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Back in January, Jim Clark picked up on a range of products being presented by Clickfree. We have been waiting since then to see if we could get our hands on any of them for a closer look. The C2N was introduced there, but details were brief to say the least.
When this item arrived for review, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Clearly from the title, it is some sort of backup solution, and the statement on the packaging was bold to say the least – “The Ultimate Family Backup Experience”. Given the box also clearly said “250GB” I could presume it was some sort of disk based system.
Checking out the Clickfree web site gives more details. The C2N system is described there in depth. First though, here is what Clickfree say about themselves:-
Storage Appliance Corporation, operating under the Clickfree™ brand, makes technology easy for consumers. As the inventors of effortless consumer backup, the Clickfree™ software makes backing up a PC or Mac as easy as plugging it in to the USB port — no software to install or configure. Clickfree is dedicated to offering consumers the Ultimate Backup Experience. Recognized as the market leader in consumer backup, Clickfree has received numerous awards from CNET™, PCMag™ and Laptop™ magazine. Clickfree’s software is not just easier – it’s smarter. With 23 patents pending, this exclusive technology is only available to Clickfree™ customers. Visit www.Clickfree.com for additional information.
Their description of the C2N product range is as follows:-
The Clickfree C2N is a complete multi-computer Home Backup solution that works with your wireless router. The C2N has all of the functionality of the Clickfree C2 backup drive, and also includes Clickfree’s new BackupLink™.
BackupLink™ helps customers to backup all of their computers automatically without connecting to each computer. The C2N can backup both Windows and Mac computers at the same time.
The setup is Clickfree easy – simply plug it in once to each computer and that computer will be remembered and backup regularly – no network expertise is required. The C2N comes in storage capacities of 250GB to 1TB.
KEY FEATURES :Award winning Clickfree backup softwareShare photos on Facebook, Flickr, Myspace
Clickfree BackupLink – Automatic Home Backup
Built-in USB Cable
256 bit hardware based encryption
Import iPod Music and Playlists
Backup and Extract Email Attachments
Scheduled Backup
Transfer files to new computers and operating systems
Make extra backup CD’s and DVD’s using the computer’s burner.
Backup multiple computers, Windows and Mac together
WINDOWS® 7 READY
WORKS WITH:
Windows® 7, Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, and Mac OS X 10.5 or later with intel processor
SYSTEM REQUIRMENTS:
Router – if using BackupLink functionality
12. July 2010 at 1:38 pm
Holy smokes! A backup that makes only a single copy? This doesn't sound friendly at all… Still… if it worked reliably over the network, something is better than nothing. But it sounds like this was thrown together without enough testing, and perhaps without even polling actual family *users*.
I wonder what the user requirements were?
"It should work over the network at least some of the time."
"64-bit Windows 7? Nah, nobody's using that yet."
25. July 2010 at 10:07 am
A little while on from the original 'Hands On' I want to add one more finding, and this is a BIGGIE!!. There is no way that I can find currently for a normal user to remove the software once it is on your PC. There is no normal Uninstall option and there is a service running at startup that stops you just deleting the Program Files folder. This is a very bad practice and unexpected for such a company.
Next step is to try their forums and knowledgebase.