Sync Your Whole Computing World With Syncables

Post by David Pierce. Find me on Twitter.

I rarely, if ever, recommend non-free software to you on this site. Thanks to this awesome Internet thing, there’s almost always a free option that’s as good or better than the paid one, and I know that spending money on computer applications gets harder and harder as computer users get savvier and savvier finding free stuff.

But, until now, no application could handle all my computing needs.

See, I’ve got three computers. I have a Windows notebook (an HP Dv6), a Macbook Pro (the 13”), and a Netbook (the HP Mini 1000), and I use them all for different things.

The Dv6 is my stalwart, the always-on, super-powerful computer that holds my data, plays my games and my movies, and rarely leaves my apartment. The Macbook is my workhorse, where I do most of my work for school and otherwise (like writing this post, for instance). The netbook goes with me when I’m going away, and never coming back. Its battery lasts forever, it’s tiny and rugged, and is perfect for the basic tasks when I don’t have room for, or just don’t want to carry, a heavier computer.

The two Windows computers, by the way, are part of a great giveaway I’ll be running here next week. It’s called the “Better Together: HP Back to School Giveaway,” and it’s pretty fantastic. Better reviews of the computers, plus all the deets on the giveaway, to come tomorrow.

Now I’ll admit that my situation is unusual – most people don’t have three computers that get regular use. But tons of people have a desktop and a laptop, or a work computer and a personal computer, or some other crazy combination of computers. Computers are now a crucial part of our lives, and many people have more than one.

What I need in the midst of all this computing chaos, and I suspect I’m not alone, is (I thought) simple:  I need everything to be in sync. All my files, data, settings, bookmarks – everything needs to be in sync, so my workflow doesn’t get shot when I move from one computer to another. I’m not worried about hard drive space (I don’t have THAT big a music library), I just need to have everything accessible, wherever I am and whatever I’m using.

(A disclaimer here: I will never, EVER, review something falsely, or take payment for a positive review. If I’m given a product to try and it sucks, I’ll tell you it sucks. Or I’ll ignore it. My writing is my opinion, and is based on nothing but my experience with a product, and whether or not I think it’ll be useful to you all. I promise.)

That’s where Syncables, and only Syncables, shines. Syncables is a $29 piece of software (or $39 for the premium version – though if you buy an HP netbook, it comes pre-installed) that keeps your whole computing life in sync. It works on Mac, Windows, and Linux.

Basically what Syncables does is set up, on each computer you own, a sharing procedure. You designate which files or file types you want to share, and then Syncables looks up other computers that are sharing files as well. It hooks into them, and makes sure the current computer has everything that’s being shared, and that every other computer has what it’s sharing.

A single license lets you sync the data on up to 5 computers, all over your local network. When you’re first installing the software, you pick a few settings: you get to choose a password that has to be entered for other computers on your network to see your data, as well as choose, on each computer, what you want to sync – choose from pictures, music, videos, documents, and bookmarks. Which is just about everything. Syncables does a great job of walking you through the process on each computer, getting you set up to share all your data.

In addition to just the basics, Syncables can sync your email (it finds which email clients you have installed, and once you choose the one you use, does the rest), and can even use your files to do things like upload videos and pictures to the Web.

Syncables can even sync everything to a static USB drive – meaning it handles all your backup for you. As everything else is getting synced, it can just push a copy onto a device or hard drive.

Syncables creates a link between computers, and you can then set them to sync automatically when multiple computers come on the same network.  You can set them all to sync, or have two computers sync to the main one, or whatever you can come up with – it’s all within the “Sync” tab of Syncables’ Settings.

Long story short, it’s the best way to keep everything you do on your computer in sync across multiple machines. I’ve used a bunch of similar software, like Dropbox and Syncplicity, but neither one works as powerfully, across as many different types of files, as Syncables. For $29, it’s worth every penny.

Or, if you don’t want to spend the $29, you’ve got tons of chances to win Syncables. Plus, oh yeah, two incredible computers! The 2.0 Life is just one of 25 sites running this great contest – here’s the list, with dates, of the other 24. Enter them all!

• Student Bloggers 12-16 Aug
• Geekzone 13-17 Aug
• Kill Jill Goes to College 14-18 Aug
• Study Successful 15-19 Aug
• Gear Live 16-20 Aug
• CampusGrotto 17-21 Aug
• Poorer Than You 18-22 Aug
• Notebooks 19-23 Aug
• ThePrereq. 20-24 Aug
• Hack College 21-25 Aug
• College Times 22-26 Aug
• OSNN.net 23-27 Aug
• Green Panda Treehouse 24-28 Aug
• Building Camelot 25-29 Aug
• Mocha Dad 26-30 Aug
• College Candy 27-31 Aug
• Studenomics 28 Aug – 1 Sep
• The 2.0 Life 29 Aug – 2 Sep
• Geeks room 30 Aug – 3 Sep
• Debt Free Scholar 31 Aug – 4 Sep
• One Day One Job 1-5 Sep
• Daddy Forever 2-6 Sep
• Clinton Fitch 3-7 Sep
• Zen College Life 4-8 Sep
• Gear Diary 5-9 Sep

Is there another app that does what Syncables can do? Have any of you tried Syncables? What’d you think?

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