DropBox: A Great Cloud Service With Free Storage, But Extra Storage Is Overpriced!
Written: Sep 01 '11 (Updated Sep 01 '11)
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I recently started to consider the benefits of cloud storage. Since I store my most important documents electronically, forgetting my flash drive at home can leave me feeling "disconnected" and interrupt my productivity. I could store a copy of these documents on my smartphone, but I have usually limited this storage to an "as needed" basis and often find I don't need my documents until I find myself without them. I mentioned it to my husband who recommended Dropbox as a free cloud storage solution. Their service is great, but with their rather expensive paid storage, I don't foresee myself expanding to their additional storage anytime soon.
Website
Dropbox.com is a cloud storage service that allows users to upload files to their servers for access from any computer or mobile device. An application may be downloaded for PC or Mac, allowing users to create a folder that directly links to the cloud storage servers, live updating as files are added, removed, or updated. Files can be retrieved or added from any other computer or mobile device (smartphone, tablet, etc.) with the application installed, or accessed remotely from the website with your secure login information. The site offers 2 gigabyte (GB) of free storage, as well as paid storage options for those requiring more space.
The website is very easy to navigate. The services they offer are clearly outlined and well presented. Using their service is as simple as navigating your own hard drive, with a straightforward method for adding and removing files. The mobile application is similarly well designed. I wouldn't anticipate anyone having trouble using Dropbox with any device.
The free 2GB of storage is plenty for storing thousands of documents or about 500 songs or pictures. For more multimedia storage, the site offers paid storage options for 50GB and 100GB capacities, priced at $9.99 per month and $19.99 per month respectively. Multiple user accounts are also offered, starting at 350GB of storage for $795 per year.
Dropbox.com appears to be a very stable service, as I have experienced no outages, broken links, or errors while using it.
Experience
Dropbox has been an excellent way for me to keep my files accessible. I installed the application on my laptop and my smartphone. I love having my resume or any in-progress reviews readily available. I have had no issues using the applications across multiple platforms, including Windows XP, Windows 7, and Android 2.2 and 2.3. The 2GB of free storage has been sufficient to store all of my documents including resumes, reviews, old school files, and other personal files. I occasionally store a small amount of multimedia such as a new album or some recent photos. The service has been extremely useful when I forget my flashdrive at home or need to grab a file from the website while at work.
The benefits I have enjoyed from this small amount of storage have definitely caused me to consider the advantages of more extensive cloud storage as a backup storage solution. While I would love to have a backup of my digital photos, music, and videos, the amount of space needed is a cost I can't justify for personal use. It would be great as an indestructible backup in case my laptop, netbook, and external hard drives were to fail, but at $120-$240 per year, it's out of the question at this point in time. I could easily outgrow 100GB of storage and don't feel hundreds of dollars would be a justifiable cost for a storage solution that would just serve as a redundancy and added convenience. I will rarely need my 40GB of photos or 50GB of music accessible from my phone or another computer.
While I acknowledge the paid service isn't the right value for me, I question for whom the services are appropriately priced. A business could probably justify the expense of paid storage, but would likely require such a high capacity that the price would make hard drive storage solutions more suitable. I also worry that their pricing isn't competitive, compared to some other cloud storage solution that average $1 per GB per year.
Dropbox really is a well designed cloud storage service with some great features. I would highly recommend their free storage to everyone. My hope is that the company is able to find a way to make their storage prices more affordable for consumer and business customers, allowing more people to take full advantage of their great service!
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Member: Jamilynn
Location: Staten Island, NY USA
Reviews written: 284
Trusted by: 47 members
About Me: Trying desperately to catch up with reviews. So many products, so little time :-)
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