Effortlessly play multimedia files on any PC with this portable, no-install-required media player
Effortlessly play multimedia files on any PC with this portable, no-install-required media player
Vote (267 votes)
Program license Free (GPL)
Developer Videolan
Version 2.0.8
Works under Windows
Vote
(267 votes)
Developer
Videolan
Works under
Windows
Program license
Free (GPL)
Version
2.0.8
Pros
- Works with all the different formats.
- You can download cover art to music.
- Watch a movie as it downloads to decide if you want to watch the rest of it.
Cons
- Overly simplistic user interface doesn't offer you advanced options.
Looking for one of the best video players around? If so, you may want to consider the VLC Media Player because of the excellent value delivered. First, it doesn't cost you anything, and this media player supports all the file formats without a problem. You don't have to download additional codecs every time you want to use another file format, and you can optimize the video or do an audio playback. What's great about the Portable VLC Media Player is how you can extend it infinitely with the downloadable plug-ins. Not only does it include extra features to your player, you can use it to enable the integration with some of the other streaming services and programs.
VLC Media Player: What It Supports
With the VLC Media Player, you have software like DivX and MPEG streaming. You can also play videos as the download takes place, which lets you check out the beginning to decide you want to download the rest of it. You might also choose to play one of the ZIP files. Luckily, with this media player, you don't have to unpack it individually. If the video sounds too quiet, you can also choose to manually increase the volume of the show. In fact, you can turn it up as high as 200 percent once you have finished downloading the film completely.
Looking for a Specific Album Cover?
One of the coolest things about the VLC Media Player is how you can choose to search for specific album covers. You can also download cover art to specific song. The playlist function of VLC lets you play multiple films, and you can play them one right after the next. In particular, it becomes useful after you have downloaded a film in six or seven different parts, and you want to watch the shorter videos.
What's the User Experience Like?
A lot of users have highly praised the VLC Media Player because it does more than act like a media player. In fact, it works as an excellent backup when you're trying to open a video from a specific format that most of the other media players don't even recognize. VLC steps in and helps you to solve the problem.
In the ideal world, everything would just work without a problem, but unfortunately, we face a variety of problems that we have to be prepared for. Over the years, we have developed all sorts of different formats for both music and videos, and it even includes a different delivery mechanism for many of them. This ranges from streaming to downloads, but VLC Media Player understands all of them and is well prepared to meet the demands of all.
Pros
- Works with all the different formats.
- You can download cover art to music.
- Watch a movie as it downloads to decide if you want to watch the rest of it.
Cons
- Overly simplistic user interface doesn't offer you advanced options.
Pros
- No installation required
- Broad codec support out of the box
- Able to expand codec support
Cons
- Lacks features that the core VLC version has
VLC Media Player is one of the most powerful media players for Windows, and the Portable VLC Media Player is a version that you can carry around in your pocket on a flash drive.
Portable VLC Media Player is a lot like the standard version of VLC: it supports most audio and video codecs out of the box, and it plays most multimedia files flawlessly and without a lot of fuss from the user. The player also has an excellent user interface, and there are options to manipulate subtitles, shift audio tracking, crop the image, and so forth.
The big difference between Portable VLC Media Player and the standard edition is that it doesn’t require installation. It comes in a compressed archive, and you can simply extract that archive to wherever you like. Want to move the folder? Not a problem. You can even put it on a USB flash drive or other portable storage media, and that’s where the real power of this version lies.
Portable VLC Media Player is perfect for the user who wants to maintain his or her settings over many different computing environments. It’s also perfect for the professional who often has to view or listen to multimedia in different work environments, including those that aren’t configured for the job.
Like standard VLC, the portable version isn’t limited to just the codecs it comes with. It can also access the codecs installed on the computer where it is currently running. It also has access to local files, so you could install a commonly used codec right onto the flash drive you carry Portable VLC around on.
The portable version is streamlined and thus does have some limitations. It doesn’t support plugins and extensions to the extent that the main version does. It also lacks some features that the main version has built in, such as support for HTTP and ActiveX.
Pros
- No installation required
- Broad codec support out of the box
- Able to expand codec support
Cons
- Lacks features that the core VLC version has
