Ditch your clumsy hard drive and
endless discs, and save all your files in the cloud instead. You’ll be able to
access all your content from a variety of places and devices, and if you lose
your laptop, you won’t lose all your files. Here are the options…
Google Drive
skydrive.live.com
Pros
With Google Drive, you can store all your
files, share them with friends and edit them together, from any device. It also
gives you access to Google Docs, a suite of editing tools. You’ll get 5GB of
free cloud storage, and if you upgrade to a paid account, your Gmail storage
expands to 25GB. You can also pay monthly foe extra storage.
Cons
You need a Google account to use the
service, which means Google may trawl your data to personalize your
advertising.
Cost
There are several to choose: 5GB
(approximately 1,000 songs or 2,000 photos) is free. 25GB (around 5,000 songs
or 10,000 photos) is $2.5 per month. 1000GB (20,000 songs or 40,000 photos) is
$4.5 per month.
Microsoft Skydrive
drive.google.com
Pros
This is the cheapest of the paid-for
storage options. It offers group editing of Microsoft Office files, which is
useful if you use Microsoft applications such as Word and Excel.
Cons
No dedicated app for Android phones.
Cost
You’ll have to sign up for an annual
subscription.
·
7GB Free
·
20GB $9 per year
·
50GB $24 per year
·
100GB $48 per year
iCloud
icloud.com
Pros
Great for Apple fans, as iCloud stores all
your music, photos, documents and more in the cloud and across all your Apple
devices, and semlessly backs up your information. When you sign up, you
automatically get 5GB of free storage, but the music, movies, apps, books and
Tv shows you purchase on iTunes don’t count against your limit.
Cons
It’s not as flexible as Google Drive, as
it’s designed with Apple products in mind.
Cost
You’ll have to sign up for an annual
subscription.
·
5GB Free
·
15GB $22.5 per year
·
25GB $42 per year
·
50GB $105 per year
DropBox
dropbox.com
Pros
Works will all the major phone operating
systems, so it’s more flexible than iCloud. You can send links to friends and
family to share photos and documents, without them having to be signed up for
the service. It also has apps for all the major smartphones.
Cons
You only get 2GB of free storage.
Cost
Monthly rates are as follows:
·
2GB Free
·
50GB $9.5 per month
·
100GB $19 per month
