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JustCloud Review: Cloud Storage |
| Sign up for JustCloud | |
Rating: |
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| Affordable and comprehensive cloud storage service with the option of unlimited file storage; best for users with light syncing needs | |
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JustCloud is a great cloud storage solution that makes sure your most important files are always updated, synced, and ready to be safely accessed online no matter where you're at. Now available for Mac as well as PC, this handy program offers 1.015 GB of sync space (with the option to upgrade to more space any time) in addition to its minimum plan of 75 GB online backup space for one computer. The monthly plan for 75 GB storage is $9.95/mo; however, if you choose to commit to a 2 year plan, it comes out to only $4.49 per month.
Setup and Initial Backup After installation, you will be asked to either backup your "My Documents" folder, which is recommended, or more advanced users can do a manual selection of the specific files and folders they want to backup. Once this is done, the JustCloud desktop application will launch. This initial backup went pretty fast on the Mac and a bit slower on the PC. Note that you can use your computer while the backup is running, so if you have a lot of files to back up, no worries! On the PC, you can choose to separately backup any file while you work by right clicking into the context menu and selecting 'add to backup selection'. When you do this, a small tab shows up on the bottom right-hand side of your screen and says '1 item added to backup selection'. Another option is to click 'instant backup', where the files you choose are instantly backed up in that moment. When you backup files on the Mac, you must go into JustCloud's desktop application and click "backup selection" whenever you want to add something to backup. We had trouble opening the JustCloud desktop application on the Mac after exiting out the first time post-install, so we uninstalled it and re-downloaded it. It worked after this minor glitch and all of our files, including the ones in the syncfolder, were unharmed. Syncfolder JustCloud's syncfolder is really what makes this cloud storage service stand out from general online backup services. Even though you must pay an extra subscription fee to fully backup an additional computer, you can still download the JustCloud desktop application on multiple computers for free and sync them all. It is important to note that even though you can sync an unlimited amount of computers with the syncfolder, the free trial gives you only 15 MB of sync space, and an additional 1 GB when you get a paid account. This storage allowance is much smaller than the 2 TB that cloud storage competitor LiveDrive allows; however, JustCloud is much cheaper. You can upgrade to more sync space any time by clicking "upgrade account". To sync your files on other computers, use the same login information as the main computer and open up the syncfolder. All you need to do on the PC in order to sync a file is drag and drop, copy and paste or use the right click context menu to move the files you want to sync into the syncfolder. On the Mac, you must copy and paste or drag and drop files into the syncfolder, there is no context menu. After syncing these files, they will appear in the syncfolder on your other computer. You can access your files anytime you want through the JustCloud web interface or on your mobile phone's browser. They are stored safely online waiting for you to access them. Here you can view all versions of the files as well by clicking on the little green arrow next to the file. To edit your files, you must download them onto the computer you're using and edit them in any program of your choice. The awesome thing is that as soon as you edit a file that belongs to the syncfolder on your computer, it will be synced up within seconds across all of your computers and on the web! Make sure to replace the original file with the edited file inside the syncfolder itself, for this is the only way that it will get synced. Other Features With JustCloud, you can share files with anyone you want through email. After clicking on 'view syncfolder', hover over the folder you would like to share in 'folder view', click the green button and hit share. You can then enter in people's emails and type out an optional message. Shortly after, the other person will receive an email where they can follow the steps to view the folder. They must create a JustCloud account to view it but this is completely free and is simply used to show the folder you shared. JustCloud also allows you to backup USB and external drives. Pricing JustCloud has three plans: the 75 GB plan, 250 GB plan and an unlimited plan. For the 75 GB up-front yearly subscription you pay $59.40, which comes to about $4.95 a month. The 2-year price is $107.76, which brings the cost down to $4.49 a month. 6 months is $41.70 and to try it out for a month it costs $7.95 with their current promotion. We chose a 1-month subscription to test the service, but you can try MyPCBackup free for 14 days; however, this limits the amount of files you can initially backup. There is also a 250 GB plan and the unlimited plan, and they break down the pricing for these in the "upgrades" section of the site. Conclusion JustCloud is a great solution if you're looking for cloud storage and backup as well as syncing for some select important files. You can sync as many computers as you wish with JustCloud, so if you find yourself working on many different computers and need particular files and folders to be constantly updated no matter where you are, JustCloud is up to the task. If you decide to get the 2 year plan, the price of $4.49/month is a great value considering all of the perks you get. |
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| Cheapest Price: | $4.49/mo (w/ 2 year plan) |
| Free Trial / Discount: | 14-day free trial; .015 GB of free storage |
| Gigabytes (GB) of Storage Included: | 75 GB; pay extra for more space |
| Gigabytes (GB) of Sync Space Included: | 1.015GB; pay extra for more space |
| # of Computers Backed Up: | 1; $24.95/yr per add'l computer |
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- JustCloud Review
Here is NextAdvisor's review of JustCloud Cloud Storage: http://www.nextadvisor.com/cloud_storag ... review.php
