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Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Web services

Zamzar online file converter adds premium services

Zamzar
There's nothing we love better than a good file conversion application. Well, maybe not nothing, but if you've got a PDF that you need to turn into a DOC or a WMA that you desperately want to be a MP3, the last thing you want to do is spend your time searching the web for the appropriate file converter. That's why we're big fans of tools that let you convert multiple file types like Mediacoder and Super.

And then there's online do-it-all file conversion service Zamzar. Zamzar lets you convert media files, documents, images, pretty much anything. Zamzar is a web based service, so it might take a little longer to convert some files since you need to upload them to a server, wait for the conversion to complete, and then check your email inbox for a download link. But as a web based application, Zamzar is useful for Windows, Mac, and Linux users whether they're at home, work, or using a library computer.

When we first reviewed Zamzar over a year ago, one of the free service's limitations was that you could only upload files up to 100MB at a time. Now Zamzar is offering premium accounts that allow users to convert files up to 1GB (which could come in handy if you want to convert video files).


Paid subscribers also get up to 100GB of online storage, an option for secure conversions, and faster conversions. That's because paid users' conversion requests take priority over free users. That makes sense, but we're a bit disappointed to see that Zamzar has set up 4 priority levels. Business users get higher priority than pro users, whose requests are fulfilled faster than basic users. Free account holders take the lowest priority. This means non-subscribers might have to wait a bit longer than they used to for their requests to be completed.

Paid accounts range from $7/month to $49 per month. But the folks at Zamzar are letting Download Squad readers get 50% off their first month's bill. All you have to do is enter the code DOWNLOADSQUAD in the promotional code box on the signup page. We think the price is a bit steep considering there are many free desktop apps that perform the same function. But since you get a reasonable amount of online storage space for your money as well, the prices seem a bit more palatable.

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