 |
LiveDrive Briefcase Review: Cloud Storage |
| Sign up for LiveDrive Briefcase | |
Rating: |
 |
| Pricey yet robust cloud storage best for those who want to sync all of their files with 2 TB of space; great mobile app | |
|
Briefcase is LiveDrive Online Backup's answer to cloud storage, where users get all the perks of unlimited backup plus the ability to access updated versions of their files anywhere, anytime. LiveDrive is one of the more expensive cloud storage services, and the free trial only works with the steep monthly plan. However, if you decide to pay up front for 5 years, it comes out to only $7.50/month, plus the other annual plans are discounted as well. Read on and see if this service gives enough bang for your buck.
Setup and Initial Backup Like most services, the initial backup takes a very long time depending on how many files are on your computer. Setup is easy and a LiveDrive shortcut appears on your desktop for easy access. The desktop controls are pretty standard, including a "services" tab where you can choose how often your computer is backed up and exactly what files you want to backup. To select individual folders for backup, simply right-click, select LiveDrive, and click "backup with livedrive". Unfortunately, you cannot do this for individual files on your desktop, rather you must select an entire folder to backup. Little green squares will show up on the folders that are backed up by LiveDrive. Briefcase For $6.66/month (with annual plan), you can get LiveDrive's basic online backup solution that lets you view your files on any computer when signing in on LiveDrive.com. So why pay extra for LiveDrive's Briefcase? Essentially, the briefcase is cloud storage at its finest. When putting files in the briefcase, they are synced across all of your computers. The LiveDrive briefcase appears as another hard drive on your desktop as well, acting as if it's an external or USB drive. Any file that you add to the briefcase on one computer, will be updated and synced on all your other computers. As an additional advantage, with Briefcase cloud storage you have the ability to edit your files from the LiveDrive web interface instead of having to download the file and editing it on a desktop program on another computer. We found the web interface to be a little too cluttered when navigating through our files, but wasn't too much of a problem. Mobile App and Extra Features LiveDrive's free mobile phone application is one of our favorite parts of this service. It is very intuitive and is even more organized than the web interface. When clicking on your backup folder or briefcase on the iPhone, the file navigation is much like scrolling through the songs on your ipod — alphabetically organized and easy to find. You can also stream music that was on your backed up computer. There is also a web sharing feature. This is available on the web interface as well and is great when you want to send a file to someone. When sharing, you can either choose to share publicly, where your files will appear on your sharing portal linked to your LiveDrive web address, or privately. If you choose the private option, the person you are sharing with will be sent a username and password that they can use to access the file. Pricing The simple backup option is $7.95 for the monthly plan, and $6.66/month with the annual plan and comes with a free trial. The Briefcase plan is $15.95 per month or $13.33/month for the annual plan and includes all of the features mentioned in this review as well as the free trial. If you want to, you can pay up front for one year, skip the trial and get a 30 day money back guarantee and a new price of $139.95, which is only $11.66/month. Other annual plans are heavily discounted, the cheapest being the 5 year plan at only $7.50/month, if you want to pay up front and forego the free trial. You can also backup additional computers for only $1.45 extra per month. Other plans include the Pro Suite plan, which is $24.95 per month, and the Business Plan, which is $49.95 per month. As you can see, one of the service's pricing drawbacks is that you can only get the free trial if you sign up for that first monthly/yealry plan. LiveDrive does a good job of laying out all the pricing options at registration, so check it out for yourself. Conclusion Overall, all of the cool features like web sharing, music streaming, file syncing, and an awesome mobile app make this a solid service. The only thing that drops this service down a notch is its slightly hefty price tag. Try it out free for 2 weeks, and to give a little more peace of mind, there is a 30-day money back guarantee if you aren't fully happy with the service. Sign up for LiveDrive Briefcase | Compare to Other Cloud Storage |
|
| Cheapest Price: | $13.33/mo (w/ annual plan) |
| Free Trial / Discount: | 14-day free trial Save up to 53% with annual plans |
| Gigabytes (GB) of Storage Included: | Unlimited |
| Gigabytes (GB) of Sync Space Included: | 2,048 GB |
| # of Computers Backed Up: | Unlimited |
NextAdvisor Blog Headlines
Facebook Privacy Issues: Facebook Being Sued by Users for $15 Billion
On the day that Facebook has gone public, it is also being sued for $15 billion by users who claim that Facebook was tracking their Internet usage, even after they had logged out of Facebook. The lawsuit is a combination of 21 other cases that have been filed against Facebook. This is just another case [...]
