syncing question

[zuma022]

I have used an iMac for a while now and I love it. I'm going back to school in the fall and I will probably want more mobility and I'm planning to buy a MBP to take with me. I'm wondering what's the best way to sync the machines?
The options I could think of are mobile me or an external/wifi harddisk. I realise they're two completely different beasts, but I'm wondering what you guys are doing. Thanks!

 

[runplaysleeprun]

What do you want to sync? Calendars, address book, email? Or Applications, music video... If the former, I'd go MobileMe. The latter, I'd share a drive between the two (via wifi or however you want to set it up) and swap them this way.

I actually use both ways, as I want immediate updates to all my machines in regards to calendar events and alarms and whatnot, while I can sync video and photos via an external.

 

[CrzyCanuck72]

I agree with the poster above, what sort of files do you want to sync? Also, are you talking about *keeping* the two computers in sync, or just doing a one-time transition to the MBP?

If the former (consistent two-way sync), here's what I use to keep my MacBook and hackintoshed Dell Mini in sync:

Calendars - Google Calendar (either on the web or in iCal)
Address Book - via Dropbox & symlinks (http://bit.ly/7BA2vx)
Email - via GMail IMAP
Documents folder - via Dropbox & symlinks (http://bit.ly/Vuhqt)
RSS Feeds - via Google Reader

If the latter (one-time cloning), there are lots of threads on this forum - suffice it to say that CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper will do great.

 

[zuma022]

Thanks guys. I think I mostly want to transfer school documents and files,etc. I anticipate that I use the laptop to take notes and so on, but will actually work on the iMac at home.
I'd definitely want to sync ical, mail, vienna and access the movie folder, itunes, as well as working documents and probably most of my home directory. I guess what I really need is easy access to the other computers files rather than full sync.

 

[CrzyCanuck72]

Documents, iCal, RSS, etc. are easy to keep in two-way sync because they are small files. I do it using the methods I outlined above, and it works extremely well.

Music and movies are difficult to keep in sync because of the file sizes. If you want to access them on the MBP, the best way is probably a VNC solution.