Cloud Storage Giveaway! Free 30 GB SugarSync Promo Codes

Here on groovyPost, we talk about Dropbox a lot. But about two years ago, we featured one of Dropbox’s most worthy challengers — SugarSync. In our Dropbox vs. SugarSync comparison, we noted that both cloud storage / file sharing apps sported awesome desktop and mobile apps, groovy public file sharing capabilities and attractive pricing and referral bonuses. SugarSync had a leg up on Dropbox for its streaming music player, generous free space (5 GB with a free account) and its simplicity when it comes to sharing any folder on your computer without moving it to a special sync folder. In spite of these advantages, I chose to favor Dropbox during my 2010 review, mostly out of preference. Some of you groovyReaders agreed. But since that review, SugarSync has made several improvements that just might change your mind.

We’ll get into what’s new with SugarSync in a bit. But if this post does convince you to give SugarSync a try, then you’re in luck. This week we’re giving away three free 30 GB SugarSync accounts. These promo codes give you a year’s worth of SugarSync with a 30 GB account (a $49.99 value). Read on to find out how to win.

What’s New in SugarSync?

All of the advantages we highlighted in our earlier review remain pluses on the SugarSync side. But there are some new developments as well:

• No file limits on shared files. One of the downsides of SugarSync pointed out in the comments of our earlier post was the 25 MB file size limit on publicly shared files. This file size limit for files shared with a public link is now history. Instead, SugarSync has replaced the file size limitation with a 10 GB daily bandwidth cap for free accounts and a 250 GB daily bandwidth cap for paid users. This applies only to public links and doesn’t affect files shared with other SugarSync users.
• Faster upload / download speeds. In an update to my first review, I acknowledged some comments that complained about slow upload speeds. In my own experience, it took a couple days to upload 60 GB (although I didn’t always let it run overnight). At the time, I asked SugarSync if they were throttling my upload speeds, and they said that they did not, though my ISP might be. I brought up the speed issue again for this update and they said:
  

  We have made continuous networking related optimizations in both the client and on the infrastructure side that have made a big improvement in upload and download speed.  We have also made improvements in the client-side throttling mechanism to make that behave more in line with user expectations based on the controls we present. In addition, there have been numerous improvements over the past 12 months that have increased the rate at which we handle differential sync requests, which has a big impact on effective upload speed in real-life editing scenarios. So, yes, we have made a LOT of improvements that increase sync speed and overall performance over the past 2 years.

  Note that they do mention a client-side throttling mechanism—this is in reference to the optional throttling that can be turned on or off in SugarSync’s setings.

• Mobile app improvements. A number of improvements have been incorporated into the SugarSync mobile app. One that I particularly like is the ability to download certain files to your device for offline access. This is similar to the Amazon Cloud Player, which lets you play songs from the cloud or from your device.

A few other items worth mentioning: when I signed up for my account, there was virtually no cap on how much referral bonuses you could rack up. Thanks to the popularity of our SugarSync vs. Dropbox review, I now have about 284 GB of free storage. If you are just opening your account, you won’t be able to get as lucky, however. The maximum amount of free space you can get through referrals with a free account is 32 GB total. There is no cap for referral bonuses with a paid account. (Dropbox lets you get 16 GB of referral bonus, which gets added to your normal 2 GB of free space and any other non-referral bonuses, like adding camera upload. I haven’t done the math, but I think that comes out to a little over 20 GB of potentially free Dropbox space.)

Also, one thing that I like about Dropbox is the LAN Sync capability, which makes syncing files between computers on the same local area network faster by skipping the Internet and going straight through your LAN. SugarSync doesn’t have this, but it’s on the roadmap. Per a SugarSync rep: “We do not currently have LAN Sync functionality, but this is currently on our product development roadmap, so we will have it in the future. We do not have a firm date of availability for this feature yet, though.”

Ready to give SugarSync a try? Here’s how to win:

Enter the Free 30 GB SugarSync Account Giveaway!

Winning a free 30 GB SugarSync account is easy. Just follow these steps:

1. Tweet the number one reason why you want to try SugarSync. Be sure to include a link to this article so your tweet shows up in the Reactions tab in our comments section below. Use the tweet button on the left to make sure your tweet gets tracked properly.

2. Finish Step 1 before August 26th, 5:00PM PDT. We’ll choose three winners at random from the eligible entries.

3. Check this post again on Monday, August 27th to see if you’re a winner. We’ll announce the three winners and give instructions for redeeming your prize in an update to this post.