paulchinnz:

 

Have been using Cubby (suggested by freitasm - I'd give that post +10 now if I could) for syncing between my Windows computers +/- 100GB cloud.

 

4 good years and $NZ400 later and unfortunately vendor now shutting it down, with LogMeIn Pro supposedly absorbing its functionality for $US250/y for 2 computers and 1TB cloud.

 

So now looking for alternatives that provide all of the following:

 

1) sync/backup any folder without having to move it into a specific folder

 

2) specify some folders sync between computers and backup to cloud, and some sync between computers without cloud backup

 

3) real-time sync between computers/backup to cloud (e.g. every time my word docx autosaves)

 

4) not much more than $150/y

 

Bonus: good Android app for real-time syncing of specified folders with phone only when connected to wifi

 

 

 

Do I need a combination of 2 programmes? Boxifier + Dropbox is all I've found so far - anyone with experience with this and alternatives?

 

I was in the same boat. The big advantage of cubby over dropbox, googledrive, onedrive etc is it is able to share folders where they are located, not have to move folders under a single folder belonging to the cloud provider.   I've dropped all my Logmein subscriptions (rescue, cubby, central, their VPN etc) after being with them for over 10 years. Costs escalating, products dumbing down and they keep aggregating stuff together while racking up the prices. I was looking at a 10 fold cost increase to keep the same infrastructure.

I've tried dropbox again - and the high latency  / low connection speeds , sucky support (e.g. none really - its all community based) have reminded me my that is a bad option.

Instead ownCloud. I've installed it on a NAS box, and set up a VPN to connect. I have it on my phone, laptop, desktop and web access. It has webdav so can connect as drive letters under windows, and the sharing functions in android phones (which Ive tested) work.  There are also cloud hosted versions but as I have a NAS box, and even VDSL is acceptable in its upload speed to hide a NAS behind - it is working well.

THe other options to look at are Syncrify and those guys systems ( rsync like systems between computers)  and duplicati - but duplicati isn't mobile friendly.

http://web.synametrics.com/SynaManFeatures.htm   Synaman is mobile friendly.

The problem with Azure / Amazon is trying to work out costs - as it''s about how much, how often and in how many packets. Completely unable to figure out ahead of time what a months costs look like.

Google drive and OneDrive - like dropbox - leave you stuck in one folder.

HTH

shane