Intro: What Is Dropbox? | Reviews
Dropbox is a cloud-based solution for accessing your computer files from any computer. Dropbox is meant to solve the digital version of a common real-world problem we all face.
Suppose you’re out shopping, and you get to the register only to remember your credit card is in your other purse. Well, now you’re straight out of luck.
You will either need to forget about your purchase or drive all the way back home and retrieve your wallet from your other purse. However, if you kept your wallet in the same purse all the time, you wouldn’t have this problem.
The same goes for computer files. Oftentimes, we work on something from one computer only to try and access it from another device later. It would be easier if files were accessible from multiple terminals.
How Does Dropbox Work? (Dropbox Service and Features)
How does Dropbox work? The great thing about Dropbox is that it makes it exceptionally easy to synchronize all of your folders. Users have one special folder on their desktop that is accessible across all of their devices.
Image source: Pixabay
All they need to do is add or “drop” their files they’d like available anytime, anywhere into that special folder. Once it syncs, those files will be accessible across the board.
Frequently, when we come across useful information, it’s in a hodgepodge fashion. Either we’re idly scrolling through our mobile device or browsing the Internet on our laptop. In order to remember the material, we either email it to ourselves or transfer it from our desktop to our laptop using a USB.
However, in this way, you might forget to transfer something important or spend forever searching through your email. The cool part about Dropbox is that you can substitute all of this trouble with a one-click alternative.
How does Dropbox work when it comes to synchronizing files across different operating systems, like a Mac or a PC? Simple. The same way it would across similar systems, making it an extremely convenient tool.
Dropbox also has the ability to synchronize across mobile devices, and the files are all available on Dropbox’s website as well. So, in the unlikely event that all of your electronic devices are destroyed on the same day, you have the peace of mind that Dropbox’s online storage system brings.
Dropbox is also a way to preserve your peace of mind in the case of a virus. If your computer is compromised, you can rest assured knowing you still have access to your family photos and work files.
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How Does Dropbox Work: Pricing & Dropbox Reviews
How does Dropbox work to make a profit? Dropbox operates on a “freemium” business model. What this means is that people can use Dropbox for free, up to a certain point. For Dropbox, that point is 2 GB.
Anybody can open a Dropbox account and use up to 2 GB of space, but after that point, users must either make some room in their folder or pay for more.
How does Dropbox work for people who want to use more space? Is there a limit? No. The amount of space you want to use is contingent upon how much you are willing to pay. For those who would like to use more than 2 GB, the category above free is Dropbox Pro. The price varies depending on your country of residence.
Those in the United States can expect to spend $99 a year, or $9.99 a month, for 1 TB of space. People purchasing Dropbox Pro can either subscribe monthly or annually.
How does Dropbox work for people who want to go beyond a terabyte? In this case, interested Dropbox users would need to purchase Dropbox Business for $15 a month, per user, with a minimum of 5 users to start. Additional users would incur a higher cost.
The Dropbox for business pricing includes file recovery, integration with the MS Office suite and third-party integrations, the ability to wipe files remotely, dedicated customer support, and a number of helpful administrative and collaborative tools to help facilitate team projects.
The description for Dropbox for business pricing indicates that users receive “as much space as you need,” but this is slightly misleading. Those words do not mean the same thing as unlimited. In fact, Dropbox Business comes with 5 TB of storage.
Additional space requires you to buy another “user” for $15. So, when they say that you get as much space as you need, what they mean is that, with Dropbox Business, you have the option of buying more space, unlike Dropbox Pro.
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Dropbox Review: Dropbox for Business Review
Dropbox has a terrific reputation, and it carries great name recognition. Dropbox reviews routinely praise the service for allowing teams to easily engage with each other and collaborate on projects wherever they may be.
When users download the Dropbox app, it shows up as a folder on the user’s desktop and looks identical to all of his/her other regular folders.
