Item: Dropbox
Rating: 7
Author: Owen Rubin

Overall Satisfaction with Dropbox

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Dropbox is typically used in two ways: As an on-line backup for important files, and as a way to easily share larger files with others, especially when email will not work.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Backup of several versions, which is great if a file is lost or locked by cyber attack
Makes keeping on-line copies incredibly simple and easy
Makes sharing or collaborating on a file very easy
Do not have to think about it (most of the time.) It just works

Cons

Not enough space for those of us who do video or graphic creation. A 2TB max size is a too low of limit.
Because the limit is low, I need an alternate backup solution for bigger files
Having to go with an Enterprise account to get more space is a non-starter
You charge WAY TO MUCH for additional storage. Other backup systems, which now offer some of the same features, are a much better price
Support on the Mac is lacking, and sometimes things do not work, especially on-line, requiring me to use a browser other than Safari. This should not be acceptable to DropBox.
WAY TOO SLOW in implementing changes or updates.

Return on Investment

This cannot be measured in my business, however, the fact that I constantly have to make room for files given the size limit, i I would say it creates more work when it should not have to.
No other points.

It is very easy to use, right up to the point where it becomes a problem. Usually, this is because a file is too big, or there is not enough storage space available. Then one has to start removing files to a different on-line backup service to make space. That makes usability an issue when it happens, and slows down work progress tremendously.

Alternatives Considered

Carbonite Safe

Dropbox has better sharing features for sure, but Carbonite does not limit how much space I can use for off premise storage. Carbonite also does make getting old versions as easy.

Key Insights

Do you think Dropbox delivers good value for the price?

Are you happy with Dropbox's feature set?

Yes

Did Dropbox live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Dropbox go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Dropbox again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Carbonite Safe, Apple iCloud, Google Cloud Storage

Likelihood to Recommend

I do not usually recommend any products to others. But I would only recommend Dropbox in certain circumstances, depending on the need. In most cases, I would recommend a more robust off-site backup solution like BackBlaze of Carbonite.

Dropbox Feature Ratings

Comments

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Dropbox works well but needs imrpovement.