Wednesday, April 01, 2009

On a 500MB Mission

I'm in the process of trying to share a 500MB file. I guess I've never attempted this before, because I can see now what a challenge this is. It's certainly not impossible, after all, I can burn a CD and mail it to the recipient. But now that I've started my quest, I feel determined to find an online solution. I sent out a and a me solve the problem. A few even offered to share their personal file sharing accounts with me. Once again, a wonderful testament to purposeful social networking. For those who say that Twitter is for those who have nothing else to do, I say, "Feh!"

I thought this would be a good opportunity to share my reviews. Please keep in mind, I did not spend a whole lot of time researching any of these apps. Besides, don't trust my geekiness. I know, the name of this blog is GeekyMomma. I should change that I suppose. I'm not worthy.:





has a 100MB limit. It's worth noting that you can choose when your file expires too, anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 week. Although I'm all for sharing, sometimes disposable technology is a good thing. However, what does "expire" really mean?





requires a 64MB installation and actually syncs your files, in real time, between computers where you've installed DropBox. At first I thought the other person had to also install the app, and I was about on my way, but then I saw that you can also get a public URL for an individual file. Once you install DropBox, anything you drag into the folder is seamlessly uploaded. If you drop it into your public folder, then right-click on it, you're given the option of grabbing the public URL. You get 2GB for free or 50GB for $99/year.

You can also track revisions online and undelete deleted files, online. That's a good one for me. I have a tendency to get confused when syncing and end up overwriting the wrong files.





offers 25GB of free online storage. It seems to be similar to DropBox however each file is limited to 50MB.






is pretty interesting. There's no file storage involved. You browse for your file and you're immediately given a link. It's a one time link. Once it's clicked, your file will download and and the link will no longer work. I tried it with my 500MB file (it's a QT movie). It said it would take over 3 hours to download (my connection is really slow these days). I'm guessing my computer will have to be on in order for my recipient to get the file too. Too techy for me to figure out how this one works. If you know, please leave a comment and explain it to me. Interesting concept; and again, disposable technology working for you and I think "expire" really means "expire" here... I think.





(Where do they get these names?) This one looked like a promising app. Like DropBox, it requires an installation, however I couldn't get it to install and load without the app crashing. I tried re-downloading and re-installing it twice.

gives 2GB free storage along with the ability to create folders and add friends and groups. The web interface is pretty ugly. It reminds me of Windows 3.0. My file is taking forever to upload.





looks like a great solution. You can upload a file up to 500MB. The file can be downloaded an unlimited # of times but if it's not downloaded within 30 days, they delete it. Simple, 1-page, 2-button interface. Problem? I couldn't get it to work. Clicking the upload button doesn't appear to do anything.




created a list of 80+ file hosting and sharing sites.

I settled on MyDropBox (and burning a CD). If you have other solutions that you've tried and you know they work, please leave them in the comments area.

6 comments:

said...

Here's another compilation of sites to try :
http://www.bspcn.com/2008/10/16/28-free-file-storage-hosting-websites/

I wonder if you could set up a gspace acct and share that?

said...

Depending on the file type, can it be shared through Google Docs?

said...

has a 5 *gigabyte* per file limit.

said...

You might also want to try:
http://www.driveway.com/
http://www.quicksharing.com/

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Anonymous said...

I use http://www.MyOtherDrive.com for sharing large files. I've successfully shared 500MB+ files using it. After using it for sharing, you'll quickly discover that it also can be used for online backup. The author mentions upload speed as an issue. In general, most cable and DSL connections have very small outbound (upload) speeds, and this is usually not a function of the online storage site. To check your speed, go to http://speedtest.net.