# What online media player do you use? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 7, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-online-media-player-do-you-use/512990 "2009-10-07T23:28:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Brainiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@Brainiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-online-media-player-do-you-use/512990/1 "2009-10-07T23:28:46Z")
I’ve been using [RealPlayer](http://download.cnet.com/RealPlayer/3000-2071_4-10073040.html?tag=mncol) and never thought about changing until I read the latest [Download.com](http://Download.com) review. 4 out of 5 stars, but they start with faint praise indeed: “One of the dinosaurs of media playback, RealPlayer has been on the scene since 1995. Still, RealPlayer 11 introduces a major new function and takes care of some frustrating bugs, making it respectable once again. Now the free version of the player has the ability to download videos from the Internet, including Flash-based videos like those on YouTube.” Well, I guess I’m not very media savvy, so what have I been missing? What else is out there? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2009, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-online-media-player-do-you-use/512990/2 "2009-10-07T23:34:03Z")
I’m probably also a dinosaur, but I use iTunes for just about everything. I like being able to play one of my downloaded podcasts, music I’ve downloaded or CDs I’ve ripped, and then be able to switch to the radio stations on iTunes. I’ll usually stream the radio stations as background music. I do have all the major players installed just in case I run into a website that demands one particular player. ---
**Author:** ![gladtobeblazed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@gladtobeblazed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladtobeblazed)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-online-media-player-do-you-use/512990/3 "2009-10-08T00:08:56Z")
I use Winamp for music. For videos stored on my hard drive I use VLC, KMPlayer and Media Player Classic with K-Lite codec pack. I also have Quicktime Alternative installed so I can watch movie trailers on Apple’s website. If I ever needed to watch RealMedia files I would probably try Real Alternative. ---
**Author:** ![Never\_Say\_Dice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee59a6/32.png) [@Never\_Say\_Dice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Never_Say_Dice)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-online-media-player-do-you-use/512990/4 "2009-10-08T21:06:07Z")
I hate Quicktime. It always seems to glom onto other stuff and get in my face, leaving little icons on the desktop and launch pad and bookmarks and whatever that right lower corner is called. And it wants to get autoloaded after reboot and on and on. Seems like IE8 lets you download video, although I’ve never tried it, but the button is there. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-online-media-player-do-you-use/512990/5 "2009-10-09T23:46:39Z")
I don’t download anything but music. Streaming only for me. Netflix loaded some proprietary player software when I first started using them for watching online, but they were the only ones. Movies look great but are not downloaded. I use Napster for music. I use the Napster interface and player, will switch stuff to iTunes when needed, just when I want to change things around in the iPhone, but that’s pretty much it. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-online-media-player-do-you-use/512990/6 "2009-10-09T23:57:12Z")
Music gets iTunes, video gets VLC. I used to use Windows Media Player, but had too many problems with codecs, even with K-Lite. So VLC + K-Lite it is! ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-online-media-player-do-you-use/512990/7 "2009-10-10T01:22:53Z")
I use VLC to avoid codec problems. It can play pretty much anything. For music I use Foobar2000. It’s ultra light so it starts up fast. Itunes takes about five seconds to start. That’s just too long for me. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-online-media-player-do-you-use/512990/8 "2009-10-11T01:04:54Z")
> [@gladtobeblazed](#): > > I use Winamp for music. For videos stored on my hard drive I use VLC, KMPlayer and Media Player Classic with K-Lite codec pack. > > I also have Quicktime Alternative installed so I can watch movie trailers on Apple’s website. If I ever needed to watch RealMedia files I would probably try Real Alternative. I agree. Any of the players listed will do the job for all you Audio/Video/Media player needs. My personal preference is Media Player Classic Home Cinema. Its small on resources, portable, and has a ton of features.