Media playing software

Post by **Randy Cornhole** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 8:21 am

Have another Chang Wanderlust...

Post by **Wanderlust** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 8:37 am

Randy,
I think you might be confusing me with lomu...

Post by **buksida** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 9:18 am

Most people won't realise (or care) what a piece of software is doing in the background, so long as it does the job.

By pressing ctrl+alt+del then 'task manager' then 'processes' you can see how much memory each program is using, a simple media player should be relatively light. Additionally a firewall will tell you how often a piece of software wants to connect to the internet and where it goes. Personally I don't want Steve Jobs knowing about my music collection!

Granted my experience with iTunes was a few years ago and the latest version maybe spot on but ... once bitten ...

Additionally each computer setup is different, some will have problems some won't (in this short thread 2 like iTunes and 2 hate it). After testing hundreds of machines and setups though you do kind of get a feel for how different software applications behave. I do check what each program does to my machine before I decide to keep it and cast my opinion on it, most people don't!

Post by **sandman67** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 9:41 am

I use different players for different things....running the low graphic version of winamp doesn't slow my pc down....not half as much as sodding media player

I do recommend GOM Player tho.... a great multi format player and free, very light on resources from what Ive seen, crisp graphics and yes it has an equaliser with presets and customability.....updates itself.

drop the DIVX and Gordian Knot codec packs on it and it should play just about any file you have, including mp4 and mkv files. It can also play "broken" avi files that other players cant.

http://www.gomlab.com/eng/GMP_download.html

Post by **Big Boy** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 6:46 am

buksida wrote:

Most people won't realise (or care) what a piece of software is doing in the background, so long as it does the job.

I think that is precisely it. The computer my son uses is 500 Megahertz (sp?), and has 256 Megabytes of RAM. We have 2 other PCs that are much more powerful.

The point is he uses iTunes to rip CDs and copy them to his iPod. At the same time he will be producing labels for CD cases that he is pirating, and he will also be copying on to CDs. He is always doing a minimum of 2 of the jobs. Everything works at a speed suitable for him, so why fix it if ain't broke?

If he were to start video streaming, and on-line gaming at the same time - yes, he'd have a problem.

Post by **Guess** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 2:53 pm

buksida wrote:.........
Additionally each computer setup is different, some will have problems some won't (in this short thread 2 like iTunes and 2 hate it). ..............

So if your happy with it use it. But in an attempt to answer WL,

1. It will work better on a Mac than a PC as that is what is was designed for.

2. The resources I referred to are not just CPU and memory but also disk space and bandwidth. IT starts unnecessary processes like Bonjour, iTunes Helper and ##Id_String1.6...... These may not be an issue to some users.

3. What Buksida and I do on the PC will highlight anything intrusive and when I have run iTunes alongside other applications that access the internet it is often the one making the huge demands.

4. I want a piece of software that pays my music files (as SM has stated) and any other formats (flac, MP4, etc. that it can) and not something that is continually accessing the internet and trying to get me to go to it's library to buy stuff.

5. Unless you are a heavy user like me you probably never get close to running out of any resource so may not notice. I have had iTunes and Music Match running on a Pentium 3 with 256MB memory and it was OK so long as I didn't do anything else.

6. I have had a few system problems that have appeared after installing and running iTunes. They went away after I removed it and all its buddy programs.

I think it's another case of horses for courses

Post by **Wanderlust** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 3:33 pm

Guess wrote:
buksida wrote:.........
Additionally each computer setup is different, some will have problems some won't (in this short thread 2 like iTunes and 2 hate it). ..............
So if your happy with it use it. But in an attempt to answer WL,

1. It will work better on a Mac than a PC as that is what is was designed for.

2. The resources I referred to are not just CPU and memory but also disk space and bandwidth. IT starts unnecessary processes like Bonjour, iTunes Helper and ##Id_String1.6...... These may not be an issue to some users.

3. What Buksida and I do on the PC will highlight anything intrusive and when I have run iTunes alongside other applications that access the internet it is often the one making the huge demands.

4. I want a piece of software that pays my music files (as SM has stated) and any other formats (flac, MP4, etc. that it can) and not something that is continually accessing the internet and trying to get me to go to it's library to buy stuff.

