Mobile Me is it Worth it 60 Day Acct Expiring

[Wicked1]

I have Mobile Me setup on the Web, my MacBook, and Mini but my 60 day trial is about to end and I have the $69.00 package to sign up for a year.

1) Is it worth the effort and money

2) Can I trust Apple since Data from my Laptop and Desktop will be on Apple's Cloud?

3) Is there any feature I should not use or any specific one I should use, I am leary about publishing my Addressbook on the web and also my Calendar, seems like there is a lot of personal Data at risk.


Thanks All!

 

[nuckinfutz]

Do you have plans to get an iPhone or iPod Touch?

It's debatable on whether MobileMe is quit as effective without having some sort of Apple mobile device.

Once iGet my iPod Touch I'm certainly signing up but I don't know if I'd do so without having something smaller than a laptop.

 

[gibbz]

I thoroughly enjoy MobileMe.

It does great keeping my stuff synced across a laptop, iPhone, and Desktop.

They started off rough, but I think they have things down now.

I'd say get it if it fits your needs.

 

[Wicked1]

I have a uMB 2.4, also a Mac Mini 2009, and iTouch 16GB and I have Mobile Me, just wondering if anyone has had issues with personal data sitting on Apple's network, I mean whatever you sync up in the Cloud, then have access to, so other then if you have problems or not, how does everyone like it. I have 5 days left to decide or not.

 

[fishkorp]

I still have 99 days left on mine, but I don't think I'll resubscribe. The mail still doesn't stay in sync (if I read it on my Mac it doesn't get marked as read on my iPhone until I go into the Mail app on the phone). Instead, I'm using Google Sync to sync/push my calendars and contacts and am keeping my fingers crossed for push Gmail. Either in a native Gmail app or push support in 3.0 final. I do use the MobileMe gallery to publish my Delicious Library to, but that's not a big deal.

After using it almost a year, I'm not as impressed as I thought I would be.

 

[BroadcastDoc]

I also have a Google Apps account for a domain I own. I want to love GApps, but the whole MobileMe experience (if you have multiple Macs and and/or iPhones) has just been great. I keep switching back and forth for comparison and I keep coming back to MobileMe. If they would just allow custom email addresses, that would seal the deal for me.

At any rate I have a family pack, and I keep renewing year after year.

 

[EarthDawn]

I have had nothing but a problem free experience with my me account. Everything syncs and my iphone gets all push email very fast.
I feel it offers a lot for the $ and knowing Apple is behind it gives me great confindence that it wont crash and data/pics etc wont be lost.

 

[maflynn]

I've had mobileme since when it was called iTools (and it was free). Partly because the inertia of changing my email address. I've stuck with MobileMe. Now that I have an iPhone, it makes it even more worthwhile.

Sure there are other services that duplicate the features of MobileMe for less $$ the fact remains none of them reach the level of integration and ease of use that MobileMe offers. To that end, I believe its a great product especially if you use or plan on using an iPhone.

 

[Let's Sekuhara!]

Apple wants to get you hooked on MobileMe so that you will renew your subscription every year ($99 per year!). Ten years of that and you could have bought yourself a white MacBook instead.

At that price tag you can expect people to look for alternatives.
Let's take a look at what MobileMe actually does for you and how else it could be done:

You get an email address that stays synced between your mobile device, computer(s) and internet. Gmail does that too, for free. You can set up forwarders in the same way that you can for MobileMe. And if you're tight on cash one year you don't have to worry about losing all of your emails and contacts because you couldn't afford to renew.

You get an iDisk to store and share files. You can also use it as a web server to host your site.
For an online file storage and sync solution I much prefer Dropbox. It's free for the first 2GB, cross-platform, and you get not only public and private folders, but also folders that can be shared between just you and a friend. If you want more space you can purchase it. You can share public files as links, just like with iDisk. Actually I think Dropbox was first to have this feature. (Here's a referral link for those who are interested)
Dropbox cannot be used to host websites though.

MobileMe calendar. This calendar syncs seamlessly between iCal and your iPhone calendar. Nice and easy for iPhone owners. Although I suspect Google's calendar could be used as a substitute. If anyone here is using Google calendar in such a way I would like to hear how it's working out for you.

MobileMe also automatically syncs your photos between your iPhone and iPhoto. So if you take a photo with your iPhone it is instantly backed up to the "cloud". This is a nice feature for people who don't connect their iPhones to their computers very often to sync. If you do sync frequently though, it may not seem so important to you.

Back To My Mac is a MobileMe feature that enables remote access and screen sharing between two Macs running Leopard. So if you want to access your work computer from home, you can. This is a pretty cool feature, and if I had two Leopard Macs I would use it.
Here's a Life Hacker article on how you can accomplish this without paying for the MobileMe service!

I hope that puts things in perspective for ya.

 

[BroadcastDoc]

Those are all very good alternatives. The only perspective I can add is that with MobileMe, you pay for convenience.

All of those alternative require varying degrees of workarounds to work. Now, if you're savvy, that's not a problem. If you're not, it can be a challenge.

