Review: Mozy Home Backup

I first heard about Mozy on Facebook. They created a group and said that if you joined it, you'd be entered into a drawing for a free iPod or something else. Being a sucker for free stuff, I joined. While I didn't get a free iPod, I did decide to check them out because they offered 2 free GB of backup.

Pros: It's 2 free GB of online backup. For every person you refer, they get and you get an extra 256 MB of online backup. They also have an unlimited plan for $5 per month per computer. Both the free and unlimited support Windows XP and Vista and they have a beta version of the Mac backup. Not only are the files transferred securely, they are first encrypted on your computer and stored encrypted on their servers. For more on the Mac version, see the Mac FAQ.

Cons: 2 GB runs out quickly and at $5 / month, Carbonite is slightly cheaper (though it is only for Windows). Mozy Home does not support versioning meaning that if you made a mistake yesterday, you probably can't get the previously saved copy. Also, if you delete a file from your system, it will be deleted from Mozy in 30 days. There is no other way to delete a file. That being said, the 2 GB limit is based on what you are currently backing up. If I back up one 2 GB folder and then change to back up a different 2 GB folder, that is fine, but the first 2 GB folder will be deleted in 30 days. The way you select which files to back up in Mozy Home is not the most intuitive opting to view the backup as a "set" instead of working like a home user would think. Carbonite, on the other hand, allows you to right-click and say "Back this up". It also puts a green colored dot in the corner of the icon to show a file that has backed up and a yellow colored dot in the corner of the icon to show a file that is set to be backed up.

If you've got a Windows computer and are looking to go with the unlimited plan, Carbonite is probably the better bet (though I didn't test the restore capability). If you use a Macintosh or you just want 2 GB to have an off site backup of your most important files, Mozy Home is a good fit.

Carbonite can be found here. The free version of Mozy Home can be found here. For anyone signing up for Mozy Home that wants to get an extra 256 MB and give me an extra 256 MB, you can enter referral code 7AF8UK.

Another way to watch TV online

While I still believe iTunes is the best way to get TV online, a number of competitors are trying to compete with free or low-cost alteratives. Comcast has just released FanCast which has a very nice interface and will allow you to view a number of popular programs for free at home. It is worth a look if you missed any recent episodes of your favorite shows.