Easy-Data Mediacenter 2.3.6.0

Overview

Easy-Data Mediacenter by Easy-Data is a free video, audio and radio player, CD ripper fully compatible with Windows 7. This light multimedia tool works with your media files - it can playback audio and video files of numerous formats, rip DVD, convert multimedia files, record radio streaming. It is a portable application suite that integrates numerous options for users of all technical backgrounds.

Installation

This product does not require an installation - it's portable. It comes in a .zip folder which you will need to extract. You will see an EDM folder on your desktop where you can find the EMD shortcut. The installation pack does not carry any additional bundled freeware or Adware. The pack does not add entries to Windows Registry, nor does it create a Start Menu entry. EMD can be installed in Sandbox which is a significant Pro for someone who installs new software in Safe environment for the first time.
It is also possible to save the utility on your memory stick and run the app on any computer.

Interface

The interface needs more developer’s wizardry, and it is not about the looks. The big window does not offer an intuitive way to minimize it to half-size, or adjust the window size. Some Modules of the Program, like the Radio, looked disproportionate. It would be excellent to have an option to go back to the main menu from the modules.

Pros

The video and audio player modules offer standard operations - playing, pausing, stopping the file, adjusting the volume. It is also possible to capture the frames, merge video and audio files, add subtitle files, edit ID3 tags, attach images to videos.

The CD ripper supports metadata editing options. The radio module offers several radio stations, however, we were unable to stream them. Once configured properly, the radio streaming can be recorded. The audio recording component of EDM allows you to record files in WAV, MP3, AMC, FLAC and WMA formats. You can create media libraries.

The program responds rather quickly. The audio and video quality are good.

Features

CD ripper, Audio/Video Merger, Pictures and Audio to Video, Video/Audio Converter, Recording Studio, Image Browser, Video Joiner

Supported Audio File Types: .wav, .mp3, .aac, .wma, .mp4, .ape, .flac, .m3u, .mid, .mpa, .ogg.
Supported Video File Types: .avi, .mov, .mp4, .xvid, .mpeg, .3gp, .asf, .flv, .m2p, .m4v, .mkv.

Cons

GUI needs to be more intuitive than it is now. It would be nice to be able to switch from one module to the main menu and from the main menu to the next module, rather than closing and launching the program again. Once launched, the program displays a warning message that it was launched successfully. The warning message is quite unnerving and unnecessary.

Sometimes, the program becomes unresponsive and requires restart or closes by itself. Basic commands, like adding files to the video library made it shut down.

Alternatives

PotPlayer and PotPlayer Mini, Light Alloy, WinAmp, Windows Media Player.

Conclusion

Easy-Data Mediacenter is a feature-rich video and audio player. It is free; it does not require external codecs; it supports a whole lot of file formats; it performs tasks other media players will not even bother integrating, like file conversion and CD ripping. It can run from a memory stick on any PC. However, it feels a bit raw, and could use some mastering in the GUI and responsiveness. Overall, it is a nice freeware with a tremendous potential.