With MobileMe, you pay the sub fee, and everything is integrated and works well. In fact, I am savvy yet I chose to go with MobileMe because I don't mind paying for the convenience.

Sometimes it's not about the money (though a lot of times it is!)

 

[SpaceKitty]

My MobileMe will expire in a few months. I keep wondering if it's worth it but then I remember:

Bookmarks. They automatically get synced between both Macs here and the HP laptop. Same with calendar.

I think that's all worth it. The other stuff I've never used. Oh and I think in the one year I've had it, I've only received junk mail three times.

 

[Let's Sekuhara!]

New features

The day after I posted my reply, Apple announced some new features for MobileMe. Those features include Find My iPhone and Remote Wipe.
So now if you lose your iPhone you can hopefully find it easily, and if it still can't be located at least you can erase your personal data from it.

http://www.apple.com/mobileme/whats-new/

Cool stuff! I think iPhone owners will find these features quite useful.
I agree with BroadcastDoc that with MobileMe you pay for the convenience. It's a service that consolidates a lot of internet-based technologies for you in a way that is easy to understand.

It never hurts to know what else is out there though. For example, you may use MobileMe for its sync features but still use Gmail as your primary email service since it will always be free and it never expires. Or maybe you don't want to be disclosing the location of your Public folder every time you give out your email address.

In any case it's good to be informed so that if you are paying for the MobileMe service you are paying because it's the solution that suits you best... not because you were unaware of the other choices available to you.

 

[macgrl]

I thoroughly enjoy MobileMe.

It does great keeping my stuff synced across a laptop, iPhone, and Desktop.

They started off rough, but I think they have things down now.

I'd say get it if it fits your needs.

Could agree more

 

[dejo]

1) Is it worth the effort and money

After 60 days of using it, you haven't figured this out on your own yet?

 

[anjinha]

You can get Mobile Me for cheaper on ebay or Amazon.

 

[badlydrawnboy]

I'm in the same boat

Here's where I'm at trying to replace MM's services.

Email: Gmail

Calendar & Contacts sync: Spanning Sync

Bookmarks sync: Xmarks

iDisk: Dropbox

The other services, such as websites and gallery for photos, can also be easily replicated with free services. (I don't really need them, so I haven't chosen one over the other).

The only service MM will soon have that can't be easily replicated seems to be the "find my phone" and "remote wipe" feature.

Is it worth $70? I'm not sure. But I do know that for me, the free (or very cheap, in the case of Spanning Sync) services above work better at their particular tasks than the MM equivalents. I'm using them now even though I still have a MM account.

The main thing holding me back is the potential headache of migrating to Gmail IMAP from MM without losing or duplicating too much data. If anyone has tips on how to make this transition, I'd appreciate it.

 

[sziehr]

so i am in the same boat.
MM works at push where yahoo lets me down
mm works at contact synch
the fact that i can now remote wipe and remote locate makes it all the more valuable.
Is it worth the 99 i am not sure.
I just started my trial i will let you know the longer i have it.

 

[sjjordan]

so i am in the same boat.
MM works at push where yahoo lets me down
mm works at contact synch
the fact that i can now remote wipe and remote locate makes it all the more valuable.
Is it worth the 99 i am not sure.
I just started my trial i will let you know the longer i have it.

Check out Amazon. You can get it for about $60 shipped, which makes it that much sweeter and is the reason I've kept it.

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

1) Is it worth the effort

I'm not sure what effort it requires, so I can't answer that question, but I will say I've had MobileMe for almost two years now, and I like it. I use the email, bookmarks, address book and calendar sync, share files on the iDisk, etc. I have no complaints about it.

I will say, though, that if I do not elect to buy the next iPhone (due to poor AT&T service in my area), I will probably drop MobileMe, as well. I really think I get the most out of it on my iPhone, in unison with my two Macs.

 

[Grazzio]

MobileMe works very well. If you have a mobile device with iCal and mail its fantastic. It syncs perfectly every time.

I love the find my iPhone feature too and remote wipe. So if your phone is robbed you can wipe it and find it, its also handy to be able to send a message that appears on the phone screen for up to 2 minutes with a ringing alarm (handy if you don't have a friend with another phone to ring it!!) you could put a message like return to :address:

Its also handy as n extension to dropbox, upto 20GB of data storage in the cloud, accessible anywhere in the world.

for £5 a month its good value, saying that as another poster said.

Quote

Apple wants to get you hooked on MobileMe so that you will renew your subscription every year ($99 per year!). Ten years of that and you could have bought yourself a white MacBook instead.

well i might just save £5 a moth too!

 

[binkmail]

Perhaps, in this case, asking the question is answering it... Though I am on the fence as well, especially since I'm about to get a laptop and want to keep the calendar etc. in sync...

 

[S1njin]

Getting my iPhone today - still can't see the value of MobilMe over Gmail sync. What am I missing?

 

[alphaod]

Getting my iPhone today - still can't see the value of MobilMe over Gmail sync. What am I missing?

You can sync your preferences across computers as well; plus you can use the Find My Phone feature.