There’s a major renaissance underway now in peripherals that enhance mobile computers and personal computing. I believe nothing makes this point better than backup systems that are as reliable as they are easy to use.
In the dark ages of backup, you had to tediously load your data on CD after CD to protect your personal files, then came first generation peripherals such as those made by IO Mega and others that simplified this basic process.
In the fullness of time, cloud based virtual storage and backup appeared. However the cost of personal broadband kept such solutions out of reach of many consumers, and many of those providers evaporated in the heat of the first dot com melt down.
The back-up technology Renaissance may be one of the best things that has ever happened to portable users. Devices have gotten smaller, but more importantly; backup software has reached the point where little or no user intervention is needed. My favorite backup device is so small (roughly the length and depth of a credit card) it’s earned a permanent place in my back pack. With 16 GB of SSD memory, the ClickFree Traveler has all the memory I need to back up virtually all of my important documents, power point, OneNote ands other files, plus there’s room for the frequently funny .WMV files as well as important family photos I store.
Using the Traveler couldn’t be easier; you just swivel out its naked USB connector, which is attached to the device with a fine ribbon cable, connect it to an available USB port and mark the files or directories you want to backup. That’s it. It took less than five minutes to back up the several gigabytes of files in “My Documents” directory that I think are critically imporant and less than 30 seconds more for the other files I want to carry with me on the road.
I like that Click Free’s Traveler works with entertainment data files, and this device is a convenient way to carry gigabytes worth of music or high quality movies, without eating up disk space on a notebook.
ClickFree’s software simplifies backing data up like no other application I've ever used before.
Like other members of the ClickFree backup device family, Traveler backs up only the information you think you need. It doesn’t “scrape” your drive, copying drivers and other code needed to boot up your computer. And, it can be used with multiple computers, which (exactly what I do with it) and is a reason why I think this is a great backup device.
I tested Click Free’s Traveler on several laptops (My Lenovo IdeaPad 650, a friend’s macbook Pro running OSX Leopard), an Acer Netbook, and an HP all in one desktop. It successfully backed up all my vrious file types found on my machines running Windows XP, the 64-bit version of Vista and the aforementioned Apple operating system
Click Free Traveler can be ordered from www.clickfree.com and is available in three configurations: $79.99 for 16GB, $149.99 for32GB, and $249.99 for 64GB. All three of the devices use the same credit card-sized form factor.
While this device’s size and form factor may tempt you to try and keep it in your wallet you have only to look at the gently curved credit cards there to understand that Click Free Traveler would last longer in a pocket in your computer carrying case than encased in leather riding on your hip.—Jim Forbes 06/16/2009.
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