Media players are programs that will play audio or video on a computer. There are loads available to download from the internet, plus, of course, Microsoft’s Windows Media Player, which comes installed on PCs running Windows.
With so many options, it can be confusing to decide which to use. As they are generally free programs, the answer could be to download several, depending on what they will be used for. The downside is that also means running lots of programs.
This group test looks at six of the many media players available. We tested how well they could run music and video stored on a PC, play DVDs, burn, rip and create libraries and playlists.
The final choice should be made based on how it will be used – some players are better for video rather than music. Others, such as iTunes, are better for organising a music collection.
Apple iTunes 7.1
For many who plan to manage a large digital music collection,
iTunes is often an
early choice. However, on a PC the choice is not as clear-cut as it is for those
with a Mac.
Downloading and installing the program was easy. It gives options to add files, such as those stored as Wma, to iTunes’ preferred format, AAC, and will set up its library before the installation process is finished.
Adding more files or folders to the library at a later point is a simple process using the File menu.
The program comes with an extensive list of online radio stations, sorted by genre. With such a huge list of international stations, it would be easy to lose any favourites, but these can be dragged into a playlist.
CDs can be imported (Apple-speak for ripped), but it’s not obvious how to change the file format during the process.
To do so entails going into the Advanced tab in the Preferences menu.
It would be better if iTunes gave users the option to choose their preferred file format and bit rate as soon as they chose to import a CD, particularly if they want to save songs in a popular format that can be used in multiple players.
Once ripped and added to the library, there is a ‘convert selection to mp3’ option. While this is easy to use, it does mean partially repeating the process of storing tracks on a PC and it duplicates rather than replaces the unwanted format.
For iPod owners, iTunes is an almost mandatory choice, because tracks can easily be transferred, but it is not as well set up for other portable players.
