Dropbox Online Filesharing Review Discussion

By Dustin Sklavos

Dropbox is an online service allows you to share files online, sidestepping the file size limitations that e-mail, IM, and online document-sharing services put in place. Is Dropbox really the next-generation of FTP transfers, or just another Web 2.0 wannabe? We break it down in this review.

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Great review Dustin.

I think for the service you are getting, the price ain't that bad. 100GB for 20 a month and you get to share anything you want, as big as it is, this is a huge plus, especially if you are into 3D modeling or video/photo editing where files get huge! If you send them via this it is quite nice.

One question, is there a transfer rate for the files? Lets say I upload a file and a friends wants to see it, does he has to download the file? Wait for it to be update? How does it work?

 

I saw this reviewed (briefly) in Maximum PC. I don't really have a need for it, but it was interesting to read the review. Thanks for taking the time to write that up!

 

I still think buying a HDD and backing up at home is a better alternative to these online backup services. A 1TB HDD is less than $100. That's $8.33 per month for one year. If you're worried about data security, buy two or three HDDs and set up a RAID 1. It's very unlikely that all 3 HDDs will fail at the same time.

Also, internet speeds will bottleneck online services. Restoring 100GB of data will take a long time even on a broadband connection.

 

But this is not storage service, it is filesharing

 

I've been using Dropbox for just a little bit now and I really like it. I see it as more of a file syncing service than either a network storage or a file sharing service.

I also use a flashdrive and I have a folder sync'ed at work and at home by manually running Microsoft's Synctoy (which works well for me). But thing with flashdrives is I always have to remember to run the sync tool. If I forget to sync, I sometimes worry whether my files are the most recent on the work folder, or home folder, or on the flash drive.

With Dropbox, I could just set up a folder at work, and a folder on my home laptop. I'd just use place files I'm currently working on in that folder and just work out of the folder. Dropbox will automatically keep this file updated so no matter if I'm working from home or from work, I'd always have the most recent file without worrying if I have the most recent file.

If I'm using someone else's computer, I could log into Dropbox's website and access my files. I could even download the files, make some changes, manually upload the files into my Dropbox account, and it'll updated the files automatically the next time I'm at work or at my laptop.

I do keep in mind that my files will be on Dropbox's servers, so I try to just store non-sensitive files.

 

I wish there was some sort of open-source variant of Dropbox that I could run on a server, and not be bound by size restrictions. Even 100GB is pretty silly, I should be able to sync a few TB if I wanted to.

 

Nearest I can tell, though, the stuff you share in your dropbox gets mirrored on their servers.

It's not necessarily ideal for backing stuff up, but it's pretty choice for doing multimedia work with someone across the country like I've done.

 

Great review.

I might be adding the obvious here, but I use it to share files with myself

I have two desktops (home & work) and, of course, a laptop. Plus I dual-boot Linux and Windows on each box. Six operating systems I am working on in total. Do I use flash drives to sync? Do I email documents to myself? No no no. Dropbox FTW

I might start working on a document on my desktop at home, then seamlessly continue editing it at work and later have a final look at it in bed from my laptop. All without manual syncing,..

 

But why not just use Live Mesh? I can see how Dropbox is useful for those who break the 5GB mark w/ Mesh, but for anyone under that, Microsoft's free mesh offers twice the storage of Dropbox's 2GB.

 

Hi,

Dropbox is great!

I use it to sync my University work files across my Mac and my PC. I came across Dropbox when searching for a file synchronization solution for the Mac, as unfortunately, Apple's iDisk (online storage available to MobileMe users) doesn't feature file synchronization.

It's very easy and seamless. What's more, the online access is especially convenient when I need to get to my files using a computer on campus.

 

I really, really commend DropBox for having a Linux client. I think the 9.99 a month is a little expensive for only 10gb , and I would prefer a cheapish yearly price instead. Ubuntu ONE seems to be pretty cool and perhaps more extensive, giving 50gb for that same 9.99 monthly price. The only downside is it seems to be Ubuntu only. I'd love to see them open it to everyone. Perhaps this will come when it comes out of beta. I'm unsure if the ONE client is more "open" then dropbox or not.

 

Are prices different for Linux clients? The review says it's 2 GB free, $9.99 a month for 50 GB, and $19.99 for 100 GB.

 

You can get to a free 5GB by referring friends.

What I want to see is open-source projects for a lot of utilities like this. We have Jabber, Firefox, Thunderbird, etc. Open Office kind of sucks... Gimp REALLY sucks...

I'd like to see some rockin open-source that can replace my Skype and Dropbox.

 

Yeah, for backup, mozy will give you unlimited space for $4.95 a month. Unfortunately, it only works on windows or mac (beta). I have had some issues with windows 7 (sometimes winsock gets corrupted, probably due to other software, and it stops working), but I have successfully backed up almost 6 GBs.

Dropbox is great for sharing files though. This review made me check it out and it was perfect for a project I was working on.

Oh, and by the way, Gimp is just about as powerful as photoshop (having used both). The interface is another matter all together...

 

Wow, unlimited space for 5 bucks a month? Nice.

 

Yep, I love it. Keeps all my college work backed up, and I don't really have to think much about it.

 

dropbox with link shell extension rocks, especially as a cloud service for files and game saves between my two laptops.