Alternatives to Mobile Me

[dannew]

Suggestions for another online backup service?

I'm at the end of my patience with MM: it's been consistently slow for me (as in very, very slow. "I long for my old 1200 baud connection" slow), and frequently down. If you have better results, that's great. This isn't a thread to trash MM.

But it is a thread to ask what else is out there.

I use MM for three things, or try to: a daily backup of half a dozen documents, a weekly backup of contacts, and minor calendar sync-ing. All my files are small and connect through a computer. iPhone sync-ing is a bonus but not crucial.

What are the alternatives? Is there something more convenient than setting up a "myanmestorage.com" hosted site?

 

[BroadcastDoc]

I think if you search the forum here, you'll find plenty of suggestions for alternatives.

I would think that for what you're looking for, something along the lines of a hosted Exchange account would work. It would sync mail, calendar, and contacts, plus give you a documents folder. All of that data lives on the hosted Exchange server, so it's available everywhere.

 

[dannew]

I think if you search the forum here, you'll find plenty of suggestions for alternatives.

I have indeed done that. I know it's frustrating to have a question posed multiple times.

But because this is a difficult thing to search for ('alternative?' 'mobileme?'), I've just read through any posts I could find that might relate. I didn't see this exact topic, so if you recall one, please do share a link.

I would think that for what you're looking for, something along the lines of a hosted Exchange account would work.

Are you referring to Microsoft Exchange? Is there a simpler alternative?

I'm really looking for just a storage disk in the "cloud," and I'm willing to pay a monthly fee. If it makes it easy to sync my contacts, great, but if not, I expect I can just upload an exported file.

Essentially, I want a MobileMe that works. Has anyone found a service they prefer? Unless Apple gets some competition, there's no reason for them to improve connectivity.

 

[BroadcastDoc]

Honestly, Microsoft Exchange and MobileMe are very much alike.

You can do all of your mail and contact syncing with it. If you check out 1&1, you can get Exchange hosting for $6.99/mo, and if I remember right, they'll throw in a copy of Entourage.

It will do everything you mentioned above.

(By the way, I wasn't trying to be snarky with the search comment! I just remember some good alternatives being brought up...)

 

[RichardI]

Check out the latest issue of MacWorld mag. There is an article on all the alternatives, with reviews, etc.

Rich

 

[dannew]

Honestly, Microsoft Exchange and MobileMe are very much alike.

Ah, that's great to know, thank you. As a former subscriber to Microsoft's (now defunct) Small Business Builder, I assumed Exchange would be similar. I'm glad to hear it sounds simpler.

MobileMe has an easy-to-use interface that's very appealing. I just haven't had much luck connecting. Perhaps that's a localized problem, or one that may change with time.

Check out the latest issue of MacWorld mag. There is an article on all the alternatives, with reviews, etc.

Ah, good tip, thanks! I got a free 3-month trial with my new mac and was impressed with the magazine. I've now subscribed, but I missed the last couple issues.