Our Verdict
RealPlayer , the venerable ( but oft - traduce ) multimedia playback software , is back . With the late edition of the software – it ’s number 14 , but simply goes by the name RealPlayer – Real Networks has enhance the histrion ’s peregrine capability , smartly take aim at Android , BlackBerry , and Nokia phones , which lack the native medium - syncing occasion that Apple ’s iPhone and iPod love with iTunes . I tested the Plus version of the app , and while it wreak as advertised , I ’m not convinced it ’s worth the $ 40 agio ( price as of January 4 , 2011 ) that it commands over the costless version of RealPlayer .
RealPlayer Plus summate several feature article leave out from the free interpretation , such as faster picture downloads and transferee , as well as DVD combustion and innovative CD burning , which are nice touches . But although it ditch the TV ads displayed every meter you launch the free version of the software package , RealPlayer Plus still displays unchanging ads on its Featured tab – which is what you see every time you get to the program . When you ’re paying $ 40 for a piece of software system , ads are an unwelcome addition .
RealPlayer ’s other tabs – Now Playing , Library , and Burn – are where the real action take place . When you pilot to the Library yellow journalism , you may have RealPlayer Plus search your computer for sensitive files ( including music , video , pictures , downloads and recordings , and playlists ) that you ’d wish to contend . The interface is straightforward , and a pleasant variety from the optic mare’s nest of the Featured pill .
All of the undertaking you ’d expect from a multimedia managing director are uncommitted in RealPlayer Plus . Once your culture medium files have link your subroutine library , you may bet them back , redact their info , produce playlist , and so forth . The Now Playing tab works just as you ’d expect , permit you look at the depicted object that ’s currently playing . you could go to the Burn tab to create CDs or DVDs , as well as to print jewel - case inserts for your discs . Audiophiles will revalue how RealPlayer Plus helps to convert old music recordings to high - quality digital versions .
The new RealPlayer keep back the ready to hand characteristic found in previous versions , including the ability to upload file directly to sites such as Facebook and YouTube . In addition , you may now opt to download video files from Websites straight to your RealPlayer program library . The Plus version of the app sport a feature that will help you burn these download videos to DVD so that you may watch them away from your computer . This feature is well implemented and easy to use , but is deserving the $ 40 premium only if you ’re the sort who likes to save on-line videos topically for your own collection , or if you desire to watch on-line videos on your TV and you do n’t have amedia streamerthat already provide that functionality .
More impressive is RealPlayer ’s ability to serve you make do your mobile equipment . This characteristic , usable in both the barren and Plus edition of the software , has been improved over the previous version . Before , the app let you to remove files to your mobile machine ; now , RealPlayer work in the opposite direction too , adding the power to reassign medium files off of your mobile machine and into your RealPlayer library . In my tests , the feature worked as promised . The Plus version will transfer videos to your phone 50 percent quicker than the free version , veridical suppose ; but even when I used the free variant , TV transferral did n’t take a terribly long prison term .
When you get in touch your roving twist to your computer , RealPlayer recognizes it as an additional source of content , and asks you to distinguish the make and framework . I essay RealPlayer by connecting a Motorola Droid 2 smartphone to my microcomputer , and I was happy to see that this relatively new phone was useable as an option on Real ’s listing . The app identifies your wandering machine in case you wish to convert any of your PC files for consider on the French telephone , and I was able to commute files without a problem .
When your mobile gimmick is link , RealPlayer summate it to your library , where you could view its information in a panel that runs down the left side of the player ’s windowpane . Working with the interface is similar to using iTunes with an iPhone ; you ’ll see your phone ’s name , and you may sink in on it to view the gadget ’s information .
RealPlayer will describe any new music , video recording , or icon files on your machine-accessible phone or audio player , and will allow you to transfer them aright to your microcomputer . This process worked seamlessly in my tests , and it provided one of the easiest ways of managing an Android phone that I ’ve experienced yet . In improver , you may sync playlists and channelise files to your roving twist by just dragging and dropping the file to your phone . And if a file is n’t compatible with your twist , the new RealPlayer ( like previous versions ) will give you the option of converting it and then syncing it .
you may use the young RealPlayer with an iPhone or an iPod ( and you will see both of these devices listed by name in the player ’s menu of available mobile equipment ) , but the experience is n’t quite the same . Your iPhone or iPod will not show up in your subroutine library as a connected equipment , but you will be able-bodied to exchange files and copy them to the iPhone or iPod . The app also lets you add single file good to your iTunes library , which is a skillful mite . Still , the newfangled RealPlayer is not a true media - management option for Apple ’s devices;iTunesis a much just option for that .
RealPlayer Plus extend an easy agency to manage your media library , but its best features are also available in the free version of the software . If you own an Android , BlackBerry , or Nokia phone , and if you ’ve been looking for a free and easy room to wrangle multimedia files , the novel RealPlayer will make your life a whole lot easier . But the $ 40 you ’d ante up for the Plus version would be better spent elsewhere .
