Despite some advantages of using other utilities, DU Meter has a number of its own distinctive competencies. While Net.Medic displays transfer information only in Kbps, or kilobits per second (one/eighth of a Kilobyte), DU Meter will display speed rates in either Kbps (the term often associated with transfer speed in analog modems) or in KBps (Kilobytes per second - a term that is more useful in terms of relaying how long it takes to download a given file).
Like Net.Medic, DU Meter can be configured to scale its graph automatically depending on your connection, or you can use one of several pre-configured values (28.8 Kbps, 33.6 Kbps, 56 Kbps, etc.) Additionally, with DU Meter you can manually set your own transfer speed scale, a feature especially useful for cable modem users who are unable to utilize the automatic settings or one of the pre-configured values.
Another advantage of DU Meter is its small size — in terms of desktop space used, system resource utilization, and overall footprint — and the configurable ability to make itself even smaller. You can modify the program settings to display numeric and/or graphical results, use a window caption (or not), start minimized, or minimize when idle. DU Meter also offers system traybar icon support with an icon that graphically displays upload and download transfers.
DU Meter is not without its shortcomings, but with a price tag of only $19, you won't find a less expensive net diagnostic tool that gives as accurate results for download and upload transfer rates. Users needing more information on transfer speeds than the data provided by their Web browser but a bit less than that provided by the super-deluxe tool Net.Medic will find DU Meter to be an excellent compromise.
Pros: Supports all types of net connections, inexpensive, minimal use of resources/desktop space
Cons: Minimal stopwatch configuration options, lacks some features found in competing offerings
