Comments on: BackUp Buddy 2.0 Released

Blue Nomad has released BackupBuddy 2.0. BackupBuddy 2.0 is the first product available that uses a unique process for backing up devices and storing all changes made to the device since the last backup in a database enabling users to restore a device to any point in time.
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Pricey, for a utility

palmhiker @ 6/11/2004 11:56:17 AM #
Sounds pretty good, but is about double what I would pay for a backup utility.

RE: Pricey, for a utility
jlc @ 6/11/2004 12:32:06 PM #
I've used BackupBuddy since it first came out, an dit is worth every penny. I've restored my Palm with it after unxepectedly running batteries dead, exchanging broken ones, and replacing earlier ones with newer models. Just restoring several hundred contacts after once accidently letting a blank decktop overwrite my Palm was worth the purchase price.

Its never let me down, and I recommend it as the first piece of software a new Palm owner purchases.

RE: Pricey, for a utility
palmhiker @ 6/11/2004 2:08:25 PM #
Yes, I have heard good things about Backup Buddy. However, I have had the exact same experience with CardBackup on numerous occaisions, and it costs about $11, I believe.

Why are Palm users so CHEAP????????????????????????????
;-(( @ 6/11/2004 4:36:51 PM #
Sounds pretty good, but is about double what I would pay for a backup utility.

I can't believe how cheap Palm users are. They expect perfect apps for $5 - $10 and of course these apps must provide free updates forever...

So you're not willing to spend $30 to ensure the safety of your data? This after spending $200 - $500 on a PDA? How much do you spend of software for your PC? On movies? On beer?????

Palm users have been spoiled with free/nearly free software for too long. No wonder there are so few big companies willing to develop fot the platform.

RE: Pricey, for a utility
jlc @ 6/11/2004 4:49:23 PM #
Never heard of that one - I take it you like it?

How does it's feature set compare - i.e does it do rollbacks, can you select what to back up, does it backup to descktop and card, etc.

I'm always interested in learning about new software.

Priceless as a utility
Strider_mt2k @ 6/11/2004 5:44:49 PM #
I love this app, because it's saved my butt lots of times.
BackupBuddy:VFS has done it on the road, which is even better if you ask me!

A must have.

RE: Pricey, for a utility
Winter_ @ 6/12/2004 4:13:40 AM #
WHY is Facey SO ANNOYING??????????????????????????

Facey, do you mean there are no good apps from good companies that offer free updates for life, in this and other platforms? (or at least for Long periods of time - longer than major versions)
However, 2 or 3 days ago you complained about SnapMail being too expensive. So, could you please make your mind?
Or better, just grow one.

In the meantime, could you please explain how is the OS 5 Bluetooth SD drivers subject going? Have you contacted Mr. Mace yet, or any other of your Palm contacts? Less than two weeks left for summer...
Or perhaps I shouldn't even have started taking you seriously?


RE: Pricey, for a utility
Strider_mt2k @ 6/12/2004 6:32:58 AM #
Can anyone explain why evey news topic has to be dragged to a stop while these guys bicker with each other?


RE: Pricey, for a utility
Winter_ @ 6/12/2004 7:22:31 AM #
OK, I'm sorry. I guess I'm making it even worse. :P
RE: Pricey, for a utility
palmhiker @ 6/12/2004 7:57:05 AM #
OK Facey, since your comment was directed at me...

I have no problem spending a great deal of money on Palm software, and I have invested several hundred dollars over the years in new purchases and upgrades.

What I am talking about here is value. I am asking why I should shell out $30 for this app. when my $12 version of CardBackup would seem to be at least as suitable for scheduled and incremental backups.

If you have nothing more to offer than your normal drivel, then perhaps you should keep quiet. (yea, right)


RE: Pricey, for a utility
palmhiker @ 6/12/2004 8:06:33 AM #
JLC Wrote "Never heard of that one - I take it you like it?

How does it's feature set compare - i.e does it do rollbacks, can you select what to back up, does it backup to desktop and card, etc."

CardBackup has been around for quite a while. It basically just copies EVERYTHING in RAM to a file on the card. I also own Botzam Backup (yes, Facey, even we cheap Palm SOB's sometimes purchase multiple apps) and it also allows encryption and compression. Botzam has let me down a couple of times when I install a new app that for some reason causes a glitch.