Dropbox for business pricing includes file recovery and versioning. When it comes to recovering deleted files, you do not need to worry about how much time has passed since you removed it – it can still be retrieved.
Additionally, unlimited versioning allows Dropbox users to revert to earlier versions of their files, regardless of how much time has gone by.
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Dropbox Reviews: Cons
The downside about Dropbox Business is that it is not truly unlimited. This does not mean that you should not choose this service. It simply means that Dropbox Business is meant for some businesses and not for others.
Image source: Pixabay
For instance, a small business owner does not need to set up a shared resource or network share the way a large corporation would, and a large corporation would find itself endlessly adding users with a Dropbox account. For small to medium-sized business owners, Dropbox Business is perfectly suitable.
Dropbox Reviews: Useful Features
One of the useful features about Dropbox Business is external sharing. If you want to send a file to somebody outside of your group or company, you can share a link and then put a time limit and password on that access. Members can also leave comments and feedback next to files in Dropbox to facilitate collaboration and idea sharing.
Team leaders can also create what are known as team folders. This way, documents that are needed by everybody, including project details and employee handbooks, can be found in an easily-accessible spot.
Additionally, Dropbox Business comes with helpful badges that allow users to see whether somebody else is working on a file at the same time. That user can then choose to view the most recent version of that file after it has been updated.
For those who think that Dropbox Business may meet their company’s needs but are still unsure, Dropbox offers a 30-day free trial. You can try out all of the features without the pressure of commitment.
That said, Dropbox does require those taking the free trial to provide their payment information, which might be a deal breaker for some individuals.
Those who do decide to give the free trial a go will need to be vigilant as the end of their free trial approaches. One point against the service in this Dropbox review is that if you do not remember to cancel your subscription before the free trial finishes (and you no longer want to use Dropbox Business), you will automatically start getting billed.
One drawback to note in any Dropbox for Business review is that users cannot edit documents inside Dropbox.
The absence of this functionality will be sorely missed by some users, especially if they are used to the Google Docs system, which allows users to work on documents, spreadsheets, and slideshows at the same time.
Instead, Dropbox users have to use Microsoft Office 365 online and create an account or login to an existing account.
Compared to other cloud-based storage systems, Dropbox’s uploads can be relatively slower (although this is not a huge issue). On the other hand, Dropbox reviews demonstrate that files can be downloaded quite quickly to the storage system.
Another terrific thing about Dropbox is its integration with an enormous amount of third-party apps, making it easy for users to access their music, videos, and more from within Dropbox and across their devices.
While Dropbox does have dedicated customer support service for its business clients, this support is more customer-oriented. As a result, Dropbox reviews lament the rather weak technical support infrastructure available to Dropbox users.
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How Secure Is Dropbox? Are My Files Safe?
According to Dropbox’s website, Dropbox files are encrypted with 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). It uses SSL and TLS to protect data that is in transit. Additionally, users can set up two-step verification to provide an extra layer of protection at login.
The Dropbox team also engages in regular testing to ensure that its security is up to date. Dropbox reviews regularly reference how well the service stores, secures, and backs up files.
Dropbox Review: Dropbox Is Great for Small to Medium-Sized Businesses (or Teams)
Small to medium-sized businesses that are looking for an efficient, collaborative way to work on products would benefit greatly from using Dropbox. It provides peace of mind, convenience, and security. That said, it is not the only option available.
Another very popular web-based alternative to Dropbox is Google Drive. In some cases, it may be even smarter to opt for Google Drive. There are pros and cons to picking Google over Dropbox. Google’s prices and space allowances are more competitive; however, there are specific limitations with Google.
For instance, with Dropbox, you can sync a number of different files from your computer, but with Google Drive, you are limited to using Google docs, spreadsheets, and slides for collaborative work. You can download a Google Doc into an MS word document, but that will prevent you from sharing it in the same way you would share a Google Doc.
The most important factors to consider are the amount of space you will need and the number of people you are trying to collaborate with.
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