alternative to Dropbox

Elle

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I have a dropbox account of 100GB, created specifically to store a set of images and video from a holiday & wedding.

I managed to upload one set of files from an old netbook and an iPad. But have since moved to a Macbook & have tried all weekend to upload 1 video file & failed. I also tried uploading directly from an external disk (via the Macbook) but that doesn't work either. Dropbox just seems to hang after 10 minutes.

The Macbook doesn't have a hard drive so I can't store the files on it permanently & I want to be able to share the files with others.

Any good alternatives to Dropbox that will cope with large files, particularly video files?
 
Sounds more like your internet connection??

As to Videos upload to You tube and set the visibility to "only those with a link" and buy an external USB Hard drive to have them safe (do not leave it connected)

Just do a back up of new pics once a month and you should be covered
 
If you want public then put the video onto YouTube.
You get 1TB of storage for free on flicker but I don't think they do video. You can share from that either via link or public.
Other alternatives would be Google drive or Box. With Google you can also open a Google + account and so long as you keep the photos to HD or bellow it's unlimited storage.
 
OneDrive is free with a Hotmail account.

Will the same video upload okay from that old Netbook? Might be worth doing as a test just to eliminate a "Mac" related issue. You could also try contacting Dropbox for support.

Or, pop round to a friends house with a different ISP/Internet connection and try it from there (ask them if they have a metered connection first in case you push them over their limit) but, some good practical tests to ascertain exactly where the problem might lie.
 
Elle, rather than online storage have you thought about a personal cloud device such as the WD My Cloud? I've just bought a 2TB My Cloud and as well as being able to access it from anywhere I've transferred all my music onto it to work with our home Sonos system. The kids also have their own areas on it which is ideal when away at Uni.
I did use Dropbox but found it somewhat cumbersome compared to having a dedicated drive at home.
 
Dropbox syncs with the computer you are uploading from. If you don't have a hard drive, it can't sync. It isn't a space you upload to, it's a syncing feature.

You could try setting up dropbox on your external drive for the mac but I would recommend you use a computer that has enough free space for you to sync the contents after uploading.

You can selectively sync stuff with dropbox:

https://www.dropbox.com/help/142/en

but you need some space to allow dropbox to setup on your mac.
 
Good idea to try from someone else's internet connection, I may do that :)

The files are already on an external drive, what I want to do is share them. Don't want to use YouTube because people can't actually download the file.

Dropbox does not necessarily need to synch - effectively that's a back-up and not what I require, besides, I don't have sufficient space on the MacBook (they no longer have hard drives!).

My sister suggested Google Drive but then went on to tell me the problems she's had with it! So perhaps I should get an expensive iCloud account :(
 
Take a look at 'Vimeo'. Works well for storing video files.
 
The bit I'm struggling with is the 'MacBooks' don't have hard drives. Yes they do! It may be a SSD but it is still a hard drive.

You can upload to dropbox via the browser without it having to sync to the device you are uploading from. Upload speeds vary dramatically depending on your internet connection. Unless you have a leased line or EFM connection, your upload speed may only be 10% to 30% of your download speed.
 
shay said:
Dropbox has to sync with at least one computer, it isn't a service where you upload only, it is a syncing service.
Q: why don't you buy a hard drive for one of the macs? a 500g hd is £33 on amazon?
Click to expand...
I don't know where you get your information from but you're wrong. You do not have to synch to a computer. In fact, once you've uploaded files, you can delete everything on your PC then just keep the files on Dropbox! And regarding the HD....

buenos said:
The bit I'm struggling with is the 'MacBooks' don't have hard drives. Yes they do! It may be a SSD but it is still a hard drive.
Unless you have a leased line or EFM connection, your upload speed may only be 10% to 30% of your download speed.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Yes, OK, it's SSD but not as big as a normal HD - at least, not for several hours of video which is expected to get bigger over time.
I'm guessing it is my internet connection, just need to test it elsewhere with a different provider.
 
I'm wrong? You told us you didn't have a hard drive in your mac :)

but you're welcome for the help and links to selective syncing...
 
Get a NAS (Network Attached Storage):

Use it as your own personal "Cloud". Save all your stuff on it securely. Access it from anywhere. Give friends and family access to folders of your choice on it from anywhere. Use it to download stuff whilst your computer is turned off. Stream downloaded content wirelessly from it including movies, music and pictures. Connect wireless security cameras to it. Back up your MacBook to it wirelessly using Apple Time Machine, Etc, Etc, Etc.

Made by Synology, Western Digital, Netgear and others.

I use a Synology Diskstation DS214 with 2x 1Tb hard drives in it, an excellent piece of kit.
 
I use Box on PC and Phone plus Dropbox, BT cloud and Google Drive which is good for emailing very large files using Gmail. Google backup also stores my 17000 plus photo's and video's catalogue FOC from phone and pc.

Personal cloud Hard Drive set-up with 2 or 3 TB sound wonderful but what happens when they fail? I've had 5 hard drive failures and know of quite a few others who've had personal cloud drives fail, some work related drive failures have been disastrous and expensive.
 
I use Copy, which is a Dropbox alternative but with a lot more generous free storage. You can sync files across multiple devices (both on computers and mobile devices). Use this link to get (15+5) GB when you sign up.
 
I use Wuala as it's way more secure than Dropbox. If I had a decent internet connection I'd be using something like Owncloud or my own server.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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