Can I Use My Answering Machine With VoIP?
Q: Will my digital answering machine still take messages from incoming callers with VOIPo service? A: Provided you use the correct settings in your VoIP account, yes, your current digital answering machine should work just fine with VOIPo service. However, you might find you don't want to use it, and here's why: VOIPo, like almost [...]
Facebook IPO: Security, Privacy Still an Issue for Social Network
Tomorrow is the day that everybody has been waiting for, the day Facebook goes public. But along with all the accolades and excitement, Facebook's IPO has also brought some scrutiny to how the company handles the privacy and security of its users. In a recent survey by AP and CNBC, 59% of Facebook users said [...]
Mixbook Deal: Get 30% Off For Father's Day
This week, from May 17th through May 21st, one of our top custom photo card and invitation sites, Mixbook, is offering 30% off everything on the site, including their high-quality photo books, with the code BESTDAD. Honor your Dad with an album, calendar, or card featuring your favorite photos together, or order invitations and throw him [...]
Can I Transfer Files Between My Mac and PC Using Cloud Storage?
Q: I need to share files between two platforms, my Mac and PC. Which cloud storage services can do this? A: Other than being able to backup and access all of your files online, the best thing about cloud storage is the ability to sync and share your files across all of your computers. Thankfully, [...]
Wedding Ideas: Want to Trim Down for the Big Day? Save Time with Diet Meal De...
If you're planning your wedding, you may be too busy to focus on healthy eating. As much as you want to have the time to plan out and prepare healthy meals, sometimes it's just too difficult to spend an hour in the kitchen while centerpieces and invitations are taking up brain space. That's where meal [...]
Great Graduation Party Invitation Ideas
Got a graduate finishing high school or college this year? If you're planning a party, be sure to check out this set of our favorite graduation announcements from our top custom photo card and invitation sites Tiny Prints, Paper Culture, Minted, Pear Tree, and Simply To Impress. These sites have great options, whether you're looking [...]
Match.com Takes Online Dating Offline Again
Match.com, the winner of our Guy's Choice award and a five-star rating, recently announced the launch of a new program called "The Stir" that will take online dating back into the offline world. Rolling out in cities across the country over the next few weeks, the Stir will host a series of live events for [...]
Can Genealogy Sites Help Me Find My Birth Parents?
Q: I need to find my birth family. I have my mothers name at my birth and her age and place of birth but that is all. Which service will be best suited to find her family ancestry and anything current? A: The best site to start your search would be Ancestry.com. It has a [...]
Want Professional (or Hilarious) Voicemail? Try a Virtual Phone System
If you're interested in an automated answering system for your small business, a virtual phone system could be the way to go. These systems give you many of the features of a larger business telephone system on your existing phones. You can even forward calls to your home or cell phone if you need to take [...]
Malvertisements: New Brand of Malware Becoming More Popular
As if online advertising wasn't obtrusive enough, malvertisements are becoming more and more popular as a hacking tool, according to the San Jose Mercury News. What are malvertisements? They are basically malicious software disguised as advertisements on the web. In some cases, users don't even need to click on the malvertisements to be infected; merely [...]
Can I Use the AppliedBank Secured Visa Gold Card Internationally?
Q: I will be traveling to Australia in July, could I use the AppliedBank Secured Visa Gold Card there? How would I deposit funds for the card? A: Yes, you can use the AppliedBank® Secured Visa® Gold Card in Australia. According to the card agreement, cardholders are able to use the card in countries outside of the [...]
PayDay Loans: How to Spot a Scam
While there are a couple of legitimate and helpful payday loan sites, there are still a lot of scams out there. We've put together a few quick tips on how to dodge payday loan scams: - If the site is asking you to pay a particular sum of money before you receive the loan, it is probably [...]
Why Is My Credit Score Lower Than Last Year?
Q: I received a copy of my credit report last year and the score was 761. I have not applied for credit anywhere, but a year later my score was 448. What made my score drop so low? A: It's definitely possible for a credit score to drop during a 12 month period even though [...]
Is My Computer Compatible With Remote Desktop?
Q: My home laptop, which is what I would be using for current access, is Microsoft 7. I Don't see that listed in system compatibility, will it work? A: Yes, Microsoft 7 will work with most remote desktop programs. In fact, most programs support a range of Windows hardware, including Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003, [...]
