Full Review

27 August 2007 - BitTorrent, there's a dirty word, mention it and you're now going to expect that I spend the next 500 or so words talking about how you can get illegal copies of this and illegal copies of that.

Well sorry to disappoint, but BitTorrent isn't all about pirated movies and software, there is plenty of free stuff up for grabs around the web that uses the peer to peer technology to distribute stuff quickly. Once you've downloaded your torrent you need a player to get it and one of the newest kids on the block is Vuze from Azureus.

Free to download and available for both Mac and Windows, the BitTorrent client is a stylish interface that allows you to manage your files for sharing or ones you've downloaded.

There are four main tabs to the software: Home, Browse Content, My Library and Publish.

The Home page is your main control centre showing you what you are currently downloading, your last couple of downloads and a selection of top picks of free stuff like Pink music videos or HD trailers of latest blockbusters.

The Browse Content window gives you more ways of finding content and there are a plethora of channels from big name brands like the Sci-Fi channel, the BBC and specific programmes like The L Word and Weeds.

You are also able to sort clips by what's hot, what's new and most downloaded as well as things that are free, are for sale and even for rent.

Choosing and playing a file is as easy as clicking on the link and everything starts downloading for you from the start.

The My Library tab is as it sounds, your library of downloaded files be it software, movies, music or images. All are displayed neatly and orderly with icons along side size, quality and rating details for you to see at a glance.

Of course BitTorrents are all about sharing and so you can, once you've set up an account (which is also free) publish your own content to share, making this a fantastic platform for budding videocasters - yes Megawhat has its own channel.

For the more knowledgeable there is the option to view and advanced tab which shows stuff like Seeds and Peers as well as download speeds and a rough estimate of when you can expect your download to finish be it 5 minutes or 10 days.

VERDICT
With such a wealth of HD trailers available alongside other free TV shows, including Pocket-lint's very own Megawhat, Vuze is worth the download if you are into movies alone. The BitTorrent peer-to-peer file sharing system means downloads are quick and on all the content we've downloaded it has taken minutes rather than days.

A really simple to use software package that if you are into your sharing, legal or otherwise, is worth checking out.

Useful links