Can I replace Mobile Me and save $$

[rvinny]

I can't stand the dropped calls on the iPhone any longer and am going to a Blackberry. If I were to replace MobileMe altogether, can I find all of these services a la carte and save $$?

The way I figure it: $99 (or cheaper if you look) - gets me:
- Email & push
- Web Hosting (own domain) including a Flickr type mobile gallery
- iDisk (yeah its flawed but just humor me)
- integrated backups & sync services (using an iPhone)

So a 1-for-1 replacement:
- Hosted Exchange for email & push (cheapest I see is $5 mo - so $60 yr)
- Web Hosting (same or around $50 with Google Apps)
- iDisk (free or maybe $20yr if you search)
- Sync services - Google Sync works but I had to resort to SpanningSync to make it behave with Mac Address Book and iCal. $20 yr

The BIS service and iPhone data service are a wash. If I use BES, that adds another $10 month.

If I add all that up, I am at or above the $99yr Apple charges. It seems to me like MM is still a bargain.

 

[InkMaster]

I can't stand the dropped calls on the iPhone any longer and am going to a Blackberry. If I were to replace MobileMe altogether, can I find all of these services a la carte and save $$?

The way I figure it: $99 (or cheaper if you look) - gets me:
- Email & push
- Web Hosting (own domain) including a Flickr type mobile gallery
- iDisk (yeah its flawed but just humor me)
- integrated backups & sync services (using an iPhone)

So a 1-for-1 replacement:
- Hosted Exchange for email & push (cheapest I see is $5 mo - so $60 yr)
- Web Hosting (same or around $50 with Google Apps)
- iDisk (free or maybe $20yr if you search)
- Sync services - Google Sync works but I had to resort to SpanningSync to make it behave with Mac Address Book and iCal. $20 yr

The BIS service and iPhone data service are a wash. If I use BES, that adds another $10 month.

If I add all that up, I am at or above the $99yr Apple charges. It seems to me like MM is still a bargain.

You know, honestly, as much as I hate to admit it, MobileMe isn't actually too horrible of a deal and is definitely competitive with any alternatives. Plus MobileMe is the only thing that offers such seamless integration of all the services it offers so honestly iduno, good luck but I don't really think you'll find anything thats both cheaper and better...

 

[Syrus28]

I can't stand the dropped calls on the iPhone any longer and am going to a Blackberry. If I were to replace MobileMe altogether, can I find all of these services a la carte and save $$?

The way I figure it: $99 (or cheaper if you look) - gets me:
- Email & push
- Web Hosting (own domain) including a Flickr type mobile gallery
- iDisk (yeah its flawed but just humor me)
- integrated backups & sync services (using an iPhone)

So a 1-for-1 replacement:
- Hosted Exchange for email & push (cheapest I see is $5 mo - so $60 yr)
- Web Hosting (same or around $50 with Google Apps)
- iDisk (free or maybe $20yr if you search)
- Sync services - Google Sync works but I had to resort to SpanningSync to make it behave with Mac Address Book and iCal. $20 yr

The BIS service and iPhone data service are a wash. If I use BES, that adds another $10 month.

If I add all that up, I am at or above the $99yr Apple charges. It seems to me like MM is still a bargain.

Both Google and Microsoft offer much of what you desire for free.

Microsoft Windows Live
SkyDrive - 25GB free storage
Push email @live.com
Online Photo Gallery
Windows Live Spaces
No over-the-air sync of calendars/contacts

Google
No online storage (yet, although a gDrive is rumored)
Push email @gmail.com
Picasa (online photo storage)
Google Sync with Blackberry (Calendars/Contacts)
Google Sites/Blogger

Microsoft's Live Mesh sounds interesting too, but I haven't used it.

 

[InkMaster]

Push email @gmail.com

eh? Push? Since when? Given that IMAP does not equal push...

 

[ivnds]

If i'm not mistaken, Gmail offers push for the G1's.

 

[InkMaster]

If i'm not mistaken, Gmail offers push for the G1's.

Well maybe, but thats like saying that Yahoo offers push for the iPhone... Unless everyone has unrestricted access to it, it doesn't count.

 

[fishkorp]

Isn't the push email part of the equation irrelevant? I thought that Blackberries had some sort of patented software that would push all your email to the device? So if you add your Gmail account, your Gmail will be pushed to the BB. Same for any other IMAP email, whether they offer push or not. I thought their server (not your phone) was constantly polling your account for new messages and when the arrive they push them to your phone? I always thought that was one of the reasons people choose a BB over other devices.

And there are hacks/work-arounds that you can use your Gmail inbox as online storage. So essentially you could get everything from Google for free with the exception of the hosting with domain. But you can get that anywhere for probably $50 a year or less, depending on your hosting requirements.

