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6 Best ways to Transfer Files between Computers
Whether its from home to work, school to laptop, or friend to friend, there are going to be situations where you need to transfer files between computers. We will assume for now that the file is over 10MB, and cannot be emailed, and you forgot your USB drive at home.
I tried about 15 different file transfer and sharing services, but I tried to narrow it down the the top 6. 1. DropBoks Visual appearance - ***** Ease of use/Simplicity - **** Sharing Capabilities - ** File Size Limit - 1GB Pros - - super simple design, very easy to use - 1gb account limit - see all your files at once in an explorer-like view Cons - - must create account - can't share easily with other people - slower file upload, suited best for small files
2. YouSendIt Visual appearance - *** Ease of use/Simplicity - *** Sharing Capabilities - ***** File Size Limit - 100MB Pros - - delivers files directly via email - no login required - with registration, you can see all the files you have sent, and track number and date of downloads Cons - - recipient's email is confusing, many links - could be mistakenly marked as spam 3. localhostr Visual appearance - ** Ease of use/Simplicity - ***** Sharing Capabilities - **** File Size Limit - 50MB Pros - - very fast upload - URL to share with recipients Cons - - no registration option to track and view shared files - very disposable feel
Visual appearance - * Ease of use/Simplicity - **** Sharing Capabilities - **** File Size Limit - 100MB Pros - - password protection - delete file option - relatively fast upload Cons - - actual page is ugly, and filled with ads - recipients must wait 20 seconds on page before downloading file 5. DivShare Visual appearance - **** Ease of use/Simplicity - *** Sharing Capabilities - ***** File Size Limit - 200MB/File, Total: Unlimited Pros - - organize uploaded files into folders - unlimited file size limit, or account limit - choose to use download URL, or direct email - clean, text email for recipient Cons - - can not upload .exe files 6. WiPeer (download) Visual appearance - **** Ease of use/Simplicity - *** Sharing Capabilities - ***** File Size Limit - Unlimited Pros - - fast transfer between people on the same local area network - unlimited file limit - multiple users can share between themselves Cons - - cannot transfer with people who are not on your network - recipient must be using WiPeer Conclusion Personally, I use DropBoks for transfering documents between computers. If I need to send a larger file to someone, I will use DivShare, because it its fast, no limit, and I can keep tabs on and delete old files. However if you are looking for a more professional means to transfer files, you might want to look into a premium YouSendIt account. Also, for very casual file transfers between friends, you could use 1-Click-Share, or localhostr. I don't think it needs to be said that a USB drive is probably faster and better than any of the above, if you have one.
Woody Gilk said
am April 15 2007 @ 3:26 pm
Don’t forget http://www.filepanda.com !
Mark Shead said
am April 17 2007 @ 5:09 pm
Nice set of comparisons. I tend to use ftp to move stuff to my server and then pull it down on the other computer, but it isn’t very intuitive. More recently I’ve been using instant messaging clients to move stuff around. It seems to work pretty good if you have access to both computers at the same time.