how can i view real video w/o the real player
 

i hate the real player. however they're are sites where the only option to view or listen to media files is to use the real player. is there a third party solution to viewing real video without the real player?

i need to see hockey night in canada!

I have seen a player called the real alternative on Kazaa lite's site. www.kazaalite.tk Couldn't tell you if it will play the streaming media cause I have never tried it, but I'm sure it's worth a look.

Uggg... I hate Real Player. I don't know a single person who likes it. I can't believe it's still around.

Download the latest ACE Codec Pack Proffessional and it comes with their own version of Media Player 6.4 called Media Player Classic that will play Real Media files and Quicktime files.

I probably shouldn't admit this, but I work at Real. Other than the adds (which, with some effort, can be shutoff) what do you hate about it?

mplayer should play them I think, its unix based software but there is a cygwin port

Real is a bit intrusive, in that it tends to override player settings (trying to make itself the default for most of your video and audio files). Plus it installs a largely unneccesary loader in the system tray that pops up annoying messages from time to time.

Also, most people I know just want to play files and don't want some kind of multimedia product center that looks like the AOL window that comes up after logging on.

It also installs some uneccesary services like tkbell, which is relatively difficult to get rid of and doesn't offer much to the end user.

Plus there's the junkmai, if you don't uncheck the automagically checked box which allows Real and its "partners" to send you offers to buy stuff.

Understatment of the century!

Someone should go tell Real to die.

I mean it basically serves no purpose but to piss people off.

WMP can get most video/audio files done.
And Quicktime has good movie trailers.

Real's ads, system tray icon, seemingly "gazillions" of nagware checkboxes to turn off, and hijacking of media file defaults is a hassle.

I like small, simple apps like CoolPlayer. It plays MP3 files - period. No SETUP, no Registry shenanigans, no unncessary features.

Me too, I like the Windows Media Player Classic, it runs well on my shitty comp and doesn't take up that much memory either.

RealPlayer sucks!

Heheheee......

http://www.hi-psi.com/bbpics/RealPlayer.jpg

Love that photo Coucher!!!

The clarity of the image isn't very nice either.

I admit I use realplayer. Mediaplayer for mac sucks ass, and I haven't bothered looking for alternatives to real. I was also unaware of all the intrusive stuff. I'm learning so much here..

What is your position Goof7Ball? Just Curious.
And awesome picture Coucher!

Asides from all the other very valid points that were already made, the compression is wayyy too lossy and it doesn't display well at lower bitrates. As much as I hate to admit, WMV is superior in this regard. What do I prefer personally? Mpeg2 ;)


And to answer the original question; Search all P2P networks for a program called Helix..it plays rms and is standalone. On the rare occasion I dl an rm I use it and it's a very spartan player but it does work.

rofl

I can't argue with the comments about the RealOne Player being intrusive- it is, and I hate that about it too. Sales/Marketing is driven by a single goal - making their numbers. Huge battles have been fought within the company over this topic and, happily, I can tell you that things are getting better. Sadly, you have all been burned already so when each new (and improved) version comes out you're not likely to try it and realize that it is indeed better.

Later today I'll install the last publicly released version of the RealOne Player and then I'll post step-by-step instructions for disabling the message center, and the datatype stealling. The player has a great MP3 database and easy CD Burning. The CD ripper is great, and if you choose to subscribe to SuperPass a lot of the content is pretty good too (CNN, ABC, MLB, NBA, NASCAR,...).

Holo: I don't think you are comparing apples to apples with your observation about video qaulity. Independent tests have shown RealVideo to be superior to Windows Media at almost all (if not every) data rate(s)- were the two clips encoded at the same bit rate, and were they both using the latest codecs?