I picked up a copy Micro Mart the other weekend for a quick bit of tech and they had reviewed SafeSync, described as an online backup/sync solution similar to Dropbox. As I’ve already signed up for Dropbox I wasn’t interested at the time but made a point of going back to have a look at a later time, which I did the other day. That’s the UK link, there’s (obviously?) a US one as well for SafeSync US.
SafeSync is run by Trend Micro, who’ve been around for a long time, and it turns out they offer unlimited storage, normally for ~£45 but when I visited it was available for £22.49! Unlimited storage for £22! I had to sign up, so I did. I know I paid USD99 for 50G only in August last year but I felt this was too good an opportunity to miss. Now before I discuss SafeSync v Dropbox, here’s my plug, if you use the link below I can one months free service. It’s not clear if there’s any incentive for you, except getting unlimited space but if you’re feeling generous then try it out:
SafeSync Signup
Instead of telling you all about SafeSync, I’ve done a bit of a comparison between SafeSync and Dropbox, very subjective obviously…
Scores
- Installation/config – Pretty much the same, install the app and select the files/folders you want to sync/backup – Draw
- Sharing – Pretty much the same, the Right Click context menu provides easy access to a shareable link (SafeSync / Dropbox)- Draw
- Web Portal Playback – Pretty much the same, both offer a media playback option from their websites i.e. photo galleries work, MP3 playback works (not really tried anything else) – Draw
- Visual backup notification – Dropbox wins, you can see immediately what has been backed up, SafeSync is disappointing – Dropbox wins +2points
- Web Portal Usage – Quite subjective but Dropbox is probably better – Dropbox wins +1point
- Storage/Price – SafeSync is unlimited for £22, no competition – SafeSync wins +4points
- Community – Dropbox has a thriving community that supports each other, and which Dropbox are involved in, SafeSync is poor in this respect – Dropbox wins +2points
- Other – The SafeSync online folder also appears as a mapped drive, might be useful – SafeSync wins +2point
Score – Dropbox 5points, SafeSync 6points.
Dropbox backup status icon
SafeSync Context Menu
Obviously the issue with any of these services is the amount of time it takes to make the initial backup, after a few days of running on and off mines is still going and will do for another week at least, but that’s because I’m trying to backup ~50G!
If you’re a regular user of Dropbox then you probably use a who bunch of the handy features that I’m not comparing here, but because I don’t really use them. Some might be the crucial app for you that keeps you with Dropbox, fair enough. However unlimited storage is the killer app for me and so SafeSync is currently winning the race for me.
So I’m over 5G and counting, and maybe longer term it’s SafeSync for me instead of Dropbox…
Current SafeSync Usage
As I user of both I agree with your comments. Two more plusses for SafeSync. (1) WebDav option (probalbly not useful for most, but certainly for some). (2) Ability to do quite flexible sharing of some parts but not other parts between multiple computers.
However, many people have had quite a few issues with SafeSync; see the forums.
Yeah I’ve seen more comments about SafeSync not doing what it’s meant to, and Dropbox ‘feels’ better…