Drop Box, It's Bl**dy Marvellous

[PCUK]

If I'm syncing a folder of say 30 photos then I just let it get on with it and deal with them when I am ready. So they are all showing on the Pad and just need saving to the photo folder.
The good thing about it is it does it in the background so there's no waiting around or jamming your Email.
Depends how you want to use it.
My main need is for a private Ftp facility which is what it gives me.

 

[arshield]

I think they need to allow you to mark folders to download and not just individual files. But they cannot just have it sync everything because of people like me that have 100 GB accounts. They should allow you to sync everything if you have a 2 GB account though.

 

[Nick Martin]

I'm a little confused. Does this replace MobileMe?

Where does the data sit that I can access it remotely from my iPad? Is it sitting quietly on my iPad taking up storage space? Or is it on my PC and, if so, what path am I using to get at the data?

Sorry if I'm coming off sounding dumb.

 

[Prasius]

Not dumb at all as it can be a little confusing. I don't have the time to explain it now, but if someone doesn't by when I next log in I'll post up an explanation.

 

[arshield]

Dropbox is about syncing data across multiple computers. So I have a work desktop, and a netbook and my ipad and then folders that I sync with different people. So one copy of each of my files in on my computers and one copy is stored in the cloud. Dropbox manages the files so that the newest copy is instantly pushed to all other computers on the account.

It works slightly differently on the ipad. On the ipad you have a folder structure with a view of all of the files, but they don't actually download until you tell them to. You can mark a file as a "favorite" and it keeps it downloaded. It is more about access to files than syncing with the ipad app.

It is somewhat similar to mobile.me But it does not sync calendar and contacts and stuff. Just files.

There is two gb free and paid accounts for 50GB or 100GB. I have a 100 GB account and use it both to sync and as my primary backup. Try it out. Use Nick_Martin's link and you will get an extra 250MB for your account.

 

[Prasius]

The you go.

Something "interesting" I noticed today, I was saving a document in open office to my drop box. I watched my dropbox, but it won't synch to the cloud until you close the document if it's open in another application. I was surprised it was bothered about the file lock - not that important really, but something to think about if you're in a rush getting out of the door!

 

[4phun]

DropBox and iPad were meant for each other

Only just found Dropbox by accident. I'm using it as an Ftp server to send large photo folders to magazines that don't yet have Ftp. Saving time and effort posting out CDs. Also of course syncing to my Pad and phone at the same time.
If you haven't seen it, your missing out - and it's free!!!
No connection with them by the way other than an ecstatic user.
Cheers,
Peter

I have been trying to get people to grab a free DropBox account since the iPad came out. The iPad DropBox app is great for moving files to the iPad AND sharing those files via the little link symbol top right side of the app.

On the Mac you can PRINT directly to the DropBox to send a document as a PDF to DropBox. If you can't figure that one out ask.

Look for some of my posts here for more on using the DropBox.

Save a tree - print to PDF!

 

[HaxEJxuK]

Not to highjack this thread but I figure this goes with this thread.

Check this thread for Dropbox referral so you can increase your free Dropbox account to maximum of 10GB.

http://www.ipadforums.net/ipad-apps/10059-dropbox-referral-thread.html

 

[grin.van]

I love dropbox..

i wish i had more people who are actually interested in accepting my refferals, so i get more space

 

[Nick Martin]

Ok thanks for the explanation. It is a cloud, and I get some free space. If I need more, I just pay for it.

A couple more questions and then I will go explore. I suppose it depends on your employer but I would guess you have to be careful about putting proprietary corporate in the "Dropbox cloud".

You retain complete over what goes into the cloud, like MobileMe and iTunes?

 

[mjs31]

Hi. Just posted in the new member area, but I do have a question regarding Dropbox and this looked like the best place to post.

My photos are approx 3.5MB on my Dropbox account, but when I download them to the Ipad, via the Dropbox app, they are only 185Kb. The same photo downloaded to my computer or phone is the correct size. I cannot for the life of me figure this out.

Any help is appreciated with this.

 

[Hasty]

iPad can only display 1024 x 768 pixels and your originals will be much bigger. 21 megapixel shots can end up at 780kb.............

 

[Mickey330]

I also love Dropbox. In fact, it was the iPad that made me find out about it (I "only" have 16G). Now, I got all the room I need.

But that's not why I posted...

I wanted to pass along a tip that'll make life a little easier with Dropbox.

If you are opening a document that's stored in Dropbox to edit it and then re-sync with Dropbox - open it with the app you are going to use for editing!

Otherwise, it won't sync because as far as Dropbox/your editing program is concerned - another user has your document open and you will have to save it under a different name.

Or, after opening the document, you can go back to Dropbox and get out of the document ... then go back to your editing. But that's a lot of steps.

Just want to save anyone the confusion I had at first...

Marilyn

 

[mjs31]

iPad can only display 1024 x 768 pixels and your originals will be much bigger. 21 megapixel shots can end up at 780kb.............

I understand this, however, when I go to the actual site from my Ipad and save the image there, it will download the full image. When I send myself an email with a large image and save it, it saves the large image. When I use the app, it does not use the large image but a drastically reduced size.

So if I use the app, save an image from Dropbox to edit using Filterstorm2 or something, it is useless since it is not the full resolution image.

Obviously I should just go there via the web browser and do it that way, but this is a big issue if you plan to do anything else with the image.

Edit: I just received and email response from Dropbox. "Because Dropbox is data heavy, we reduce the photos in order to help preserve bandwidth. The only way to avoid this would be to use the mobile website instead of the App."

This makes sense now...

 

[gunnarliden]

I also love dropbox. Has anyone tried syncing 2 different accounts on one computer? I am wondering if both my wife and I have dropbox accounts, utilize the syncing at work, ipad, iphone, etc., but at home, we both want to have access to our dropbox folders, can you download a second dropbox folder?