One of the growing issues with producing more content (pictures, music, videos, etc) is not only where to store it, but how to back it up. I know I personally have a running paranoia in the back of my mind that keeps me constantly copying a backup set of pictures onto an external hard drive, and usually a USB key chain as well. These backups typically consist of various versions of files and multiple duplicates of the same thing. Every few weeks, I think, “gee, I should do a backup”. So I highlight a bunch of files, hit copy and paste them onto the external drive. It gives me piece of mind that a backup copy exists, but wastes a decent amount of hard drive space, and wouldn’t even be particularly efficient should my fears come true and I actually need to replace files from there.

I’ve seen various storage solutions over the past year or two- some popular ones recently like Mozy that allow you to backup all your files to a hard drive in the sky. Cloud backups are great, but require an upload over the internet- not typically the fastest thing ever. I’ve tried syncing software, where it supposedly keeps track of your files and only backs up modified files or new files. Somehow, it never seems to work exactly right.

Enter Clickfree. This Toronto based company has improved on this backup problem in a few ways. First, it takes typical external hard drives, and integrates the USB connection. I love my Western Digital Passport drive, but I have to always make sure I carry a USB cable in order to connect it. The Clickfree drives have a cable directly tied into the drive that easily slides out and connects to your USB port.

Second, it backs up your entire hard drive, as the company’s name would suggest- click free. You just plug the drive into your USB port, and voila, full backup. Even better, after the first backup (which will take longer as all of your files are copied) the drive will automatically backup only revised or new files. I love the simplicity of this. My mom always asks my “are my files backed up?” And over the phone, I walk her through a clunky copy & paste backup onto an external drive. I would have no problem handing her one of these drives.

Third, as a fun added bonus, once all your content is on the drive, Clickfree includes some nifty features of what you can do with your files. As it creates the backup files, it actually groups your files by content: music, movies, pictures, etc. From there, you can browse by type. If you pull up your pictures, for example, they can be automatically uploaded onto Facebook from the Clickfree interface. Just select the thumbnails you want to upload, click the Facebook icon, and up they go. Much easier than Facebook’s picture interface. All this is done with no software installed on your computer- it’s all contained within the drive.

Expert users can configure their backups (to only backup certain files, for example), which is a nice touch. There is actually a handy 30 second countdown clock when you connect the drive that gives you time to click to options. Novices can let the clock run down and stay in automatic mode, experts can configure to their heart’s content.

Another feature I thought was particularly impressive was iPod backup. As their knowledgeable rep pointed out, by now, some early adopters have multiple iPods, some of which may have been connected to old iTunes accounts. That hit very close to home for me as I have an old 60GB iPod which used to sync with an old desktop. In transferring that desktop to a newer laptop, iTunes didn’t transfer over properly so many Playlists were lost. They are still on the iPod, but not on any computer. It’s been an ongoing source of frustration as I am now onto my 2nd laptop that doesn’t have many of the playlists I cultivated and perfected over a few years. (If you’re asking why I don’t just copy my music back onto my computer, well, Apple has taken great lengths to make sure that isn’t easy.) With the Clickfree system, I can now pull off not only the songs from the iPod, but the Playlists as well. I can’t wait to try this. I was so excited I bought one on the spot! (Quick side note, the company was nice enough to sell me their 500GB Clickfree backup drive by writing my credit card on a piece of paper. They never actually ran it. Must be the Canadian in them. I don’t see many US companies doing that. You can’t sip a coffee in this country without laying down some cash!)

There is also a point to be made about piracy here- the fact that since you can now copy songs from any iPod, you could take all your friends songs very easily. The company points out they just created the solution and trust people to use it appropriately. Sounds good to me!

A few more nice touches- you can backup multiple computers onto one hard drive. Each will have its own icon, and the drive will sync files with that computer’s backup.

Anyway, this device impressed the heck out of me! There are 3 versions of this basic Clickfree backup drive- 250 GB for $119, 320 GB for $139 and 500 GB for $159. A little more than you’d pay for a drive without their software, but if it works like the demo, it’s well worth it.

If you have multiple computers on one home network (or work network) there is a network version of each of the drives above for slightly more money. The advantage there is that after connecting the drive once to each computer and doing a backup, it leaves behind a tiny tag which allows the drive to remain connected to only one computer yet backup all computers on the network. It’s a neat trick, and a very simple solution for multiple computers.

Now a few final cool ideas- If you want to look cool doing your backups, try their Ultra Portable Traveler. Roughly the size of a credit card, I can promise you’ll get some jealous stares. They somehow even fit a tiny USB connector into this thing. All the same features as the bigger hard drives described above, just on a tiny drive. Available in 16/32/64 GB sizes for $69/$129/$219, respectively.

If you have free space on your iPod touch or iPhone, Clickfree has a system that allows you to backup your hard drive there. This seemingly is for people who don’t hoard too many files, but if they don’t, would allow them to not only backup, but easily have their files with them. That connector with built in backup for iPod Touch / iPhone is $49.

Similarly, they have a Traveler for BlackBerry which allows for backup of your files onto your trusty BB. It’s actually a 16GB microSD memory card for $89, but then you have your files with you. The company points out this is for an professional that has a series of files they need with them at all times- spreadsheets, budgets, etc. If it’s on your BB, you don’t have to worry about carrying them.

Finally, there’s a backup version that puts your files on an SD card. 16GB for $90 and 32GB for $150. Those are on the pricey end, and more than standard SD cards without the backup program. But if you want to have easy backup on an SD card, it’s a nice solution.

All in all, a great suite of backup products!

--Peter

Labels: backup, Clickfree, computer crash

This entry was posted by Amber, on Friday, January 8, 2010. You can leave your response .