Now that we'll all have 2-3 Macs, how do we sync them

[Scott6666]

If I can't resist and buy the 11" air I'll have the air, a 15" i7 MBP, and a 27" iMac.

Assuming I keep them all and use them for different reasons, how do I keep my data sync'ed between them all.

Clearly I can't keep as much on the air, but I have a basic data set of docs (office type stuff, some graphics, some programming) that I'd like to be the same on all the machines.

 

[miles01110]

DropBox

 

[CaoCao]

If I can't resist and buy the 11" air I'll have the air, a 15" i7 MBP, and a 27" iMac.

Assuming I keep them all and use them for different reasons, how do I keep my data sync'ed between them all.

Clearly I can't keep as much on the air, but I have a basic data set of docs (office type stuff, some graphics, some programming) that I'd like to be the same on all the machines.

Mobile Me or Drop Box

 

[mattpreston11]

Mobile me for sure.

idisk, calendar, email, contacts, bookmarks.

 

[rockyroad55]

MobileMe. I use dropbox for photos and documents only.

 

[kingsal]

Manually.

 

[iCheddar]

A decent product is Chronosync. You can sync on way, you can sync both ways, it's great. Mind you, the syncs have to be initiated by you, but I used it with my Macbook Pro and iMac for some time and it worked quite well.

As for the syncing itself, just pick the particular folder you want to sync, and sync! You can even sync your whole home folder.

 

[flyfish29]

I suggest mobile me as you can have all your bookmarks, calendars, contacts, dashboard widgets, dock items, keychains, mail accounts, mail rules, notes and even preferences set as the same and synched.

You can use iTunes home sharing to sync your music

Not sure about pics or movies- other than manually, one of above methods or maybe there is someway now on iPhoto like homesharing?

You can use iDisk to store everything remotely or use something else to sync docs lie those suggested above.

You could use back to my mac and just make sure you can remotely access all the computers over the net.

I do not suggest doing it manually- too easy to make a mistake and copy over something newer rather than older.

How often do you change your office type docs and other things? If not very often then maybe manually, but I tried this several times and it was hard, especially since you are talking three computers.

I totally suggest mobile me- my wife and I use it for three of our comptuers and it works very well.

good luck!

 

[thejadedmonkey]

use live mesh, it can keep 5gb's synced to the cloud, 25gb's of online storage, and unlimited computer to computer syncing.

 

[cherry su]

You could have one computer act as a server and have all the files on that. Then on your other computers, you can mount the server as a shared drive and go from there. Of course this is more complex than setting up either DropBox or MobileMe.

 

[jclardy]

Well as a coder I use Dropbox mainly, but that only works for documents and other smaller files. You can use it for larger files but they will take a while to sync.

For my music library I keep it on an external. Right now it is hooked up to a Mac Mini but I don't know if I am going to keep that or not. But you can sync music via home sharing in iTunes, although with the smaller SSD on the Air I don't know if I would use that.

 

[1appleAday]

You could have one computer act as a server and have all the files on that. Then on your other computers, you can mount the server as a shared drive and go from there. Of course this is more complex than setting up either DropBox or MobileMe.

+1

 

[unagimiyagi]

Let's one up this: which is the best free file syncing software. If they're both free, then rank by storage amount that they allow.

 

[elppa]

Live mesh has one (fairly big, depending on your perspective) advantage over other solutions. You can set it up to sync existing folders in any location on your computer. It doesn't require files be located inside a special iDisk or Dropbox.

As previouly pointed out you have an unlimited sync quota between machines. Not everything has to be stored in the cloud. You also get to pick which machines get synced with which folders. And then if you wish to also sync those folders with your Sky Drive (cloud storage) you can.

Finally the Mac manager is nicely done and you can browse folders synced with your SkyDrive from anywhere via a web browser.

And in my experience it works seamlessly and automatically whilst consuming minimum system resources.

The fact it is all FREE means I definitely think you should at least take a look.