CardBackup ( http://www.jkware.com/ ) has never let me down, it's fast, allows scheduled backups and incremental backups.

BackupBuddy 2 would appear to add PC backups that allow you to undo and revert to previous images of your RAM. If you need this, then it is probably a good investment. I can't think of why I would require this as I backup twice daily to card, synch a couple of times a day, backup my main card once a week, and burn a CD of all of this every few weeks.

I am not criticizing Backup Buddy, I am just trying to determine what makes it (a utility) worth this much.


RE: Pricey, for a utility
Zippy @ 6/13/2004 12:41:53 PM #
It looks like the only new thing are rollbacks to specified dates, individual files etc...

This can all be done with BackupMan for alot less money. You can keep as many backup sets as you wish and restore any individual file from any backup set.

I don't think there is any need for a desktop backup system anymore since most Palms have SD card slots. The desktop backup is a legacy from the cave man days when the early Palm Pilots had no card slots: this can be seen in many cave drawings and other archeological sites. The SD backup can be more current if you have been out of town for a while and away from your desktop. Also, it slows down the already tedious hot sync process. Using the new software called "key Link" in which you access your palm directly from your desktop and backupman for backups, there is no need for hot synching anymore other than installing programs.

I think this is the natural evolution of the platform in which the PDA is slowly being weaned from it's desktop mother to full independence and self sufficiency and able to survive on it's own.



RE: Pricey, for a utility
Winter_ @ 6/13/2004 12:56:57 PM #
this can be seen in many cave drawings and other archeological sites

LOL! :D

paying for SW and PalmOS
tompi @ 6/14/2004 3:16:39 AM #
I can't believe how cheap Palm users are. They expect perfect apps for $5 - $10 and of course these apps must provide free updates forever...

Actually, "these apps" should not be necessary. I shouldn't have to pay anything in order to back up the data that's on my handheld, organize files, get decent handwriting recognition, view images, connect it to my phone, select which applications I want to search through, etc. Yet, each of these is a separate paid-for add-on to PalmOS.

The problem here isn't that these applications cost $5-$10, the problem is that PalmOS is full of deficiencies, limitations, missing functionality, and bugs, and that people are nickled and dimed to death trying to find workarounds for those. And it's not the $100-$200 that it costs above the cost of an already pricey handheld, just the time alone it takes to track down and install that software is a nuisance.

Unless the quality and functionality of PalmOS increases dramatically with the next release, this is my last Palm. I can only hope Sony picks a decent alternative operating system for their next generation handhelds (they already have a lot of experience with both Symbian and Linux).

RE: Pricey, for a utility
Winter_ @ 6/14/2004 6:27:45 AM #
I hear you, brother!

*clap clap clap*

Software - Palm vs. PPC
dona83 @ 6/14/2004 10:47:54 AM #
I think this is one reason why PalmOne might be in trouble. For $450CAD, I can get a PalmOne Zire 72, and then pay an extra $60USD on a decent video player (MMPlayer), audio player (Pocket Tunes), which in my mind should've already been included with the Zire 72. For that price I can get a Dell x30 with all these included, plus bluetooth and WiFi! Although I do have to pay $50USD for a decent Word compatible word processor, which comes standard on PalmOne mid-high range models but not on a single PPC oddly enough. Although the PPC is reported by some users to crash quite frequently, PalmOS isn't clear out of the blue either! Although work does get saved and PalmOS doesn't slow down after xx days since rebooting the system. Hmmm but PPC does have Microsoft's extra goodies on hand, but PalmOS is a much better OS overall....

This software is worth the money, yes, but it would've been included with both PalmOS and PPC to begin with.

Ah us handheld users are screwed eitherway, we gotta make compromises...

I'll stick with PalmOS.

Don

RE: Pricey, for a utility
jasondeno @ 6/14/2004 2:50:18 PM #
I use BackupMan (http://www.bitsnbolts.com/backupman.html) on my Treo 600 and love it. My device just decided to crash itself one day while I was out visiting my brother. I hadn't synched since left (about three days), but had downloaded a bunch of email, etc.

Since BackupMan runs every morning, I had a backup that was less than 3 hours old and pulled if off of the memory card without a hitch. Freaking AWESOME!

