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Best Free Media Player
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In a Hurry?
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 Go straight to the Quick Selection Guide |
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Introduction
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Finding an all-in-one media player used to be impossible. In the past you needed to use several separate programs to play MP3 files, streaming media from Real, Mpeg files, Quicktime movies, CDs and DVD discs, but with the advent of Microsoft's Windows Media Player (WMP), all of these media types could be played in one player. Over a period of time, however, WMP for XP and Vista has become bloated and isn't compatible with all of the available file formats. WinAmp, which began as an mp3 player, now plays almost everything, although it uses a lot of system resources and may contain adware if you aren't careful on the installation. iTunes has become more prevalent on many PCs due to the almost universal reach of the IPod, but it also uses a lot of resources and is processor intensive. So I've done some major research to find alternative media players capable of playing all of these media formats, including digital music, video, CD, and DVD, while still being light on resources. I was impressed with what I found. Not only do these programs replace WMP ITunes and WinAmp, but they also exceeded their functionality. The products that I've reviewed here are capable of playing multiple types of media files, including various digital audio and video formats, CDs, and DVDs. They are also easy to install and use and are light on system resources. NOTE: Some of these programs may require additional codecs for expanded functionality. For more information about codecs, including what they do, legal issues and download links, see the article, "Understanding Codecs". |
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Discussion
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My thanks to everyone who suggested The KM Player, especially subscriber Sandeep, whose comments were helpful in creating this review.
MPC Home Cinema has many additional functions above and beyond the original MPC including: The option to remove Tearing, better support for Windows Vista (including a release for 64 bit platforms), support for EVR (Enhanced Video Renderer) and playback and recording of television if a supported TV tuner is installed.
 Kantaris is based partly on the code for VLC and I remember looking at it some time ago and thinking nice try but still needs some work. Things have moved on a lot since then though and this open source player is now well worth a look. The latest version has a unique feature which detects the character encoding of subtitles by analyzing the text. This is aimed mainly at languages with what we would call non-standard characters, like Chinese, but will appeal to a lot of users on this basis alone. Kantaris connects to an online subtitle database to find subtitles that are a perfect fit to the played media. Kantaris plays most file formats without additional codecs and will also play RAR-archives without the need to extract them first. Last.fm and Apple movie trailers are incorporated, and DVDs and CDs are also supported. Lastly, if you like visualizations, Kantaris has some of the best I've seen.
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VLC Media Player
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Available on multiple platforms, can read DVD's from all regions | |
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Large download size, many options can be confusing to non-technical types | |
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http://www.videolan.org/ | |
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http://www.videolan.org/vlc | |
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18 MB  1.0.5  Open Source Freeware (includes program code)  Windows 98-Vista, OS x, Various Linux distros |
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Portable version available | |
Kantaris
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Supports DVDs, CDs and plays most file types without needing additional codecs. | |
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Not as configurable as some other players for those requiring advanced features. | |
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http://www.kantaris.org/ | |
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http://www.kantaris.org/ | |
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14.4MB 0.6.6 Open Source Freeware (includes program code) Windows 2K/XP/Vista/7 |
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GOM Player
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No extra codec packs are needed, capable of playing broken avi files | |
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May not play DVD discs on some systems | |
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http://www.gomplayer.com/main.html | |
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http://www.gomplayer.com/download.html | |
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4.66 MB 2.1.15.4610 Open Source Freeware (includes program code) Windows 98SE-Vista |
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This software category is in need of an editor. If you are interested in taking it over then check out this page for more details. You can then contact us from that page or by clicking here.
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Comments
Another new player:
http://www.mousaiplayer.com/
Is KMPlayer still developing? I've not heard from it for quite ages.
If development has stopped, what would be a good replacement?
Good question. The first link has a little outdated info and Softpedia updated KMPlayer in June of this year and I can only assume it's because of a KMPlayer update.
http://www.kmplayer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15766
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Video-Players/KMPlayer.shtml
downloaded this supposed kmplayer update from http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Video-Players/KMPlayer.shtml
after running the install something called CoolgramS.exe was insalled to C:\Program Files\OSTEC\CoolGram
so far all scans indicate this is not malware, but I cannot be sure.
As far as I can tell, this .exe originates from Korea. Virus Total reports 4/41 so it's unlikely to be malicious although it could still fall into what many folks would regard as being "spyware".
PotPlayer by the same author written in C++.
Is it better than Kmplayer?
In my opinion, yes it is. First thing you notice is that it's faster and uses less resources, but there is no official english version and I wouldn't recommend an unofficial one.
