{"id":4900,"date":"2010-09-23T21:23:28","date_gmt":"2010-09-23T19:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chipwreck.de\/blog\/?p=4900"},"modified":"2011-05-05T05:54:25","modified_gmt":"2011-05-05T03:54:25","slug":"dropbox-online-storage-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chipwreck.de\/blog\/2010\/09\/23\/dropbox-online-storage-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Dropbox online storage \u2013 Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

In case you don’t already know Dropbox: It’s a free online storage which gives you 2GB of space (which can be increased by being invited\/inviting people (see below) – or by purchasing a Pro-Account for $99\/year). <\/p>\n

I use Dropbox now since about one a half year and can highly recommend it, so I decided to write a quick review.<\/p>\n

Overview<\/h3>\n

Before this I used the Apple iDisk (mobile.me) to sync files between my computer at home and my laptop at work. But iDisk is, well, slow. Very slow. And slower. Did I mention that it’s slow? It’s also unreliable as a sync folder.
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\nWhile mobile.me is really great for syncing calendars, address data, application settings and so on – the storage is good for nearly nothing.
\nSo I tried some other solutions and finally stayed with Dropbox.<\/p>\n

Installation<\/h5>\n

After signing up, download the software and on every computer you use there’s a folder created: Your dropbox. A soon as you put files inside on one computer, it’s being synced to the Dropbox server – and instantly (nearly) available on any of your other computers.<\/p>\n

Software<\/h5>\n

Dropbox runs on Windows, Mac, Linux and on smartphones (iPad, iPhone, Android and Blackberry).<\/p>\n

In comparison to other solutions I tried, Dropbox is very fast and lean – you don’t even notice it in the background. It’s very mac-like and fully integrated into OS X. The Windows version should be similar (I’ve heard).<\/p>\n

The application resides in the menubar and changes its icon according to the status (syncing, done,..). The dropbox folder itself is just a normal folder – with overlay icons showing the status. Very well integrated in the Finder this is.\n<\/p>\n

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Web interface<\/h5>\n

Because everything is also stored online, there’s also a web interface and it’s a good one. So you can access your files from anywhere via browser. And of course upload or delete files, share folders and so on.<\/p>\n

Here two screenshots, one showing the file browser, the other one a history of your (file) events, which is of course only visible for you.<\/p>\n

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Additional features<\/h5>\n