Dropbox

When I recently cancelled my MobileMe account I was looking for an alternative for the MobileMe iDisk feature. I mainly focussed on free services since I wanted to give the service a try before deciding to put cash on the table.

Finally I stumbled upon Dropbox. What I liked about Dropbox is that it automatically syncs the files on your dropbox with all computers that run their DropBox software. As an alternative you can also access your files using a web application. The free account comes with  2GB for free, paying customers can get up to 100GB. The 50GB plan called “Pro 50” sets you back $9.99 per month, and you get “Pro 100” for $19.99 per month.

So, how does Dropbox work?
At first you download the DropBox software and register for a free account. After the software is installed you can access your “My Dropbox” folder which is automatically synced with all your other “My Dropbox” folders. This of course takes some time, especially when your files are pretty big, but since it runs in the background and doesn’t need you to manually transfer file it’s a real time saver. I currently use it to transfer files between my office at work and my home. It’s much easier than carrying an USB memory stick around, especially since I forget to take it with me all the time. 😉

Alas there’s one drawback: there’s no iPhone App for Dropbox. When I still used MobileMe I could easily transfer files from and to my iPhone.  But aside from that, it’s a pretty interesting file-storage and transfer service.