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RealPlayer Plus Makes Syncing Easy

05.01.2011
RealPlayer, the venerable (but ) multimedia playback software, is back. With the latest version of the software--it's number 14, but simply goes by the name RealPlayer--Real Networks has enhanced the player's mobile capabilities, smartly taking aim at Android, BlackBerry, and Nokia phones, which lack the native that Apple's iPhone and iPod enjoy with iTunes. I tested the Plus version of the app, and while it works as advertised, I'm not convinced it's worth the $40 premium (price as of January 4, 2011) that it commands over the .

RealPlayer Plus adds several features missing from the free version, such as faster video downloads and transfers, as well as DVD burning and advanced CD burning, which are nice touches. But although it ditches the video ads displayed every time you launch the free version of the software, RealPlayer Plus still displays static ads on its Featured tab--which is what you see every time you open the program. When you're paying $40 for a piece of software, ads are an unwelcome addition.

RealPlayer's other tabs--Now Playing, Library, and Burn--are where the real action takes place. When you navigate to the Library tab, you can have RealPlayer Plus search your computer for media files (including music, videos, pictures, downloads and recordings, and playlists) that you'd like to manage. The interface is straightforward, and a pleasant change from the visual clutter of the Featured tab.

All of the tasks you'd expect from a multimedia manager are available in RealPlayer Plus. Once your media files have joined your library, you can play them back, edit their info, create playlists, and so forth. The Now Playing tab works just as you'd expect, letting you view the content that's currently playing. You can go to the Burn tab to create CDs or DVDs, as well as to print jewel-case inserts for your discs. Audiophiles will appreciate how RealPlayer Plus helps to convert old music recordings to high-quality digital versions.

The new RealPlayer retains the handy features found in previous versions, including the ability to upload files directly to sites such as Facebook and YouTube. In addition, you can now choose to download video files from Websites straight to your RealPlayer library. The Plus version of the app sports a feature that will help you burn these downloaded videos to DVD so that you can watch them away from your computer. This feature is well implemented and easy to use, but is worth the $40 premium only if you're the sort who likes to save online videos locally for your own collection, or if you want to watch online videos on your TV and you don't have a that already provides that functionality.

More impressive is RealPlayer's ability to help you manage your mobile devices. This feature, available in both the free and Plus editions of the software, has been improved over the previous version. Before, the app allowed you to transfer files to your mobile device; now, RealPlayer works in the opposite direction too, adding the ability to transfer media files off of your mobile device and into your RealPlayer library. In my tests, the feature worked as promised. The Plus version will transfer videos to your phone 50 percent faster than the free version, Real says; but even when I used the free version, video transfers didn't take a terribly long time.