Windows Media Player

[Mark]

Isn't windows media player just a fantastic program.  I have recently ripped laods of my CDs onto MP3 for the ease of playing them, and all you have to do is drop a CD into the drive, let XP read the disc ans select rip music from the pop up menu.  All the CD info is downloaded automatically and the MP3s have thier ID3 tag and file names set with this data.

Although I'm sining the praises of media play, its still not my first choice MP3 play, that always going to be winamp.

Come on then, whose going to have a go at me for giving a microsoft product good press?

[Cache-man]

I too have used WMP for ripping some MP3's, and yes it does actually do this very well. Through the settings meny you can even change the default naming conventions, and bitrates etc, offering full customisation.
Like Butch mentions though, Winamp is still the daddy for the actual playing of the MP3 files.

[lazlow]

I've used winamp in the past, and wmp, but I'm an iTunes addict I'm afraid. I wont knock winamp or wmp, as they too are great tools.

Essentially all 3 can do the same tasks too. I was put off of Winamp back when they released version 3 (I think) and it caused many problems and was far too bloated. I've always used media player for my videos, as I haven't found a decent alternative, and don't have any issues with it anyway.

But as for MP3 playback, it has to be iTunes. I started using it prior to getting my iPod. It's simple in terms of layout, it allows me to stream MP3s to other computers on my network and share my library. It allows me to organise it all myself etc.

My MP3 collection is nearing 50gb now, and iTunes handles it all effortlessly. Winamp and Windows Media Player are very good media players in their own rights, and I'll continue to use WMP for my video collection. It's all down to personal preference...

[sp00n4g3]

I personally use wmp as my first choice.

I have tried using winamp in the past but personally i found it took to long to load up and that kinda annoyed me as i have no patience whatsoever.

what makes winamp so special to you guys?

[Mark]

Winamp slower than WMP???
I use Winamp for MP3's beacue of how quick it is compared to WMP

[Cache-man]

I just prefer it as i have used it for so lon and it does everything i want, and does it pretty darn well.

[sp00n4g3]

dont you find it takes a long time to start up then?

cus i mean it could jus be my pc :s

[Sckitty]

I also use winamp to rip things, but as far as burning i use Nero, it makes videos on my pc into video cds that my player can read.

[Sckitty]

My DVD player that is.

[Mark]

Winamp opens in less than a second on my PC, but my PC is in need of a reinstall

[Cache-man]

I use winamp for a audio player only,
use either WMP or PowerDVD for video files/DVD's,
use AudioGrabber for ripping CD's (WMP however is exceptional at this task, so I sometimes use it for ripping),
and I use NERO for ripping.

It all depends really on which software you get to grips with best, or which software you learnt to do the tasks initially. I use the above programs because they work well for me, but others have different preferences and different ways of working so....each to their own.

And Winamp only takes a few seconds to load up for me. I'm using version 5.111. Some of the previous versions however, did start up a bit quicker. Maybe it just gets bloated with age.

[sp00n4g3]

hrmmm i will install it again and give it a try.

( <----- i got my first penguin  )

[saokammoh]

I really dont know if I should post this comment here as Iam  a new member. I have a problem with my multimedia audio. I formated my hard disk and reinstalled window 98. Since that time, there is no more sound when playing a film on my laptop computer. The funniest thing is that, I get sound when I play ordinary audio CD but not with VCD. What may be the problem?