Maybe not finished yet, but it's like improved KMPlayer. I really like "right click on button" feature which now has it's own commands, and skinning is much easier now, too.
New player out there - GreenForce Player:
http://gfp.rrsoftware.de/
I found I like WMP-10 on XP-Machine and using ffdshow for Divx videos. I have tried the other major video players, but keep coming back to the above setup.
Hello. Recomand ALSHOW Player. Very good. Try a large number of players. For me Kmp is the best. Also Gom, BS,ZOOM, MPC, is good, but the nr.1 is Kmplayer. Strange situation with VLC, try 3-4 versions, but after 1 hour of playing it crash. On my 2 computers. Amd and Intel. Don't know why. Try to play real file(real alternative 2.installed), not start. VLC problem, just crash, need to close, send error report bla,bla,bla...For me -1 stars. If anybody have the same problem, and have some resolvations, please post. Thanks.
Csabi
Great selection.
I also tried Hanso Player a while ago and proved to be a great media player.
Has anyone else used it?
I got it from download.com, and it had some good reviews there.
Please correct me if I'm wrong but I thought Hanso was audio only in which case it's better suited here?
http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/best-free-music-players-and-orga...
VLC 1.1.3 is out with changelog in link.
http://www.softpedia.com/progChangelog/VideoLAN-Client-Changelog-4059.html
KM player rocks.
Was getting much problem(subtitles not working, no remote control support, difficult screen settings, cropped videos etc) with few other movie player softwares.
KM player just does all by itself.
the software itself is very intelligent.
it lives to its reputation.
Still no 64bit support...gets installed but not good enough to use.
I have a bizarre problem with VLC. It loads up, plays the video and I close the player. The task does not end and "vlc.exe" is present in the task manager until I force quit it:(....I'm using Windows XP SP3 with all latest patches with Comodo Internet Security 4 and Microsoft Security Essentials. I've never faced this problem before.
Out of pure curiosity, I tried KM Player and was quite surprised with it! Very smooth playback, plays almost everything including my flac and ape audio along with the .cue files and yes video playback is quite nice too.
I would like to configure my own keyboard shortcuts with it. Guess I need to play around with it a little more.
I too noticed the same problem. Its a bug I think. It was in the previous version too. When I close VLC, its icon is still there in the tray. If I try to play another file, it does not play. I then have to click on the icon in the tray, and then the icon disappears. Then I can open another file. I expected this bug to be fixed in the latest version, but it did not get fixed. I think we might have to report this on their forum.
I would still keep with VLC though. Its developed more regularly than KM Player, whose development seems to have stalled. There has not been any new version since quite sometime.
@ Anupam: Exactly! the very same issues you describe are the ones I face...I am still giving VLC another try of course:)
My AGP card is 64MB and my RAM is 512MB. I cannot play video files those are greater then 1GB. Kindly suggest me a player for this. I have tried VLC, GOM and the latest K-lite codec pack without luck. Hope I get a feedback from u. Thanks in advance.
VLC is able to play Real Video and Audio and QuickTime without these programs installed on the computer, therefore the VLC is the best choice for the 32 bit computer and MPC is the best choice for the 64 bit ones while it has 64 bit version and it is also able to utilize H264 hardware codec in VIDEO cards, i.e. it is able to play Full HD VIDEO with less of 2% of processor time.
The KM player does not meat any of these capabilities and therefore it is far away of this list.
Hello,
I think this is the best ever list for mac video player I have seen, also all of them are free to download http://forums.techarena.in/guides-tutorials/1356879.htm
I think this review need a serious update..as there are new versions of the media players are being released..
Currently IMO VLC 1.1.2 is the best media player available on the planet:)
as i generally use a LOT of formats for both video and audio, and everything i throw at it JUST PLAYS..that is what i require atleast..i prefer functionality to fancy GUI's..
aren't most of the players listed here do "just that" (play whatever you throw at it)? even the less favored gom didn't have much trouble in that department except for few mkvs where it stuttered a bit (could be fixed by now, been a while since I have used it last)
I have used both. KMP featureset >>>>> VLC featureset.
As you can see from the note under the quick selection guide, this category no longer has an editor. If you would like to volunteer to take this over please use the link provided.
oh yeah, btw another potential merit to using KMP is bitperfect output via reclock plugin: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/438010/tutorial-wasapi-support-for-kmplayer-having-a-top-notch-video-audio-player
Not everyone needs this, but something some of you migh appreciate.