Why can't Veritas make things this ez? ;>

BTW, 10 bucks. As for paying 30 vs 10 dollars, let the market set the demand.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to download a free updated to version 1.46.

RE: Pricey, for a utility
Alexis @ 6/14/2004 8:39:47 PM #
Wow, you guys are a tough crowd. Normally I would just stand on the side-lines and watch, but I felt compelled to write. Hope you don't mind if I jump in with a few words. ;-)

From reading the postings above, it seems to me that there is a lot of misunderstanding about what BackupBuddy 2 really is, and comparing it to BackupMan, IMHO, is like comparing apples to oranges.

BackupBuddy is a *desktop* based backup system. BackupMan is not. It is a *mobile* backup system (like BackupBuddyVFS, the lite version of which is included with BB2, BTW). For all intents & purposes, your desktop PC has unlimited storage - why not use it to your advantage? BB2 keeps a history, forever, of *anything* that ever comes on or goes off of your handheld. If you're using BB2, you cannot loose data. Ever. It may help, if you're familiar with Symantec's GoBack or the Windows System Restore to think of BB2 as one of those (products).

Mobile backup solutions are great, and they are important, it's true (that's why we offer one, BackupBuddyVFS, which was the first VFS backup solution, BTW). But they aren't, IMHO, a really complete solution. If you loose your card, or your device+card, well, you're in trouble, unless you have a second card or regularly copy your card contents to your PC - but why go through all that hassle when BB2 can do it automagically everytime you sync?

Here's a scenario in which BB2 saved me just the other day: I regularly sync to a Mac & PC. iSync somehow hosed my contacts list. I didn't realize this until a few syncs later or my PC. Yikes. No problem though. With BB2, I was able to roll my contacts list back to where it was before I sync'd on my Mac.

Could I have done the above with a mobile backup solution? I suppose, but that would depend on exactly when I had done the last backup, etc, etc. But there are no "it depends" with BB2. My life is in my Treo 600. I don't *ever* want to worry about loosing one single byte of data - and I don't.

Lastly, BB2 can also backup your memory card, and sync your Palm clock to your desktop clock. All in one conduit. I think that's pretty handy. But, obviously, I'm biased. ;-)

p.s. On pricing...is $29.95 a lot for total data security? I personally don't think so, but...we invested a ton of time & effort into BB2. It may *look* easy, but it is most definitely *not* easy, and is *significantly* harder to do backups & restores reliably from a desktop PC. Software is *hard*. My opinion is if you want quality products, then you have to be willing to pay for them - there's no such thing as a free lunch (despite what, perhaps, the open-source people may inadvertently lead you to believe). It is also written to be cross-platform; so if/when we do the Mac port (we're waiting on the new MarkSpace tools), we will probably not charge our customers for using it on two PC's (it actually annoys me when companies do this, though I understand why). Additionally, we also make an effort to offer top-notch support. Sometimes we don't meet a customer's expectations, but it's not because we don't try or care. Just my 2 cents. ;-)

Thanks for listening,

--Alexis

RE: Pricey, for a utility
Zippy @ 6/14/2004 10:01:25 PM #
"If you loose your card, or your device+card, well, you're in trouble, unless you have a second card or regularly copy your card contents to your..."

What if your desktop computer gets stolen or sabotaged or your desktop is melted in a house fire etc... ad absurdum...: now what do you do? You can't keep multiple backups on many computers as that is too inconvinient but it is very easy to keep multiple backups on several cards kept in several places... I'm sticking to SD cards for backup purposes, I'm not convinced by your arguments. Furthermore, it is much more likely that a Windows or a program problem happens on the desktop than one on the Palm platform in my experience. Actually, I had to do a hard reset on my TW once which I used with Backup buddy and I had stop the synching as it was "hung" and not continuing. Not sure if it was Backup buddy's fault, but I was not able to restore my data. Instead, I used the last BackupBuddy backup that I had and it worked flawlessly: everything was 100% including the next hot synch session.

To each his own, it's good to have many options for backup and your product appears to work well (I've never had to "resort" to it, except the one incident noted above).



RE: Pricey, for a utility
Lisi @ 6/14/2004 11:11:15 PM #
Alexis,
Your points are interesting, Alexis.

