LiveDrive Online Backup Review

LiveDrive Online Backup Review – Facts, Company Profile, Product Description, Benefits, Drawbacks, Customer Comments, and Personal Review

Facts & Company Profile

Livedrive Online Storage LiveDrive describes itself as a company offering personal storage space on the Internet.  This is a fancy way of saying they are an online backup company that offers Cloud Technology to business and home customers.  The company began in 2008 and has over 500,000 customers across the globe.  They are headquartered in the UK and headed by Andrew Michael, who is the CEO and Founder.

 

***We actually do not recommend this company’s service.  To learn more about our two top choices for online backup service, click on the following links: SugarSync Online Backup or Mozy Online Backup.***

Product Description

LiveDrive offers customers a number of advantages and benefits with it service.  It actually has three different services but we will focus on its main backup service here, Backup.  Backup is a straight forward online backup service where you can backup all your files on your PC or Mac.  Here, we take a look at several of its key features:

Easy Setup.  The program is easy to setup and begin performing its backups.  They provide step by step instructions to help make this process straight forward and easy.

Backups while computer runs.  Your backups will begin while you are working on your computer. This helps ensure you don’t have to have the computer running overnight to get the backups done.  It does not have a set schedule but constantly works in the background while you are working on your computer.

Restore previous version of files.  The program is designed to allow you to get access to previous versions of your  backups so you can get just the right edition for a file even if it is months in the past.

Access to files anywhere.  The cloud service enables you to be able to get or view your files from anywhere that is online.

Livedrive online backup works on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6.

Pricing and Cost of Live Drive

Livedrive has three different services.  The one main service we have discussed here is the Backup version.  It is used on 1 PC and costs $7.95 a month or $79.95 a year.  However, you can backup additional computers for $1.45 a month.

 

***We actually do not recommend this company’s service.  To learn more about our two top choices for online backup service, click on the following links: SugarSync Online Backup or Mozy Online Backup.***

 

Benefits of LiveDrive

  • No limit to bandwidth or transfer speeds by company.
  • Unlimited storage space limits.
  • Easy to setup and use.

 

Drawbacks of LiveDrive

  • Need unique subscription to be able to backup to several computers.  No sync service in basic package.
  • Different service needed (Briefcase) to sync your files between all your computers.

 

Criteria Comparison

1.    Does the service work on multiple computers?

Yes, it does work on multiple computers although the initial service is for 1 computer only.  You can add extra computers for $1.45 a month.

2.    Does the service have the ability to synchronize files between multiple computers?

 You don’t have the ability to synchronize files with the basic Backup package but do have this option with the Briefcase package and Pro Suite package.

3.    Does the service provide you with access to past editions?

 Yes, you are able to access up to 30 previous versions of any file.  This gives customers the ability to access some past editions of files if the need arises.  You are also able to restore any deleted files up to 30 days from their deletion date.

4.    Does the service have the ability to backup specific files first or separately?

No, the service does not appear to have the ability to backup specific files first.  However, I believe it does let you select which files to backup with the backups.

5.    What level of encryption does the service provide?

 LiveDrive uses a medium level of encryption set at 256 AES encryption.  This above the level offered by Carbonite and on par with companies like MyPCBackup but not to the level of companies like Mozy.

6.    Can it support a Mac or PC?  What mobile devices can it support?

 LiveDrive works on PC computers that use Windows XP, Windows 7 or .  It also works on Mac computers that are using OS X10.6 or later.

The service works on a number of different mobile devices.  It works on the iPhone, iPad, Android, and can work on blackberries, Windows Mobile and other mobile devices.

 

Personal Review

I was unable to properly signup an account with my attempt to setup a free trial offer without entering my credit card information.  This is departure from all the other companies I have seen in the industry.  Based on this first sign, I opted to not signup for this service.  I cannot recommend this service to other people based on this bad first impression.

***I would instead recommend that customers take a look at our reviews for two other services.  To learn more about them, click on the following links: SugarSync Online Backup or Mozy Online Backup.***