This list of the Best Free Media Players is short and sweet. I am not going to bombard you with a huge list, just my favorite music and video players I use on a day to day basis. The following media players all work brilliantly and they are all FREE.
Video Players
Media Player Classic – A light weight video player that works on almost all computer. MPC makes the list because it plays pretty much every video format that is available today. Install either the K-Lite Codec pack or the Combined Community Codec Pack and MPC will work like a dream. It loads quickly, is easy to use and is bug free.
VLC Media Player – This is my backup to Media Player Classic. Any video files that do not work in MPC should work with VLC. Its true advantage though is that it does not require additional codec packs to work. Install both players, experiment and test the features of both and decide which works best for you. You will likely never need another video player again.
XBMC – If like me you use a laptop to play videos on your TV, this is the only media player you will ever need, guaranteed. My netbook stuggles to play HD files and YouTube is unusable. XBMC is the only player I have found that can handle smooth playback of 720p and 1080p video files on netbook. It is hugely customisable, has hundreds of plugins (e.g. YouTube and Vimeo plugins) and is very well supported. It also plays music, photos, the weather and more.
Music Players
Foobar 2000 – A super light weight music player that is easy to customise, has a lot of different skins to choose from and is really easy to use. Whatever features you want to use whilst listening to music Foobar will be able to provide. Any other features you do not use can simply be removed from the interface. My music player of choice.
Songbird – This is a great iTunes alternative with all the features of iTunes and then a lot more extras as well. It loads quicker, is easier to use and is straight forward to transfer all your playlists etc from iTunes to Songbird. The add-ons give you extra features such as video playback and web browsing or you could just keep it for playing music.