does the same task as this application minus a few features, however SiteSucker is smaller, faster and above all FREE.
(Version 3.4.3) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
Replies:
| Feb 16 2005 |
JOE PAGLIARO Version 4 is far better than version 3 in terms of accuracy of the downloads.
(Version 4.1.1) | |
|
Main