Glad you like kmplayer, it used to be the best for some time...
Now that the lead developer has sold the rights to pandora, many seem to think it started going downhill (or the development stagnated) for some time. For one, I know it had different sorts of problems with EVR which never got resolved to my knowledge.
Try potplayer for a change, made by the same guy and more streamlined and smaller with less features but still retaining most of the useful features. I have also tried its competitor called tokplayer - seems to work pretty well. More frequent updates on this one.
what does any one think of Miro http://www.getmiro.com/
Take a look at SMPlayer. It plays a lot of stuff and does not require any extra codecs.
So does anyone have a suggestion of a media player download that would work with a dell netbook and external optical drive? (and not take up a lot of space?)
Media Player Classic Home Cinema should be right for you IMO. Try it :).
Does Kantaris need .Net Framework in order to function?
Yes, requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 2
BS Player is excellent. I dont recommend GOM and VLC.
There's a lot of unresolved issues in the BS forum? I wouldn't want to use something that was this temperamental.
Hi everyone....i tried to run Kantaris on my win7 x64 OS but it gives me an unhandled exception error every time i open.I tried both the installer and portable but had the same result.Any help would be appreciated.
And BTW great review.......
Thanks
Sony
There are still issues with supporting x64 as per this thread:
http://www.kantaris.org/?p=37
with the ask installing services with kmplayer,That's one of those dodgy ones i think that u have to read properly,u have to do decline on one of the screens where most people would do agree,thinking unticking the boxes is enough.But the ticked boxes are only for ask home page and search,not the rest of the stuff.If u decline it will finish normal install of KMplayer.Sneaky tactics i think
I like Kantaris aswell,downloads subs for the film ur watching(km sort of does it but url's they use don't work,but can change)
The divx plugin is needed for many of the sites that have divx content.
The Ask bit is better in the latest version - 1437 or 1438. It did used to be confusing because you had to use a "decline agreement" on that page to avoid installing stuff. The new version still has the checkboxes but now with just a next button as in most agreements. (The boxes are still filled in by default though).
Unfortunately I installing it as part of a windows re-install and, although it was fine before, this time it just doesn't work well at all. This has shown up a flaw in that the help is pretty much non-existent and the options are not obvious enough for an idiot like me to understand.
It also irritates me that it sticks a folder in My Documents.
This is a very good point about the underhand tactics being used by Ask to "con" people into installing their rubbish when they already think they've chosen not to. The same thing happened with Immunet and in the end they removed it after receiving a lot of negative feedback including a listing in the msmvps "Installers Hall Of Shame" (which was later removed).
The Ask installation is not so easy to remove for non tech-savy users so I always recommend this procedure.
If ever you see a reference for Ask appearing when you open the install window for a program you've just downloaded, cancel it completely and then Google the programs name + Ask and then read a couple of the most recent links presented. These will usually be to a blog or forum where posters are giving details of how to definitely make sure that the Ask components do not get installed. Having got this, you can then restart your installation, knowing exactly which boxes to un-tick and if anything else is also necessary. Their latest trick was to have a box for "standard installation" which also required un-ticking to prevent the Ask components from being installed.
Every time I want to watch a certain Divx movie (streaming) online, a message on the website says I need the "Divx Player Plugin". I don't like the Divx Player and have used Divx Codexes and other Players like VLC which supposedly contain Divx Codex, but still get that message and cannot watch the movie. Any ideas?
Can you give example of any such site, so that we can try and recreate the problem. I have not come across such an error. If its a commercial or objectionable site, please send through message.
There are many different sites that do this, but here is an example.
http://tv.blinkx.com/movie/marked-for-death/HyeB2Bd7lU3M_JB4#sunknown
OK, I checked it out, and for me too, it says to download the DivX plugin. When I tried to play the video on the second link in the above page, a link pointed to download of DivX Web Player. I think that is a site specific requirement. I think VLC with DivX codec won't be able to play the video on the site... as VLC is meant for offline viewing. Although, with the latest version of VLC, you can watch streaming video on VLC itself by giving a site URL. You can try that, to see if it works. This can be achieved by opening VLC --> Media --> Open Network Stream --> enter URL of site.
Otherwise I think you will have to download the DivX Web Player for playing videos on such sites. I don't know if the web player is different from the DivX Player... will have to read on it.
Thank's Anupam for checking it! I will try the url and see if it's a go.
No probs :). Do give feedback, if you are successful.
Anupam, I got around to downloading a divx movie and it worked very well with VLC, so thanks again for the tip!
