We love YouTube downloaders because they make it so easy to grab and save video from YouTube's inexhaustible, ever-expanding supply. Whatever you like, if it's on video, it's probably on YouTube in one form or another. HOW's Free YouTube Downloader is one of the easiest tools for that job we've found. It not only downloads videos from YouTube but also converts them and files from your hard drive into formats you can play on your iPad, iPhone, and similar devices. It offers several quality levels, including HD quality, and plays your converted file when the job is done, if you want it to.
Ads pay the bills for freeware, and though Free YouTube Downloader contains no adware, we had to click through several screens to get to the actual program's download. It's worth the effort, though, since Free YouTube Downloader's easy settings and minimal user interface (think media player) let you quickly configure downloads and keep an eye on them in a corner of the screen while you do other things. We browsed to a YouTube page and copied and pasted its URL into Free YouTube Downloader's entry field (you can also browse to and add your own files). We selected Windows Media Video from an extensive drop-down list of Output Format options. We also selected the highest output quality, Full High Definition (1080p). We clicked Settings, too; these let us set always-on-top, a default output folder, simultaneous download and conversion, and language options. The browser-based Help file uses screenshots to make each step clear.
Once we'd made our selections, we pressed Download. Free YouTube Downloader began downloading and converting our video almost instantaneously (your connection will affect the speed) and finished by asking if we wanted to view our video. The video opened and played normally in our default media player. After that, we started downloading and saving videos we wanted to watch later. We like the way Free YouTube Downloader lets you choose a device-specific format for conversions, too. Don't forget to watch some of those videos you'll be saving with Free YouTube Downloader!
Publisher's DescriptionWould you like to watch your favorite videos from YouTube whenever and wherever you please? All this and more is possible with Free YouTube Downloader. With this download manager you can save YouTube videos in various video and audio formats. We support standard quality, high quality and even Full High Definition video.
What's new in this version: Version 3.5.187 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.
(source: http://download.cnet.com/)