# Solved: Looking for an alternative to VLC Player



## brokenhead (Oct 11, 2006)

I have relied on VLC for years because of its flexibility - it can play just about anything, and it is free.

But it does have its quirks. First, there is that annoying "Rebuilding Font Cache" thing it does which seems to take forever and do nothing. Second, although the updates are frequent, they often seem to fix nothing I need fixed, and some of them are buggier than the revision they are replacing.

This is to be expected by such a feature-laden application that costs nothing. I like that when I am booted into Linux, I have at least one application that is familiar and doesn't lack in features compared to the Windows counterpart.

Specifically, does anyone know of a video playback program than makes taking screen-shots easier? VLC is inexplicably primitive in this respect. It gives only two format choices, png and jpg. Second, you cannot use a hot key - you have to use the drop-down menu. Third, there doesn't seem to be a way to set things up so it is possible to get that _exact_ frame you want.

If anyone out there understands what I am talking about, could you please recommend an alternative? It doesn't have to be freeware, but please not costing a fortune either...


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

Don't know if this does all you want,but it is worth checking out.
Don't be put off by the "Video player" label.
It is a multiformat player.
http://www.xine-project.org/features


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## brokenhead (Oct 11, 2006)

Thanx leroys1K - I'll give it a shot and update here.


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## brokenhead (Oct 11, 2006)

Just followed the link...

Sorry - I wasn't clear in my post. I need this app for my _Windows_ OS. I only occasionally boot into Linux. This player is for "unix-like" systems only, it seems...


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## brokenhead (Oct 11, 2006)

BTW, L-1K, I spent a wonderful 2 months in Boise a couple summers ago. Long enough to know the long-time locals pronounce it "Boycee" not "BoyZee." Who knew Idaho has more river-miles than any other US State? A prettier place in this country I have yet to see.


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## Blackmirror (Dec 5, 2006)

GOM-Media-Player


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

Sorry,thought you wanted a linux one.

brokenhead:Yeah,pretty nice country around here,but like any place
it is nice to have a change sometimes.
Been here over 20 years now,and could use a change of pace.
They are having a free concert in the park near here this weekend
with big name bands and I live close to the park.
Lots of people streaming through here.
Some people pronounce it Bozo,Idaho LOL,Joking.


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## brokenhead (Oct 11, 2006)

Well, L1K, I am from Philadelphia/Deleware Valley Founding Fathers land. It is real nice around here, with all the seasons and rolling greenery. It was change that made made me look up old friends (who had moved to Idaho). I drove out there and back. On the way back, my car broke down in Twin Falls. Got it fixed there, nicer people I could not have asked for. Between Boise and PA, our great country becomes hard-scrabble and for long stretches, featureless. The lush foliage starts to return in Eastern Ohio and my familiar woodsy part of the country resurfaces. There was a spate of rain in Boise just as I arrived, and my friends assured me I brought it in with me. It was hard to leave the gorgeous mountains with the double rainbows and friendly folk.


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## brokenhead (Oct 11, 2006)

@Blackmirror - I am trying the app you suggested. It is so much easier these days to try programs out - I either throw them in a VM, or install them right on my main Win7 environment. I keep Revo uninstaller handy, you can't go wrong. It used to be trying out apps was risky, but not now with System Restore and uninstallers like Revo which go in and clean out the crap in the registry left behind by the program's own uninstaller.


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## brokenhead (Oct 11, 2006)

Blackmirror said:


> GOM-Media-Player


This did the trick nicely - AND it's free.


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## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

I absolutely hate VLC and think it is a piece of junk. It has caused me more problems than most any other program I have.

Switched to UMPlayer (Universal Media Player), which has different versions for different CPU architecture (chosen automatically by web installer) and have had few problems since.

But then, I like variety, and also some videos just look better on some screens than others, especially if they are cropped. So I have about 15 media players installed. They all work fine, and in fact share many codecs that they installed as system codecs, so most players now play everythng.


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## brokenhead (Oct 11, 2006)

Elvandil said:


> I absolutely hate VLC and think it is a piece of junk. It has caused me more problems than most any other program I have.


I share some of your lack of enthusiasm for VLC, but for some reason it seems to have captured the hearts of many. If you compare it to Windows Media Player, it wins. For the life of me, I cannot figure out what WMP is trying to be. It is difficult to use, cannot play many things, and is a shill for DRM efforts by MS. I cannot pay an mp3 without it going to the web to find a picture. I HATE that. Like so many MS products, it says to you, "What you were trying to do doesn't matter. Let us do your thinking for you."

But though VLC beats that, it has its drawbacks. Like I mentioned above, that mysterious "Rebuilding Font Cache" it does when you open it annoys me no end. It takes forever, and if you interrupt it, nothing negative happens. So why does it happen at all? Next, VLC inserts itself into the explorer shell. Not terrible, a lot of programs do that - but the better programs ask you before changing your drop-down menus, and VLC does not. Third - VLC seems to have frequent revisions. It is not a small download, but if you'll notice many of these revisions are labeled "bug-fixes." This means the product has a lot of bugs. Oddly, each revision seems to have a new set of quirks.

VLC is ungainly. It seems to have an infinite variety of options. But often it balks at opening this media file or that one, so you think, I probably don't have it set right. Of course then, you go in and tinker with those options and make it even less responsive.

But my biggest bugaboo about VLC is the icon. My PC is littered with what looks like little dunce-caps...

So I too have several media players installed, since that way I can almost always find one that plays my media when VLC refuses.

Cheers! Had to get it off my chest!


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## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

To be fair, WMP does have settings and you can stop it from going to the web, if you want. It is a bit hard to set up the way you want it, but I generally like the look and the way it works.

VLC has an option to change its icon, too, and you can assign any icon you want to its claimed media.

For some reason people just seem to think that because something is "open-source" it is a good thing. VLC tries to be too many things to too many people and ends up being a monstrosity. I feel the same way about Firefox. Despite the fact that its security record is way worse than IE's lately, people continue to promote it with the security argument. It is very slow for me, takes forever to start, is always updating since it appears they can't get anything right the first time, and on top of that, it seems to have brain skips where it locks up for a second ot 2 and then flashes my screen. And it does this on all 3 of my machines, so I know it is not just me or some local setting.

But, I feel a bit like a hypocrite even saying that because I almost never use either one. For me, it's GOM, Haihaisoft, and UMPlayer all the way. And Seamonkey, Opera, and Chrome (before Google gets a hold on it and loads its spyware).


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## brokenhead (Oct 11, 2006)

Elvandil said:


> To be fair, WMP does have settings and you can stop it from going to the web, if you want. It is a bit hard to set up the way you want it, but I generally like the look and the way it works.


Yes I do use it - but I don't like the playlist business. It is just not as user-friendly as some others. I like Haihaisoft myself as well. I agree with your reasons for disliking VLC:


> VLC tries to be too many things to too many people and ends up being a monstrosity.


It kinda like Windows, right...?


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