Probably a ludicrously simplistic question to you IT professionals but trying to work out the best option.

Moving from a single desktop to a two laptop household. I’ve already got a macbook pro and my wife’s after a windows based laptop – she point blank refuses to worship at the temple of Jobs and prefers some Gate’s lovin’.

So what’s the easiest way to keep files synced between us? ITunes takes care of music but I want it so that if you upload photos from a camera on one laptop that they are available on both and that documents generated on either are saved and organised centrally. Is a cloud service the way to go and if so which one for a mixed mac/pc house. Also, seems daft to be uploading and downloading all the time for two computers 20ft apart and they won’t be available off line. Whatever solution I use has to be 100% faff proof or the wife won’t buy into it.

I suppose the other option is to keep everything on the pc laptop and for me to access it from the mac on a home network to file work and access files from there.

I use Dropbox for exactly these requirements – it’s been great so far. It’s very fast and easy. The free version has enough capacity for the stuff I need to sync.

I have also used SugarSync, which is bobbins.

Dropbox.com is probably the simplest.

Just make sure that wherever you put pictures etc. is selected for it, then it does the magic.

Don’t put anything sensitive like passwords / bank details etc on it obviously, as you’re letting random internet company in the USA look after your data.

Dropbox works for me fine for “non sensitive” stuff although if you’re synching pics, you’ll run out of the free space fast enough.

Thanks very much. Dropbox does look good for what I’m after although its going to cost $108 a year to get a useful storage capacity.

Why don’t you just setup a network drive.
Connects to the router and all the home computers access it.

i use sugarsynch to keep stuff working between macbook, smartphone and netbook. and access from any machine anywhere actually.

+1 for Sugarsync. I like that you can just sync any folder/file — last time I looked at Dropbox you had to put things you wanted to sync into a specific Dropbox folder.

Interestingly a friend of mine is doing his dissertation on how to solve this type of problem. Dropbox is fine for small amounts of non sensitive stuff. Sugarsync is decent too I believe. A networked drive with everything you want to share might be a better option though if its just the two laptops that arnt leaving the house?

If you have a bit of tech know-how then you could setup something using Rsync which would mean no cloud service and negate having to push things through the interwebs!

I was recommended SyncToy (http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=15155) when I asked about this previously. You can set up which folders you want to sync, and after that it’s a one click operation each time you run it. It needs the two devices to be on the same network as it’s transferring data directly between them rather than via the cloud. I’ve been using it regularly for a couple of years now with no drama – it just works.

For all the answers about Dropbox though, doesn’t work through <boomy voice> the cloud </boomy voice>? In which case it’s a waste of bandwidth for 2 PCs in the same house…

Home network is surely the way forwards? No cloud security issues and more importantly where photos are concerned, no strange compression issues – my understanding is that cloud software compresses and degrades files.

In which case it’s a waste of bandwidth for 2 PCs in the same house…

Possibly but it depends how many files you’re actually going to be uploading and downloading, and what else you have going on while that’s happening. For the average domestic user with a more-or-less unlimited internet deal, it’s probably not a big deal, surely? I can’t remember whether it was SugarSync or Dropbox, but one of them can sync through the local network instead of through the cloud when both computers are on the same network.

I’ve had problems with SugarSync taking up huge amounts of RAM, deleting all files (had to download from their website) etc.

I used to use SyncToy but it’s not real time, you have to remember to use it and can be fiddly with Macs (as a novice, at least).

I use Sugarsync to keep documents available to iPad, Blackberry etc… Much better than Dropbox as it’s automated. However to keep my office PC and Laptop in Sync I use GoodSync, even to the level of Outlook PST files so my email is identical. Version 9 allows direct PC to PC syncing (even over the Internet if one of you is away), at home probably the easiest thing to use though is a NAS drive as this will automatically double as a back up for those important files you want to look after.

Been using this setup for over five years and not lost a single file. Very good.

Dropbox will sync locally when available. It will upload once to the cloud then only sync things that change. It’s nice to have a back-up and to be able to access files via a web browser from any computer anywhere in the world so for me it’s a big plus. I’ve got 10Gb free which is a bit limiting for pics but great for everything else.

tbh I’d just buy a standalone harddrive, and just backup the files from both machines to it.

We do it this way, and 2TB can be had for less than £100.

be aware that using a network drive means the data will not be on the actual laptops themselves so as soon as you leave the house you’ll either have to manually copy data back to whichever laptop is going out and then faff around copying stuff that’s changed back afterwards or just accept that data is for ‘home only’.

I’ve found dropbox ideal (other cloud storage services are available) for ‘access anywhere’ files and data that I have and it also allows me to easily share stuff with other people just by dragging and dropping on the local machine.

The other advantage is that you’ve got an automatic offsite backup of all your data should the worst happen. Houses do burn down/get burgaled and it’s comforting to know that I’ve got copies elsehwere without putting any effort in.

Houses do burn down/get burgaled

I haven’t actually done it yet but there’s a good instruction set for using a combo of a webcam and dropbox to have constantly updated offsite storage of security footage here: http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2011/11/turn-your-webcam-into-a-streaming-surveillance-system/

Dropbox will sync locally when available. It will upload once to the cloud then only sync things that change.

Ah, nice, that.

Internet caps are pretty good, admittedly, but upload speeds on home internet can be embarrassingly slow, so you wouldn’t want to have it uploading and then downloading stuff just for the sake of it.

£90 NAS box?

many interesting features that i cant be arsed to list, but generally you can centralise the storage at home and FTP in if you’re out and about and need to get something off your NAS.

be aware that using a network drive means the data will not be on the actual laptops themselves so as soon as you leave the house you’ll either have to manually copy data back to whichever laptop is going out and then faff around copying stuff that’s changed back afterwards or just accept that data is for ‘home only

Not if you do it properly. If you use software such as Goodsync you sync data from both laptops to the NAS drive, when one user adds a file the next time the other user syncs the file will be copied across. Goodsync only copies changed files and is very fast, the process can even be automated to remove the need to action yourself so it updates as you amend or add files. As ‘scaled’ above notes most NAS drives these days have the option to access remotely making the solution even more robust.

I agree that clouding is very effective, I use it myself, but as an example I have well over 100GB of music and photos and that would a) take bloody ages to upload and b) be very expensive monthly.

If you’re worried about losing precious data run a back up of the NAS once a week and keep in the car or at a friends. If your house does burn down you still have memories 😯

I use SugarSync, but my usage is slightly different. I wanted a multi-user solution; with SS I can drop files in a ‘name’ folder on my desktop and it appears automagically on a mate’s PC.