Dropbox or Google Drive?

[dmk1974]

MBA owners, which service do you prefer? Dropbox or Google Drive? Any real differences in usage on a Mac? Thanks!

[gaiao]

There are also another options, like ubuntu one and the one from microsoft.

By the way, I use ubuntu one. I don't think there is any difference aside from storage capacity.

[GGJstudios]

I prefer Dropbox. It seems to be more universally accepted, many iPhone apps integrate with it, and I've found it very reliable. I have a Google Drive account, but never use it. YMMV

[thelookingglass]

Neither. I use Skydrive. 7GB free, better iPad app and the Office Web Apps actually pretty well.

[dmk1974]

I have been very happy with Dropbox for 6 months or so, but Google Drive looks like it does the same thing and gives more free storage. Google's paid storage is also less than Dropbox's. Just curious if there are any other obvious benefits to Dropbox that I am overlooking before possibly converting over.

[iamsen47]

Both.

Dropbox for work, Google Drive for personal.

[charlieegan3]

Do you ever have to edit shared documents? if yes then google docs and drive might be the best on for you. Otherwise dropbox. Both have good mac clients but neither are required to use the service.

Both are free, why don't you just try them out?

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by dmk1974

I have been very happy with Dropbox for 6 months or so, but Google Drive looks like it does the same thing and gives more free storage.

I'm sure you know you can increase your free Dropbox storage. I'm up to 6.4GB on one account. I'm sure you can do the same thing with Google Drive.

[dmk1974]

Originally Posted by charlieegan3

Do you ever have to edit shared documents? if yes then google docs and drive might be the best on for you. Otherwise dropbox. Both have good mac clients but neither are required to use the service.

Both are free, why don't you just try them out?

I haven't shared docs with others, but my main use is to have certain personal files available that I can access at home on my MBA (primary) as well as at work from a PC or sometimes on my iPad and iPhone (mostly for just viewing on those two). I do have an app on my iPad that I can apparently edit files from either service (QuickOffice Pro) but that is a very rare occasion.

[netdog]

Originally Posted by dmk1974

I have been very happy with Dropbox for 6 months or so, but Google Drive looks like it does the same thing and gives more free storage. Google's paid storage is also less than Dropbox's. Just curious if there are any other obvious benefits to Dropbox that I am overlooking before possibly converting over.

Um, Dropbox doesn't scan everything on your drive and sell the information on to their advertizing partners...and of course any government that might be interested in you.

[Mr. McMac]

I use Skydrive. Since I got in the game early, I got 25gb's of free storage

[charlieegan3]

Originally Posted by netdog

Um, Dropbox doesn't scan everything on your drive and sell the information on to their advertizing partners...and of course any government that might be interested in you.

If you've got governments after you then you then you might not want to be using any online file storage services...

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Originally Posted by GGJstudios

I'm sure you know you can increase your free Dropbox storage. I'm up to 6.4GB on one account. I'm sure you can do the same thing with Google Drive.

Maybe he doesn't want to spam people with referrals, I don't like doing that.

[netdog]

Originally Posted by charlieegan3

If you've got governments after you then you then you might not want to be using any online file storage services...

Well there is that, yes.

But for the more mundane stuff, I seriously doubt that Dropbox scans and indexes your files.

[iamsen47]

One advantage that Google Drive has is, you can choose to not sync certain folders. So while my home machine has all the contents of my Drive synced, my work machine only has certain work folders synced.

Considering the space constraints in the Air, that's a rather nifty feature to have.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by charlieegan3

Maybe he doesn't want to spam people with referrals, I don't like doing that.

There are other ways of getting more free space than just referring people. Only 1GB of my space is from referrals.

The Official Dropbox Guide To Getting More Space!
How do I get free space for using Camera Upload?

Also, you can edit shared documents and select which folders you want to sync on Dropbox.

[s0mojo]

Drop defo, saved my life while at uni

[Redbull916]

I've done some extensive testing of DropBox, Google Drive & Skydrive for work.

First, Skydrive: It can have issues with large files, and I within one week of testing we found that some files were missed on the backup (if you google it you will find that a few people are reporting this). And for that reason it was discounted.

Google drive. Good Value BUT..... the google app uses 1.4% CPU when idle and 160%CPU when validating and transferring files (Again, Google it and you will find it's a common problem with the software on macs and PC's). Finally Reading the small print you will find that Google 'Owns' all the data you put on it.

Dropbox: Recently discounted (100GB for the price of the old 50GB package) works without fault. All files were backed up and synced on 3 systems. The shared dropbox folders (between different dropbox accounts) also worked very well.

So in summery Dropbox is slightly more that the others but you do get what you pay for.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by Redbull916

I've done some extensive testing of DropBox, Google Drive & Skydrive for work.

So in summery Dropbox is slightly more that the others but you do get what you pay for.

Thanks for this. In addition, as a result of this thread, I decided to set up Google Drive to test it, since I already had an account I had never used. I downloaded the iPhone app, which installed without a hitch. I downloaded and installed the Mac app and when I launched it, I get this:

Yes, I have an internet connection. Yes, I've made sure my firewall is allowing the Google Drive app access. I'm about to restart to see if that fixes it, but I never had such an issue with Dropbox. It worked perfectly from the beginning, on every device I've ever installed it on.

Edit: Restarting did not solve the problem. Google Drive still cannot connect to the internet, even though the connection is obviously there. Also, even with Google Drive not working properly, it's still consuming more system resources than Dropbox:

Overall, I'd say Google Drive isn't worth the effort.

[Opp]

I find that Dropbox works well for pictures.. The instant upload comes in handy when I'm out snapping pics on my iPhone, it uploads quickly and I can delete it to save space on my phone. Dropbox doesn't resize your photo uploads like google does

I use google drive for everything else. Since its built into my email account I can take advantages of all the other benefits of gmail. I find that this system works well for me

[shamash]

I'd just get both, so you have more space. Lololol

[PaulKemp]

I tried SkyDrive, and it seems good, especially with a Windows 8 machine in the enviroment. I though of using SkyDrive for iTunes, DropBox for iPhoto etc. And I have more space with SkyDrive, however, the upload speeds were terrible. SkyDrive is also half the price of Dropbox. So maybe in the future it will be a viable solution. But untill then, I'll stick with dropbox. Havent used google docs yet.

[bembol]

Dropbox.

1. I got 75GB free for two years as a bonus for my androids (Samsung Galaxy S3 & hTc One X).

2. I picked it because it got better reviews on Google's Play store.

[Beanoir]

I used Dropbox and found it a very effective solution for accessing files on the go, but now i've managed to get my network drive working via BTMM I don't use it anymore as BTMM is seamless and takes away the need for me to upgrade my hard drive size now.

[scarred]

Dropbox is the only one that works with symbolic links. With them, I can leave all my files where I want them, and just put links into the dropbox folder.

Example:

ln -s ~/Documents/ ~/Dropbox/Documents/OSX

I can't live without this feature.

[hulk2012]

Google is always an "imitation". Go for a real deal with the company which prosperity depends on a single product investing all the focus and energy into its development.

Dropbox wins hands down.