5. Unless you are a heavy user like me you probably never get close to running out of any resource so may not notice. I have had iTunes and Music Match running on a Pentium 3 with 256MB memory and it was OK so long as I didn't do anything else.

6. I have had a few system problems that have appeared after installing and running iTunes. They went away after I removed it and all its buddy programs.

I think it's another case of horses for courses

Guess,
Thanks for expanding on the problems, although I am pretty sure that you can turn off the accessing internet problem, as well as choosing which processes you want it to run or not including iTunes Helper and Bonjour, although I have no idea what ##Id_String1.6 is! A previous criticism was the rearranging folders and names, which again can be prevented by selecting the right options. As you say it is horses for courses but I do feel that some of the criticism of iTunes is down to not bothering to set it up correctly to suit the demands of the user. This is true of many bits of software in fact, as an example Word takes quite a while before you can get it exactly as you want it but it seems that some people aren't willing to do that with some software, which is fair enough but I believe means they are missing out - the question about media players is continually being asked which leads me to think it might be worth some people trying to use the options available to tailor iTunes to their requirements.

Post by **Guess** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 5:43 pm

Wanderlust wrote:...................I have no idea what ##Id_String1.6 is! A previous criticism was the rearranging folders and names, which again can be prevented by selecting the right options......................

I have no idea what it is either but it is owned by bonjour and you have to go into the registry manually to get rid of it.

Your point about configuration is probably valid but with a piece of software designed for playing music it shouldn't need configuration options for tuning.

Also I had a couple of bits of malware that attached itself (or disguised itself) with iTunes before I had the chance to taker it offline.

I use the same rule of thumb now for most utilities. That is use the smallest one that works with the least features. The less there is the less will go wrong.

Post by **buksida** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 8:01 pm

Guess wrote: That is use the smallest one that works with the least features.

Absolutely, this is why I avoid iTunes and Quicktime like the cyberplague!

Its far more than just adjusting the settings of a piece of software, its more a case of knowing about and removing all of the hidden shite that comes with it!

Post by **sandman67** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 10:19 am

Buksi makes a good point...one that always influences my choices of software to run. I hate tweaking the stuff ...just lazy I guess

Guess

really mate give GOM a go...its free so you can always dump it. Its the best multi platform multi format player Ive come across. The EQ is adequate and user friendly, as if the whole interface....goes for simplicity and function over flashy lights and animations. Also seems to play just about everything short of DivX files without looking up codecs all the time....plays mp3 mp4 mkv etc straight from the box.

chin chin mate

Post by **hhfarang** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 11:31 am

Buksida wrote:

I will try the two free players recommended here as I too am always looking for something better!

Buksi,

If you do get around to doing this would you please give us your opinion (a review) of them here as it sounds like you take a thorough look at a piece of software and it's impact and footprint on your machine?

Thanks!

Post by **buksida** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 11:46 am

Will do, I'm hoping to find something that will help me sort my collection out also as its spread over 3 hard disks at the moment!

Post by **richard** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 11:50 am

A lot of good info

Thanks

I've gone for GOM and am well pleased.

There are so many valid points posted and it's really horses for courses

Seems it depends on

1) Machine and power/memory
2) Loading (I tend to have downloads, skype, outlook and firefox running all the time)
3) Ability/knowledge to tweak

Thanks again

Post by **Guess** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 3:13 pm

sandman67 wrote: Guess

really mate give GOM a go...

I downloaded it yesterday and will try it later. One thing I have found is that you really need a different player for music than video despite the fact that it's usually both MP3.

I am more than happy with VLC for movies but Avast keeps telling me my copy of Winamp Pro has a virus which is a pain in its own right.

Post by **sandman67** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 4:37 pm

hmmm

thats odd....avast doesnt have a problem with my copy of winamp but mines the freebie. Maybe its one of those connected service things.

I do know that some of the add ons to winamp that are down loadable...mostly animated dancer screens etc from Wild Tangent.....did used to have adware/spyware in em and caused mayhem. Its a shame cos the Valentine Dancer was way cool.