Is it just my PC or does Real Player and AOL SUCK ?!?!?

[hippiechick]

Two weekends in a row I've tried to listen to a sports webcast on different stations - AOL for some reason defaults to Real Player which is a piece of shit. Keeps playing the same parts of the game and/or commerials over and over, keeps cutting out.

Last night the game went into OT and it streamed the first 10 seconds, then stopped. Played the first 10 seconds again. Then stopped. Played the first 10 seconds AGAIN. Then stopped. And one more time before I damn near threw a frying pan at the thing.

When I try to open windows my Windows Media Player I get an error that I am 'not connected to the network', even though I AM online. HUH ??

Anyone have any clues ?

Muchas Gracias !!


:hippie:

[Downtown Hound]

1. I'm not an expert

but AOL uses it's own web browser, and back when I used to use it I always had trouble downloading things. AOL sucks! There are much better ways to surf the net. A lot of people don't like Real Player but it's always done right by me. So I'm guessing AOL is your problem.

[freetobegay]

2. Sorry I cannot be objective here

I rate AOL right up there on my shit list next to Bush.

[DS1]

3. Here's how to get Real Player working reall.... buffering.... buffering..

..... :7

[no name no slogan]

4. It's not you-- RealPlayer and AOL not only suck-- they also blow

RealPlayer is a giant POS that is not only crappy software but also likes to "call home" on you. It sends information about your surfing habits and music preferences back to its servers, and uses that information for marketing and/or other nefarious purposes.

And AOL.....I don't know where to start. AOL is as bad as MS, IMHO. But at least I can make a living off of maintaining MS's garbage. Unfortunately that option doesn't exist with AOL.


ON EDIT: If you're using AOL's browser, ditch it. No matter whether it's the MS or Netscape version, they're both bloated beyond belief with garbage you probably won't miss. Only use it for AOL-specific stuff that you can't get to without it.

Go get Mozilla at www.Mozilla.org. Mozilla is the open-source browser/suite that Netscape has been based on since version 6.0. It's available on most platforms, and has excellent performance.

If you don't like Mozilla, there's always Opera (www.opera.com), which has an ad-supported freeware version available. It purports to be the world's fastest browser, and more than likely it's true. It's a fine product with lots of cool options.

Best of luck to you, and I hope things work out!

[rusty charly]

5. what you need is:

Apple, Earthlink highspeed, and Quicktime

[hippiechick]

7. Thoughts on SBC/Yahoo DSL ?

I am cheap, don't want to spend $hundreds$ every month.

I'm on a LAN server every day at work so really all I need it for at home is DU, CSPAN and the occassional hockey game.


Thanks everyone !!!


:hippie:

[Downtown Hound]

9. I use it, and it's pretty good.

There are faster services out there, but for the price its a good deal and it is relatively speedy. It's organized well and user friendly, but the only thing that bothers me about it is they recently jumped on the Bush economic bandwagon and outsourced their tech support to the Philippines. It's nearly impossible to understand them on the phone. It has made me consider changing, but where I live, our high speed internet options are really limited.

[Voltaire]

11. SBC Yahoo is okay

As long as its installed right...heh heh heh. After we got ours finally straight it has worked fine. Doesn't help Real Player though, at least not in my experience. Sorry.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

6. Bush has AOL

I can't add anything here.

[smiley_glad_hands]

8. AOHELL

As I use to call it.

[hippiechick]

10. I am nearly at the end of my '3 month free trial'

and these hellish streaming experiences, plus all your feedback has really helped me make a decision NOT to ever pay for AOL.

Thanks all !! :)