Real Alternative: Better Than the Real Thing? Stacking Real Alternative Against the Other Alternatives Adam Stone
We downloaded and installed Real Alternative without a great deal of trouble. It did take two tries, as the application insisted we install the latest version of DirectX before proceeding. Once up and running, however, the application more than fulfilled its promise. We drove it hard, and every song played smoothly and each video opened virtually instantaneously.
Considering the application is free, Real Alternative offers an impressive array of options and functions, including the ability to bookmark favorite files, adjust volume in the window, track progress of the file, and more. In short, it looks and feels like the competing players, which also are free. The big difference is that Real Alternative, which installs as a program called "Media Player Classic," runs flawlessly and without the in-your-face advertisements or stealthy adware components frequently encountered in competing clients.
That being said, it is important to mention some of the other contenders in the field.
UltraPlayer is a clean, competent media player with a simple interface that allows file management with just a few clicks. Rosoft Media Player supports a diverse array of audio and video formats, along with a powerful search function — and a pile of adware, too. Another offering, the Ashampoo Media Player, delivers integrated burning support for audio, data, and MP3 CDs, plus a 10-band equalizer for maximum sound quality.
Among the most popular alternative media players is Winamp, a free application with a 10-band graphic equalizer, internet radio and TV support, skins support, and groovy visualizations. In other words, it is chock full of bells and whistles.
But do you need all those bells and whistles if all you really want to do is listen to your bells and whistles, plus maybe the "Moulin Rouge" soundtrack? When all is said and done, how much time do you want to spend configuring the skins and setting the bass and treble on your media player? We heartily endorse the maxim that life is too short to spend time configuring skins on a media player.
And that is why we like Real Alternative. It's simple and low-maintenance. It plays what we ask it to play — and then it leaves us alone.
Pros: Blows away the big-name competition with flawless performance and no ads; supports a wide variety of multimedia formats, including RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, and QuickTime content; also plays audio/video CD/DVD content
Cons: Some limitations in playback formats, doesn''t fully support .smi and .smil formats, lacks CDDB support (for downloading audio CD information)