 

[netdog]

I know it's an unpopular position, but I've always liked .Mac.

 

[bouncer1]

OP: This the million dollar question. The answers sugested here, hastily imho, don't cut it on their own. None of them. There is no other way but to think of an elaborate set up making use of some local centralized storage, a nas, tc, or a mac doing that, some cloud external storage, some syncing util, some cloud syncing functions for program settings, and a lot of good will, love, and patience to set this whole thing up.

It's very important to find which programs can use dropbox or mm to sync via the cloud. Very important, it ll save you tons of time.

And let me stress this point to developers too: In this day and age it's inexcusable your program not to sync via mm. This should be standard by now.

So guys, don't just throw dropbox or mm in one word post to the op, you should know this is only a very, very partial answer to the question and in no way could satisfy anything but the most basic needs.

use live mesh, it can keep 5gb's synced to the cloud, 25gb's of online storage, and unlimited computer to computer syncing.

Hadn't heard of that one, sounds very interesting. I am checking it out at the moment.

 

[jagger27]

buy the 11" air ...programming...

HAHAHAHAHA! How do expect to get anything done with such a limited resolution?

Edit: Oh, back on topic. Setup a NAS and keep everything in one place. Use the hard drives in your Macs as temporary storage.

 

[bouncer1]

use live mesh, it can keep 5gb's synced to the cloud, 25gb's of online storage, and unlimited computer to computer syncing.

OOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhhh, it's microsoft?

Forget it.

You should have warned people, I felt like clicking via an innocent sounding link to a hardcore porn site and soon as I googled and saw the horrid ms logo....

Kudos for them trying to bring this functionality, to ms that is, and there's not much to give them kudos for these days, but I don't buy it its going to work well not even for a second...

 

[netdog]

Mobile Me can automatically sync files via iDisk.

You just tell it what directories you want to sync.

 

[eatbacon]

HAHAHAHAHA! How do expect to get anything done with such a limited resolution?

You kidding right? Why on earth do you need high resolution for programming. All you need is a 80x24 character terminal and emacs. Anything else is a distraction.

 

[CaoCao]

You could have one computer act as a server and have all the files on that. Then on your other computers, you can mount the server as a shared drive and go from there. Of course this is more complex than setting up either DropBox or MobileMe.

I'd suggest the iMac as the server because it's a desktop

 

[bouncer1]

Mobile Me can automatically sync files via iDisk.

You just tell it what directories you want to sync.

Really, between two macs? How? If I 've missed this bit all that while I 'll feel like an idiot...

I am sure you are not referring on keeping local copies of idisk on each mac, or are you?

 

[elppa]

OP: This the million dollar question. The answers sugested here, hastily imho, don't cut it on their own. None of them.

Well I put effort into my answer and wasn't hasty. Live Mesh will sync programming and Office documents almost instantly on any reasonable broadband connection.

Graphics files will take a bit longer, but once the initial sync is done it has no problem of keeping folders of many hundred megabytes or a few gigabytes in sync. The key is it doesn't provide a sync quota.

Hadn't heard of that one, sounds very interesting. I am checking it out at the moment.

Unfortunately marketing the good stuff Microsoft makes isn't one of their strengths. This product is a merger of 2 separate products and has gone by 3 names "Windows Live Sync", "Live Mesh" and now "Windows Live Mesh 2011". The hazy naming scheme doesn't due justice to the elegance of the solution.

 

[elppa]

I am sure you are not referring on keeping local copies of idisk on each mac, or are you?

The local offline copy functionality is called “iDisk Sync” in the MobileMe control panel. So I think it is likely that is what was being referred to.

 

[marcopolo007uk]

I've tried them all and eventually settled with Sugarsync. Perfect to sync all of my important files between my iMac, MacBook pro, win xp work laptop and now my MacBook Air. (iPad client has been useful also!)

It also allows you to sync app library folders which I find really handy for things like FTP setups and blogging setups. Any changes get synced across all my macs with ease.