thebigbread

okay, there has been debate about the best media player out there for free, & im gonna try to resolve this. I will review TCPMP, Winvibe, Mortplayer, & GSplayer.

The following is tested on my X51V, please note i do not have a wm2003 device to test these on any.

TCPMP

TCPMP (the core pocket media player), also known as betaplayer, has been popular for quite a while. I found it when i had my axim for about 2 months, & it easily beats the mobile version of windows media player. I was excited to hear about divx & xvid support, along with nearly every other audio & video format available. upon opening the settings, i found a plethora of audio settings, speed, zoom, & even pixel aspect ratio. The video, when recorded in divx, works flawlessly, but wmv is very slow & often skips frames. The best feature is how quick this media player works, im suprised it could keep up with me. Audio Is crystal clear, that is, when the equalizer is set correctly. TCPMP has a tendency to become disorted at high volume levels, & also creates an annoying hiss when music is paused or if the music is quiet. I wish TCPMP had skinnability, i hate the plain-jane looks.

Pros:
Excellent video playback
Millions of settings
Support for nearly every photo, video, & audio format

Cons:
looks
disortion at high levels
hiss when music is paused or quiet

Conclusion: if you're looking for an all-around video/audio player, then tcpmp may be your anwser.


Winvibe

Winvibe, a newer audio only player that i found recently on aximsite, is an excellent alternative if you want a "snazzier" display or better options. I tested Winvibe's 3d-chorus & reverb settings. on lite rock & orchestral songs, they work well, but disable it on techno or other loud music; it just ruins it. i really like the visualizations, though i would prefer them to bee full-screen; they are still nice. CPU usage has been a complaint though, nearly taking the whole processor sometimes. Album art? i dont think this has support for it, ive used several skins & settings, but there is no support. audio quality is superb, no fuzz, static, or hiss, even when turned all the way up. Unfortunately, winvibe does not support video.

Pros:
excellent audio quality
skins are high quality
simple controls

cons:
not as versatile as other players
No album art

conclusion: Winvibe does an excellent job of playing audio, yet it may be too simple for some people.

GSplayer

GSplayer (green soft player) is an mp3/ogg player with plugin and skinning support. An interesting feature is the midi support, which uses the GM table.
GSplayer has some nice skins, and landscape support. although some unique features are available on gsplayer, it lacks some features i consider important (equalizer, 3d & reverb, ect.) mp3 playback is good, showing info on the current song. I would prefer a different table for the midi, The audio sounds like a soundcard off a pentium I.

Pros:
Quick & easy to use
Plug-ins can be downloaded
unique features
WM5 version

cons:
no EQ
Where's the album art?
midi is poor quality

Conclusion: if you are looking for a easy-to-use player with midi support, then i suggest GSplayer.

Mortplayer

Mortplayer, popular among many pocket pc users, is considered by many the best audio player for ppc. When i started up Mortplayer, it led me through a little tutorial on basic usage (playlist editing, controls, ect.) & i played a few songs. mp3 playback quality, is by far, the best i have heard. The output is not very good on the stock speaker, i suggest connecting a small set of stereo speakers to the headphone jacks. for an audiophile like me, what i liked was the extensive settings & options, & the skins are nice. However, the controls can take a while to get used to, & may be too complicated for many. Landscape mode works well, but i wanted video playback on Mortplayer.

Pros:
Excellent audio quality
album art
loads of options & settings

cons:
may be too complicated for some people
no video support
takes a while to load

conclusion: if you want a load of options & excellent themes, i recommend mortplayer.

I hope this guide helped you on choosing one (or several) freeware media players.

:approve: :approve: :approve:

__________________
Axim X51v with a12 update & lots o' programs


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updated 04.14.07