FeedDemon

CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars Excellent
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Overall score: 8.0 (4.0 stars)
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Product summary

CNET editors' review

• Reviewed by: Jeff Bertolucci
• Edited by: Robert Vamosi
• Reviewed on: 07/15/2004
• Released on: 12/19/2003

FeedDemon is a well-crafted standalone newsreader that's ideal for novices who've never heard of an RSS feed. The $29 FeedDemon features an outstanding setup wizard that explains basic newsreader concepts ("A channel is a source of news items. For example, the RSS feed for the New York Times is a channel.") For some, this advice may be a bit basic. Nonetheless, we have to give kudos to the vendor, Bradbury Software, for explaining a relatively new software genre to the uninitiated masses.

Like its competitors, FeedDemon installs in less than a minute. In our tests, download and installation took a few minutes and proceeded without a hitch. We particularly liked FeedDemon's setup wizard, which allows you to subscribe to an unlimited number of popular RSS feeds by simply checking a box besides each feed's name. Of course, there are thousands of other feeds on the Net, so FeedDemon provides links to several other RSS directories.

FeedDemon's interface is very good; however, its default setting, which places the headline and browser panes side by side, is somewhat clumsy. Reading a news story in the undersize browser requires incessant scrolling. Fortunately, you can relocate the browser to the bottom via the View pull-down menu, giving you a wider browser.


This program offers several features that we particularly like. FeedDemon's Watch Channels feature searches for news items containing user-specified keywords and places them in a separate group, making them easier to find. The Cleanup Wizard is handy for removing old RSS feeds--the default cleanup period is 30 days, but you can change that to a shorter or longer period. We're also fond of FeedDemon's News Bins, which allow you to archive stories simply by dragging a headline and placing it in a storage bin in the left-side column. FeedDemon updates whenever a subscribed channel sends out a new feed.

One gripe: The online help section is weak, but at least there's a support forum where you can post questions and get answers from other users. As mentioned, FeedDemon isn't free, but at $30, it won't bust your budget, either.

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RSS,

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channel,

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• 2.0 stars

  5 out of 5 people found this review helpful

  "Feeddemon is dead after it was bought by newsgator."

  by newsgutor on July 18, 2005

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• 4.0 stars

  "Simple to use"

  by alexanderpas on September 14, 2005

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