I currently use the free version of Dropbox. I really like it for syncing between machines like my laptop at home, my corporate laptop and my desktop. It is also great for sharing files. Tom and I have used it for our newsletter articles and when working on presentations together.

I also use it as a psuedo-back up. But I have been considering using Carbonite for a real back up. However, I got to wondering if I could use Dropbox for back up. Why or why not? And would Carbonite be better?

I turned to Twitter (of course) for some feedback. Here is what they had to say:

“Carbonite is better because you can back up more” – this one depends on your situation. I think for a single user on a single machine, this is true. Carbonite is $55/year with no stated limit to the amount of data, but can only back up a single machine. Dropbox is only free up to 2GB and then it’s $99/year for up to 50GB. However, with Dropbox, there is no limit to the number of machines you use it on, and you can share with others. So then there is Carbonite PRO, you can use it on any number of machines with any number of users, but you are charged by the amount of data. For 20GB – 49GB (to put it on par with Dropbox), the cost is $300/year. But remember, that is for multiple users, if you had three users, you would be on par with Dropbox.

“File location”. Depending again on your situation. Dropbox utilizes “My Dropbox” and if you want it to sync, it has to be in that folder. Carbonite allows you to select any file or folder on your machine, including external hard drives.

“Deleted files”. Carbonite Pro states they keep deleted files in your back up for 30 days. I couldn’t see anything on prior versions of files on Carbonite’s website. Anyone know if you can do this? Dropbox has the ability to restore deleted files and prior versions. I couldn’t find it stated anywhere how long they keep older and deleted versions, however.

“Efficiency of backup”. I can’t really verify this one, but was told that Carbonite is more efficient, only grabbing the changed bits and bytes rather than entire files when a change is made. If anyone has any additional info on this one, that would be great.

Of course then people threw out JungleDisk and Mozy, which I now have to check out.

If you have any thoughts or suggestions or warnings or recommendations, please let me know!