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Carbonite Safe Basic review

Unlimited storage capacity. Priced at $83.2.

CHOICE Expert Rating

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What is the CHOICE Expert Rating

CHOICE Expert rating

This is the product's overall performance score, based on key tests conducted by our industry experts in the CHOICE labs.

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Good points

The product's best features and benefits

Bad points

Drawbacks or issues you need to know about
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Recommended View more details.

CHOICE recommends a score of 70% or better overall, although you should also consider the other performance results and features to see how each service performs in the areas you consider most important.

CHOICE Expert Rating View more details.

This overall score is based on scores for ease of use (60%), performance (30%), and versatility (10%).

Ease of use score View more details.

Ease of use includes assessment of the ease of backup (45%), ease of restoring (45%) and setup (10%).

Versatility score View more details.

Versatility includes assessment of what each program can do, including: full system backup (disk image); backup of external drives and NAS (network-attached storage) drives; backup to a local destination; seeding and physical media delivery; and capabilities of the mobile Android and iOS apps.

Performance score View more details.

Performance score includes single file backup and restore, folder backup and restore, plus system impact score.

Price (annual) View more details.

All prices are based on yearly subscriptions in Australian dollars.

$83.2
Storage capacity View more details.

The online storage space available for backup, based on the selected plan. Other capacity options may be available and prices will vary.

Unlimited
Storage type View more details.

Active storage means you can download your data immediately or after a short while, while cold storage means retrieving your data could take hours.

Active
Data location View more details.

The country your data is stored in.

United States
Number of computers covered View more details.

The number of computers covered by the selected backup plan.

1
Default encryption View more details.

The encryption protocol used by default to encrypt files backed up by the service. OpenDrive Personal features a 'Secure' folder that uses 256-bit AES encryption and a password that is known only to the user.

128-bit Blowfish
Initial backup selection View more details.

Whether the selection of files and folders for initial backup is automatically determined by the program or allows for manual selection by the user.

Automatic
Default backup inclusions View more details.

The set of files and folders automatically included in the program's backup set by default. 

All user data and settings; no video files
User can select file types to back up View more details.

Whether the user can select the types of files the program should include in the backup set.

Yes, via right-click file menu on the type of file but only within that folder
Option to back up system image View more details.

Can create a complete system disk image of the computer, rather than just a file and folder backup.

No
Seeding option View more details.

Whether the vendor will let you send initial backup data to the service on a hard drive to speed up the initial backup process.

No
Automatic email backup (Outlook) View more details.

Automatic backup of Outlook email. For iDrive Personal the user must grant impersonation rights to allow iDrive to access Office 365 mailbox account in order to back up a mailbox.

No
Backup scheduling options View more details.

The various times options for scheduling automated backups.

Continuous, daily, outside active hours
Can back up to a local drive View more details.

Whether the service can back up to a local storage drive as well as online.

No
Can back up a USB hard drive View more details.

Whether the service can back up an attached USB hard drive. Backblaze Unlimited Backup can back up USB hard drives or SSD drives, but will not back up USB sticks.

No
Can back up a NAS device View more details.

Whether the service can back up a NAS (network-attached storage) drive on the local network.  The following will back up folders from a NAS device that are mapped on a computer: Adrive Personal Premium, OpenDrive Personal, Spideroak One Backup, Polar Backup Personal and ElephantDrive Home. iDrive Personal can back up a NAS device to iDrive as long as there is an iDrive app available for that NAS device's operating system. LiveDrive Personal Backup requires the purchase of an add-on to do this.

No
Incremental backup View more details.

Whether the service can do incremental backup (which contains only those files which have been altered since the last backup). For Acronis True Image 2021 Advanced, an incremental backup scheme is default for the cloud location, but can be changed manually when backing up to a local external or network drive. Backblaze Unlimited will back up a file from the point the data has changed, not only add the new data.

Yes
Supports archiving View more details.

Whether the service supports archiving of files in addition to backup.

No
Restore files and folders to original location View more details.

Whether the service can put files and folders back in their original location.

Yes
Individual file restore View more details.

Whether the service can restore individual files (rather than just backup sets).

Yes
Files kept online after deletion from local system View more details.

Whether files can be kept online after being deleted from user's computer. For Jottacloud Personal, data from deleted local folders will remain on the server if the backup job still exists – once the backup job is removed, the data is also removed from the server. For Spideroak One Backup, files deleted from the backed up computer will be stored in SpiderOak's Deleted items folder with no time limit.

Yes, 30 days
Keeps multiple file versions View more details.

Whether the service keeps multiple versions of each file for retrieval of older versions if necessary.

Yes
Can access files through web browser View more details.

Whether the service can access files through a web browser.

Yes
Bandwidth control View more details.

If and how the service lets you control the amount of internet bandwidth dedicated to backups.

Yes, by checkbox
System resource control View more details.

If the service lets you control the amount of resources used for backup to minimise impact on your computer's normal operations.

No
Platforms View more details.

The types of desktop and mobile computers/operating systems the service works with. For Backblaze Unlimited Backup, apps for Android and iOS are available to access data that has been backed up.

Windows, Mac
File search View more details.

If and how the service lets you search for individual files.

Yes
File sharing View more details.

If the service lets you share files.

No
Sync folder available View more details.

Whether the service lets you set up a synchronisation folder as well as backups.

No
Email backup summary View more details.

Whether the service provides an emailed summary of backups.

No
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