NZBVortex Review
Last Updated: Jan 26, 2022
| Rating |  |
| Price | $9.99 |
| Retention | 500 Days |
| Free Trial | None |
| Features | Small and Efficient Usenet Client for MacOS |
| Free and Paid Version | |
| Multi Connection/ Threaded Downloading |
NZBVortex is a very fast Usenet client that has several good features that were designed with speed and efficiency in mind. This application comes in a free and paid version that differs in advanced features.
NZBVortex has the ability to skip unrequired par2 files and will skip downloads of sample files. It has a fast SmartCheck feature which is able to detect if a par2 check is required. It runs on MacOS X 10.7 and later versions and has a size of 10.6 MB.
Most recently, NZB Vortex is now labelled as NZB Vortex 3 to communicate its latest developments and upgrades to its software.
Highlighted Features
NZBVortex is a full featured Usenet client that has both newsreader functions and downloading capabilities. Its core features include:
- Multi connection / threaded downloading
- Optimized downloading (auto par2 skipping)
- Par and par2 verify and repair
- Automatic decompressing of downloaded files
- SmartCheck
- RSS feed support
- Cleanup unwanted files
- Ability to start post processing manually
- Separate download and Complete folder
- Shutdown when all downloads are completed
- NZB watch folder
- Skip Sample files (option)
- Automatic cleanup files
- Simultaneous transfer (option)
- yEnc encoded articles
- Simple but clear Native OSX UI (Cocoa)
- Low HDD usage (memory caching, good for SSD drives)
- Supports SSL servers
- Zipped NZB support
- Download Throttling/Limiting
- Growl support
- Sparkle auto update
NZBVortex’s latest release, version 3.3.10, includes several upgrades, including cutting down the amount of junk you would spend time downloading. According to the developers, it offers 10% improvement on pauses due to damaged content. Other new features include:
- Support for XtremeSplit files
- Par2 file availability check, cuts down wasted bandwidth!
- Thread sleeps have been removed and replaced by semaphores, this will cut down on CPU wakeups.
- Switch animation has been improved.
- RSS TVshow watchers will process from new to old
- If you’ve downloaded episodes already, TVshow watchers will still process all feed titles
- NZB files that contain the password in the filename no longer pause
There is also a new trick where junk and spam are concerned, which is designed to defeat passworded RAR protection. The latest version of the program has an improvement that allows it to detect this new trick and to help you avoid wasting your time downloading junk files.
There are plenty of other features that have been added, as well. Some of them make the program a lot more reliable, including a fix that prevents crashes from empty strings in RSS feeds, an improvement to the UI threading with finished searches and an upgrade to RAR version 5.0. Overall, these improvements make a program that was already quite good even better.
NZBVortex also has a Cloud feature that helps in improving junk and spam detection. If you happen to download a file that has a password requirement or is a damaged file, your client will let other clients know about the file, which will also save everybody some time.
Other improvements have been added to the latest version of NZBVortex, including the interface being updated to make it look more attractive features that have improved downloading, including better junk and spam detection and more.
Plans & Pricing
You can download different versions of NZBVortex on their website, from older ones to the latest improved version. While NZBVortex can be downloaded for free, it would not have the advanced functionalities that you can get if you purchase a personal license for your NZBVortex software. Purchasing a license enables advanced features like advanced post processing and multi-server support. You can buy a personal license of $9.99 or €9.38 and pay via PayPal, Credit Card, Check or iDeal. You can also download NZBVortex from the Mac App Store.
Free Trial Information
NZBVortex has an available free but older version of their newsreader software.
Usage Overview
With the improvements that NZBVortex has implemented on its latest version, the newsreader has upgraded its features and improved its efficiency – ultimately enhancing user experience.
NZBVortex is easy to use and allows users to search and download for files with just a few clicks, and installation and configuration can be done with just a few simple steps.
Installation
You can download older and latest versions of NZBVortex from their website, as well as via the Mac App Store. Once you’ve downloaded your selected version, simply open the .dmg file and follow the mac app installation process and move the software to your applications folder. You will be required to enter a license key to use the software, but to initially use this freely, you can cancel this part and enjoy the free use for the first 7 days. If you want to purchase a license key right away, just click on the “Buy License” button.
Configuration
Once you’re on the interface itself, configure your server settings right away to be able to use NZBVortex. This section would require you to enter your server URL, Port, Username, Password and number of connections you would like to use. All this information would be supplied by your chosen [Usenet service provider][1]. Make sure you use an SSL port for a secure and anonymous downloading experience.
You can also configure your location, search, notifications, clean-up, remote and advanced settings based on your preference.
Scheduling & Automation
With NZBVortex, you can specify when to stop or limit your downloads. This newsreader has a built-in scheduler where you can customize which days or time of day your downloads are scheduled. You can also limit the speed of your downloads to control the amount of bandwidth the software consumes.
NZBVortex also allows you to indicate if you want your computer to shut down or sleep once your download process is done.
Usability
NZBVortex has a clean and modern-looking interface perfect for Mac users. Based on our research, its interface is in Cocoa, making this software easy to navigate and use. Its functions are easy to find, and the process of searching and downloading files is not too complicated when compared to other newsreaders.
You can easily search on different newsgroups from NZBVortex since it reads through newsgroups quickly and generates results fast. By default, NZBVortex has popular indexing sites in their system, including Binsearch and NZBIndex, to name a few. You can also add your preferred NZB sites if you wish.
Conclusion
For a newsreader that has a clean and smooth interface and several good features, NZBVortex is a decent option for Usenet downloaders. While NZBVortex isn’t available for Windows or Linux users, this newsreader is recognized in the Usenet community as a pretty good newsreader for MacOS devices. It presents smooth transitions from one function to another and searches through Usenet newsgroups quickly and efficiently. NZBVortex generates quick results by reading headers as fast as it can. But while it is impressive in its searching and reading capabilities, its downloading function can be improved. It may not be able to compete head-on with more popular downloaders like NZBGet or SABnzbd in terms of its advanced settings and downloading capabilities.
If you wish to consider NZBVortex as your go-to newsreader, you may want to test them out first before purchasing a personal license key. You can also compare this newsreader with other Usenet clients in the market to see how it fares against the others.
