After signing in dropbox to be a beta tester, today i received my invitation to join the testing of it’s services. I was really excited because of the video presentation they give on their site and how they promise the service will work.
The system is very straight forward and after downloading the dropbox client and installing it I’m presented with the linking process between dropbox and my computer. After doing this I got to the web interface, a very clean and simple interface that allows me to see my files, mi pictures, my shared folders and upload from there too.
Then my explorer got me into my documents directory in which now I have a new folder “My Dropbox” this folder is where I put stuff I want to be synced.
To test it I used my very own iTuny rar files and au3 source code, the source on the private side of my dropbox and the rar files on the public sub-folder of my dropbox.
After watching the uploading process that starts when you drop the files on the folders and a status icon appears on each file, I got my files synced. The rars have a public link:
Download: iTuny 0.4.5
Download: iTuny 0.4
Download: iTuny 0.3
Download: iTuny 0.2
Download: iTuny 0.1
The other files (source code) is on the private side so no public link and possibility for externals to download it.
The service is very simple and just works, and that’s fantastic for me.
I’ve just tested syncplicity and the only drawback i have with them is that the client doesn’t go through my company’s proxy but they are working on it as I speak. This is not a problem with dropbox. (Removed for inaccurate, see down the syncplicity review)
Right now they are working on Shared Folders this allows collaboration with others on a folder that have important files that need to be all the time actual.
A great service worth the try. 🙂 The only thing I miss about syncplicity is that the allow me to sync any folder on my system, but I can live without that.
That means it’s dropbox to me.
This is another great service for syncing your files to the web and allows you to keep them safe from computer failures.
Right now they are in beta phase as dropbox but they are not closed to beta testers.
The web interface is really neat and clean, you need flash installed as they use flex to build the file manager.
You can watch the video presentation here: Syncplicity Video
The whole experience is straight forward, you login (after being selected as a beta tester) and download the client. This client has more options and visual aids. It shows you the percentage of synchronization and how much is left with a progress bar, the desktop interface let’s you select which folders you want syncplicity to keep an eye on, this makes the proccess much more simple and pleasant.
After setting the folders I wanted, the sync progress started and depending on the amount of data you have on those directories and your Internet speed the sync finishes in minutes or hours.
You can manage deleted files in the web interface having a “restoring” option that not just returns the file to your web filemanager but to your desktop.
It also offers synchronization on your Google docs (documents and soon spread sheets) and Facebook.
The client has some drawbacks as the dropbox one, right now the client doesn’t support proxies so this means no office use in my case.
After posting the dropbox post I received communication from Ondrej Hrebicek Vice President of Product and Platform of Syncplicity and the pleasant surprise was that they are working on the proxies issue, and hope to have a firm solution to it soon.
Both services are great in it’s way, and by now both are free while in beta. dropbox is offering 2GB of storage and Syncplicity has for the beta unlimited storage.