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Dropbox or Google Drive?
- Thread starter dmk1974
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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
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.
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?
Both are free, why don't you just try them out?
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.
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.
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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Maybe he doesn't want to spam people with referrals, I don't like doing that.
Well there is that, yes.
But for the more mundane stuff, I seriously doubt that Dropbox scans and indexes your files.
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.
Considering the space constraints in the Air, that's a rather nifty feature to have.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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:
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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
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
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.
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.