Media Players Review:

This review is oriented mostly for DivX movie players , so DVD oriented players like PowerDVD or WinDVD may not have features we would like to .

Fortunately all the below mentioned players are free ( & nag-free) .

Windows Media Player 7/8/9 :

Speed Performance: 7/10

Plus: Probably you already have it , general purpose all-in-one player , video settings , playlist , equalizer .

Minus: No menu in fullscreen . In many DivX movies control bar does not seek . Not so "all in one" !. In case of audio features cannot be compared with WinAmp . In case of CD grabbing features cannot be compared with most grabbers . Cannot create mp3's and other audio formats . Poor in control tools / shortcuts / settings / video features . Although I do not like any existing all-in-one product , If you really want an "all in one" try MusicMatch Jukebox !.

What I like most: General purpose player for most video & audio formats . 

What I don't like: Too simple to really use it seriously .

Tip: Although I do not recommend to use it , i recommend to install it . Installs the most recent codecs & video plays more smoothly to all players after this installation .

Media Player Classic :

Speed Performance: 8/10

Plus:  Looks like WMP 6.4 but have much more features (like filter settings , control bar when FullScreen , playlist , DVD menus etc) , audio limiter (if you install 'AC3 filter' ) . Plays most formats like WMP 7 plus .ogg , .avs etc . Small in size . 

Minus: Poor in control tools / shortcuts / settings / video features .

What I like most: All-time-classic player , works OK on all kind of hardware . Now you can still have a WMP 6.4 - like player together with WMP 7.0 .

What I don't like: Too simple to really use it intensively .

DivXPlayer 2.0 (included with DivX 5.x): TOP

Speed Performance: 10/10

Plus: You already have it (if you installed DivX from its official pack), Speed Freak , The fastest video response when seeking with control bar , skins , video settings .

Minus: Cannot play anything else but .avi . Also cannot play all DivX (read previous topic) . Poor in control tools / shortcuts . Doesn't work at all on older machines . No playlist .

What I like most: Simple but FAST .

What I don't like: Sorry , it's only for DivX ... and not for all of them !. Crash many times .

ZoomPlayer (3.00 b9) : TOP

Speed Performance: 8/10

Plus:  Too many shortcuts , configurable & remapable shortcuts & mouse wheel / buttons , can change display mode , extensive play rate change , A/B repeat , next/previous frame , Filter settings , bookmarks (chapters) , powerful Playlist (can add a hole CD with directories) , have it's own brightness/contrast/gamma menu (only brightness works with my PC but it's OK) . Cool innovative zoom functions & other tools for TV-out cards not found anywhere else . When playing video , menu looks & acts pretty fast (just like without playing video) . Can remember window sizes & file paths if you set it so . Pro version (shareware) can be used as a cool DVD player ( however PowerDVD or similar codecs are required ) . Tools for registrer / unregister filters & codecs . Can import GraphEdit .grx files for custom filter & codec utilization . It needs only Cyberlink's DVD codec's (not necessarily installed before ZoomPlayer ) to become a stand-alone DVD player .

Minus: No audio limiter (only through Dvd/Media Graph but it's too hard this way).

What I like most: It's needless to say that this player is my favorite . Simply there is NO close competitor to this . Playlist works as I want . Shortcuts , shortcuts , shortcuts ! . Settings for every request . It's the only one with A/B repeat  & Next/Previous frame (why is it too hard to find such features ?) . 

What I don't like: None ! . Check out Preferences and you will find everything you may request !.

Notice: Version 3.00 Beta9 does not operate at all in DVD mode . All DVD stuff tested under 3.00 Beta4 .

BsPlayer (0.86) : TOP

Speed Performance: 9/10

Plus:  Fast , many shortcuts , remapable shortcuts , can change display mode , play rate , zoom functions  , DivX settings , hardware settings , skins , bookmarks , many languages . When playing video , menu looks & acts pretty fast (just like without playing video) . Can remember window sizes if you set it so . Audio limiter (dedynamic DX filter) , WinAmp DSP plugins .

Minus: Doesn't play all .avi formats . Buggy when automatically switching display modes . Crash when I play movie and I want to access Preferences . Playlist doesn't work as I would like to when drag'n drop . Limited playlist functions . Many times required upgrade when something changed (DirectX or DivX version) . Cannot work with some older PC's . Control bar doesn't work good on many skins . Equalizer didn't work . Cannot adjust settings if video is paused . Zoom functions are cool but slow & not so practical as in ZoomPlayer because you can navigate only via keyboard arrows .

What I like most: its FAST with many shortcuts .

What I don't like: I waited years for a day with a bug free version . This day didn't come yet !.

Notice: There are many troubleshooting & general tips for BsPlay in my Video page (Fast DivX Players paragraph) . Have a look if you are interested for it because it's a nice but buggy application .

The Core Media Player (4.0 RC2) :

Speed Performance: 7/10

Plus:  few shortcuts , skins , filter settings , play rate , bookmarks , clever playlist (displays time) , can be also used with audio , can utilize WinAmp DSP plugins (but not all of them) , equalizer .

Minus: Playlist doesn't work well when drag'n drop too many files . Consumes too much "User resources" . Some WinAmp DSP plugins works OK , but not all of them are displayed & "Configure" button works only when a file playing .

What I like most: Nothing in video. When having audio playlist you can associate each song with individual equalizer settings ! .

What I don't like: Some videos failed to play when they play OK in other players .

VLC Media Player 0.7.2 : 

Speed Performance: 9/10

Plus:  All format player . This is the only alternative player that can play .wmv files as well as WMP7. DVD Player can start from specific chapter (bypassing nag screens) . Deinterlace control .

Minus: no audio limiter , no play rate control , I faced some crashes during tests .

This is an excellent piece of software . It's a multi platform media player with build in encoding engines & streaming server . This player can convert wma/mp3/ogg to each other . 

Sasami2K (b757) :

Speed Performance: 6/10

Plus:  many shortcuts , can change play rate , next/previous frame , Filter settings , switch display mode , many video process tools (artifact remove , brightness , sharpness etc).

Minus: no audio limiter (but can increase sound beyond 100%)  , no Playlist , WinAmp DSP plugin does not work as expected (it doesn't work or it works with totally different settings) . 

What I like most: Innovative video process tools , many shortcuts ,  can switch display mode , remember settings  Although it's a new software in beta , looks much more stable than BsPlay which exists for years !.

What I don't like: If it wasn't too slow ... .

Troubleshooting: Note that in order to configure a DSP plugin , you must first "Turn ON" it , apply & exit from preferences menu ,  open again preferences & then "Configure" it .

Radlight 3.03R5.2:

Radlight excluded from review because version 3.03R5.1 removed my Ad-Aware . Besides installs spyware . Shame for you Radlight ... We can live without you !.

Features: audio limiter , playrate control , skins .

ViPlay 2.5:

Speed Performance: 7/10

Plus: DVD menus , small size , audio limiter , playrate control , skins , can play most formats (but not as much as VLC) .

ViPlay looks & acts very close to Radlight but it does not include any spyware .

Gold Tip: Save my Desktop !

When you using players that switch display mode , many times your icons on your desktop are messed and you have to put it in order again and again . Save my Desktop is a cool utility that restores your icons to previous position . I lost so much time in past arranging messed icons that I regret I didn't search for such utility before .

First Pub: 25/03/2003