I still prefer MobileMe. It just works so great with our Macs.

 

[paradicio]

http://www.macworld.com/article/138481/mobilemealternatives.html

 

[Harmush]

I think one of the main selling points of MM is the sheer convenience of it. It hardly takes any effort to set up. You can have everything syncing to every computer and phone you want in say. Under 5-10 minuets. No messing round with multiple apps. And its a good reliable service...

 

[Harmush]

£65 a year aint bad at all either.
Just Under £5 a month. COOL

 

[Ibjr]

You can use dropbox for the idisk storage, it is free up to two gbs and uses Amazon's S3 servers. http://www.getdropbox.com/ If you want to try it, PM me your email address and i'll refer you so you get 2.25gb for free.

 

[LostLogik]

Must admit that I got fed up with all the various alternatives requiring "a little bit of this and a little bit of that" to do what MM does out of the box. In the end I decided the annual fee was worth the sheer convenience of it all, and the fact that it (now) works so well. OK, so I have an iphone as well, but with three PCs running Outlook and one Mac with iCal, MM keeps the whole lot in sync. No brainer for me.

 

[Advance The Man]

Must admit that I got fed up with all the various alternatives requiring "a little bit of this and a little bit of that" to do what MM does out of the box. In the end I decided the annual fee was worth the sheer convenience of it all, and the fact that it (now) works so well. OK, so I have an iphone as well, but with three PCs running Outlook and one Mac with iCal, MM keeps the whole lot in sync. No brainer for me.

If MM keeps iCal in sync, do you still check it in iTunes to manually sync - I suppose you don't, but want to hear from someone using this. And I do not have MM yet, have been too scared from the reviews here.

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

If MM keeps iCal in sync, do you still check it in iTunes to manually sync - I suppose you don't, but want to hear from someone using this. And I do not have MM yet, have been too scared from the reviews here.

When you sync calendars and contacts with MobileMe, the options to sync them are no longer available. They are replaced by a sentence telling you they are being synced over the air with MM.

 

[LostLogik]

If MM keeps iCal in sync, do you still check it in iTunes to manually sync - I suppose you don't, but want to hear from someone using this. And I do not have MM yet, have been too scared from the reviews here.

As IgnatiusTheKing says, there is no option. iTunes simply says "Your Contacts/Calendars/Bookmarks are being synced with your iPhone over the air from MobileMe".

I wouldn't be scared of it. It works, and the iDisk storage and remote access are also added benefits. (I just wish that I could save attachments in my emails straight to my iDisk from my iPhone. That would make life a whole heap easier.)

 

[maz94protege]

i have had blackberries for years, got my first iPhone (3G) in november and loved it ever since then. I had the old .MAC, and when MobileMe migrated from .Mac it made everything that much better. Luckily (knock on wood) i have only had less then 5 dropped calls since i purchased the phone in November.

The Apple MobileMe service is great, and the iPhone allows me to have everything all in one area.

Only thing left to be done now is GOOD (http://www.good.com) network has to make an application for the iPhone so i can access my work email on the iPhone instead of borrowing a Treo from work.

 

[synagence]

The MobileMe web hosting is a little limited as it doesn't offer cgi-bin and other things like being able to host a blog (iweb's blog isn't very good)

I would also love it if they could offer email tied to a domain as well as me.com but i accept the limitation

 

[scottness]

For me, MM was worth the $99 for the calendar syncing alone. We're always on the go, and my wife sees my schedule change within 30 seconds or so, and vice versa. I use it for the other stuff, but the no hassle syncing was the main thing I wanted. Now that you can do it with Google for free (and it's not that difficult to set up)... I'll revisit when my subscription expires. I do use iWeb and MM is seamless with it, so that would be the only thing keeping me on, unless there's something else that's just as simple.

 

[jaseone]

I only use MM instead of Google's Activesync for contacts + calendar with Gmail's IMAP as I need to use ActiveSync for work and you can only have one ActiveSync account setup on the iPhone. MM does seem to work quite nicely though.

However once Verizon releases that Blackberry 9630 I think I am going to have to go to the dark side as AT&T's coverage in Houston is an absolute FAIL!

 

[scottness]

I only use MM instead of Google's Activesync for contacts + calendar with Gmail's IMAP as I need to use ActiveSync for work and you can only have one ActiveSync account setup on the iPhone. MM does seem to work quite nicely though.

Good to know. Didn't realize you can only have one ActiveSync acct. My wife uses it for work also. Guess we're sticking with MM until that changes.

 

[Diaresi]

eh? Push? Since when? Given that IMAP does not equal push...

Gmail supports what's known as IMAP Idle. For all intents and purposes, it pushes email to your device. Works great on my N95 8GB.

Apple, of course, don't support IMAP Idle on the iPhone for obvious reasons.