Welcome :). And thanks for the feedback. Good to hear things worked out :).
I also meant to add this question; which ones are portable?
In the Quick Selection Guide, its indicated which versions are portable.
I have a question about this article; of the media players noted, which ones are fully legal to use?
They wouldn't be here, if they were not legal.
Tried various media players over the years:
Zoom Player
KMPlayer
VLC
GOM Player
Media Player Classic/Home Cinema
All came up short in some way or other. Have recently started using SMPlayer (a front-end for MPlayer) and been very impressed.
- good range of mouse controls
- plays wide range of formats
- easy setup with good options and controls
- plays bin/cue (right-click, open with...)
- can play iso, if mounted to virtual drive
- doesn't have full range of DVD controls, such as chapter selection (option listed as experimental)
- it will play the main part of the DVD, just not the bumpf (such as FBI warning, which I think is a bonus)
I keep Media Player Home Cinema as my backup, as it can play all parts of DVDs and can play iso without mounting
Hi, I would like to know where KM-Player fell short for you. I started using it recently.
Thx.
Beware of the KMPlayer download at softonic.com. It installs multiple Ask.com "features" without asking or opt-in/out.
I have WinPatrol, Superantispyware, Threatfire, MS Security Essentials, and Prevx installed, and they did not stop it.
That's why I always prefer downloading software from their own website.
Is MPC the same as (aka) Real Alternative?
I have KMP 2.9.3.1428, but someone suggests I try RPA, as media in web pages does not play in Opera 9.64 (on XP; works fine in Firefox). It might have been almost 2 years back when troubles started after I switched from MPC to KMP. I need a media player for files and for web media. How can I get web media working again in O 9.64?
Installed MPC, and Opera:plugins indicates the RP plugin in place. Did not fix things. Please help.
Hello,
I downloaded the latest VLC and am having some problems.
When I am emailed a video file (I use fastmail web based email) or click on an online video file nothing happens. No error message or anything.
I have to copy the file onto my desktop before I can play it.
Perhaps I am doing something wrong and would love some advice because it seems like a good program.
If I haven't provided enough information, please ask me :-)
Cheers,
Paul.
You have to download the file to the desktop before you can play it. If you are getting video files as an attachment, it won't run directly from there. The file has to be saved to your hard disk first. The same goes for online video file. Some online videos like YouTube videos require Adobe Flash Player to be installed, so you can watch the videos. If you are talking about other online videos, please give an example.
This morning I have downloaded the KMPlayer because the introduction comment proms this product will runs at a 64 bits machine....
I have Vista Ultimate 64 bits and at the moment I click at the icone an warning comes this product is not regestered and the screen freeze immediatly...... The introduction comments proms it will runs also at 64 bits but this you have to read with a lot of tears in your eyes....
VLC 1.1.0 has been released with major improvements... like more codec support, hardware acceleration and more. Grab it now :D.
I use Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit.
I stay with WMP 12 and K-Lite Codec Pack
which have played almost all Files.
In the rare case that I need a second Media Player,
I will follow your No.1 Recommendation: The KMPlayer.
Both in Windows XP and Windows 7,
VLC was been problematic (bugs etc.)
I have tried VLC including the latest version 1.1.0, still has a few bugs in the system. Downloaded the latest Kantaris 0.6.6 & checked it thoroughly. An excellent piece of basic media software probably worthy of a TSA review at some time in the future!
Did you try the latest version of VLC?
I'm talking about the latest VLC version.
Sadly, it remains BUGGY...
Hmm... that's sad. What problems did you have? Can you elaborate?
I have been using VLC for years, and I never had any problem. But then, I just watch movies on it, and listen to songs. I don't have any advanced use for it. It serves my purpose well :). I would like to hear what problems you faced with the latest version.
Me too. I've tried what I know to break it on Windows 7 and Can't find anything.
Skins. It does not load all of its skins properly, will sometimes bugout' your machine on XP, and require a restart. I realize the skins are probably 3rd party, but if you host them on your server, you gotta test them all. Does not always set file associations properly.
It's certainly unfair to pitch skin choice as a reason for failure because this applies equally to the performance of many other program types such as browsers. I realize these things are very much a personal choice, but the skin I've found to be one of the most stable on XP and Windows 7 is ASNO3.
I've also found the failure to apply correct file association settings not unique to VLC. Happens a lot with word processors too, especially if you have more than one installed and security apps which are likely to be monitoring any changes.
Overall, I've tried all of the media players and don't find VLC to be any more or less "buggy" than any other.
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