Sony BSPlayer

Pros

• Offers smooth playback with little buffering and does so without hogging your computer's memory
• Truly dense selection of options when it comes to playing and interacting with videos

Cons

• Features relating to music and sound are bare bones and wholly lackluster

If you're looking for DVD player software that can also serve as an all around media player as well, BS.Player is a sensible if not especially exciting choice. It's a workhorse that gets the job done, but there's not much that makes it stand out from the competition; and as streaming media becomes even more prevalent, the value you'll find from a media player like this is bound to wane significantly over time.

One thing BS.Player has going for it is what a lightweight piece of software it is. That means you can multitask to your heart's content without worrying about your video stuttering or other processes lagging or not running at peak efficiency. It wouldn't be unfair at all to call the interface here minimalist. With a simple, if colorful, windowed design, BS.Player looks stylistically in line with early 2000s Windows OS. This isn't too big of a deal, as BS.Player's manufacturer offers a number of applicable skins that you can download directly through their site. A directory on the left hand side of the screen makes it easy to navigate between your music, saved videos, and attached DVD, while a panel on the right neatly displays the entire library in question. It won't change how you think about media player navigation, but it's entirely functional and befitting the no frills approach the developer has taken with this software. And while it doesn't look like much on the surface, you'll find a surprisingly decent amount of options once you start to scratch beneath the surface veneer. Whether you're looking to stretch the video to suit the specific parameters of your monitor, zoom in for close-ups, or crank up the resolution of a standard video up to high definition, you'll find it hidden away in the menus here. It even offers social media sharing options baked right in to the main user interface.

While the video options are mostly on point, the audio functionality leaves a lot more to be desired. If you're looking for Dolby or any other high performance audio features, you're flat out of luck. That BS.Player isn't even capable of lossless audio playback is especially disappointing and could understandably be a breaking point for users who crave a quality sound experience.

In terms of compatibility, BS.Player works with most modern video and audio formats, and it loads both DVDs and rewriteable CDs rather quickly. It may not have the flash or substance that other media players on the market do, but it has some decent features tucked away, and its modest price tag will earn you lifetime updates for the software and access to the customer care team as well as a comprehensive knowledge database.

Pros

• Offers smooth playback with little buffering and does so without hogging your computer's memory
• Truly dense selection of options when it comes to playing and interacting with videos

Cons

• Features relating to music and sound are bare bones and wholly lackluster