Nonetheless, $30 for a piece of software (or $15 for an upgrade), when new, low end Palms can be had for less than $100, does seem a tad pricey. Add to this some people's concerns that with Sony's withdrawal from the PDA market Palm's heyday may have come and gone. Paying big bucks for a software product that won't be portable to the PocketPC system may not be money well spent.

Hopefully you'll reconsider your pricing system in light of the market realities and the representative comments in this forum.


RE: Pricey, for a utility
jasondeno @ 6/15/2004 2:08:22 PM #
Personally, I use other data backup methods on my desktop for Outlook/Exchange. So my contacts are safe there as they are part of an existing backup. And I've found Hot Synch itself sufficient to backup all of my handheld configs and programs.

But in the field, being able to do a restore without a sync is pricesless. My desktop PC is my synch partner. So if my Treo crashes in the field, I'm hosed until I can get back to the office. Great piece of mind.

Banner Ads

Leech @ 6/11/2004 1:10:06 PM #
I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt and assume your servers are slow at the moment.

But if I have to sit and watch another banner ad take its time loading before the rest of the page comes up I'm giving up on Palm Infocenter entirely.



RE: Banner Ads
wildcelt @ 6/11/2004 3:18:03 PM #
Use Mozilla Firefox, and simply block the ads. I have forgotten the internet actually has ads!

RE: Banner Ads
Token User @ 6/11/2004 4:44:02 PM #
Sorry - ignorant question from an Opera user. Does Firefox block ads as well as popups? The load time while a banner ad comes down from adclick or qksrv annoys the crap out of me.

~ "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed." - DV ~
RE: Banner Ads
Strider_mt2k @ 6/11/2004 5:47:16 PM #
I use a couple of free blockers.
It all got a bit too interesting a while back.

Using NetFront, the ads block the site navagation stuff so that I've had to create a bookmark for the forums.

I guess it's just how the net is nowadays, ya gotta pay the bills.


RE: Banner Ads
Calroth @ 6/12/2004 3:40:17 AM #
Firefox has the built-in ability to block images from certain sites. It also has plug-ins for more advanced image blocking (using wildcards, blocking images of a certain size, etc.).

RE: Banner Ads (Privoxy & Squid)
Winter_ @ 6/12/2004 12:47:53 PM #
For more control over every kind of annoyance (...well, almost... ;), try Privoxy. It's a bit more complicated to set up, but the results are worth it... it is free & open source, and you can keep using whatever browser you are using now.

Look for it at www.privoxy.org.

If after that you still want it faster, you can install Squid (http://www.squid-cache.org) on top of that. It's an open source cache. And mac users can install it really easy with SquidMan (http://homepage.mac.com/adg/squidman.html), free.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
;-o @ 6/13/2004 2:15:08 AM #
I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt and assume your servers are slow at the moment.

How very generous of you.

But if I have to sit and watch another banner ad take its time loading before the rest of the page comes up I'm giving up on Palm Infocenter entirely.

You will be missed. Your contributions here have been memorable. By the way, when was the last time you donated money to keep Palminfocenter up and running? What's that? I didn't hear you.

You are definitely named appropriately.



RE: Banner Ads
tfftruoa @ 6/13/2004 2:51:33 AM #
Perhaps I am mistaken, but I was under the impresion that PIC recieved the vast majority of its funding from advertisements, not individual donations.

I enjoy PIC and would donate to it had I the option (I'm under 18, so no credit card or paypal) but it is hardly the responsibility of every user to donate.

Do you pay for the privledge to watch network television? No. Because it is supported by ads. PBS, on the other had, is commercial free and is supported throuhg viewer donations. PIC has commercials, therefor, it does not need donations.

The Federation for the Responsible Use of Acronyms

"Can't We All Just Get Along?"
Wollombi @ 6/15/2004 12:17:32 PM #
Now, I won't play innocent here, as I've had my share of "vigorous disagreements" with people here before, but it seems to be getting out of hand.

Why don't we do away with the personal attacks (those doing them know who you are) and stick to the topic at hand, in this case BackupBuddy. I think we'll find that if we respect each other, then we are shown respect in return.

Just my $0.02. =)

_________________
Sean

Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.

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