DamnVid Portable for Windows

Let's see, a portable version of DamnVid, the free video downloader and converter that "sucks less"? From PortableApps.com, providers of high-quality portable versions of fine open-source freeware like DamnVid? Well, ding, dang, doodly; we just couldn't find the best word to describe the prospect of trying out DamnVid Portable.

As the name indicates, DamnVid Portable is a portable, standalone executable that runs DamnVid without requiring installation, which means you can carry it with you on a USB drive and run it on any compatible device or system. It doesn't alter the registry or file system, either, so it leaves systems as they were when you close it. DamnVid is a simple but extremely flexible tool that serves two primary purposes: video converter and online video downloader. It can convert local files (saved videos) quickly and efficiently, singly or in batches, in any of a large number of profiles that define not only format but also quality, bit rate, aspect ratio, and much, much more. It's also a video downloader that works with many popular video sites, and even some unpopular ones, thanks to a modular structure that makes it easy to add Web sites and configure how DamnVid downloads videos from each site, individually, via an efficient tree view on the program's Preferences. Adding URLs to the download queue is danged easy, too, thanks to the built-in Web search tool, but we also pasted in URLs directly, and the program logo is a droptarget for dragging and dropping files directly into the queue. The main interface is a simple, clean layout, and the extensive module preferences, though packed with controls and settings, were dashed easy to configure.

We searched for a YouTube video, clicked Download to add it to the program's queue, selected our profiles, and clicked Let's Go! Our download changed from Pending to In Progress. We had a darned pleasant surprise when checking the default destination folder: it's in DamnVid Portable's folder, not in some obscure destination deep in Windows that was created just for hiding your files. When DamnVid Portable was done with our job, we browsed to the destination folder and clicked our saved video, which opened and played normally in our default media player. So, should you try DamnVid Portable? You're, um, very, very right you should!