SINGAPORE : Have you ever been greeted by the dreaded “Your mailbox has reached its maximum storage limit” message?

In this high-speed broadband age, where we’re increasingly sending and receiving megabytes of pictures and documents, it’s time we switch to a decent file-sharing service instead of clogging up one another’s inboxes.

Yousendit (www.yousendit.com) might be the most well-known service available but there are other worthy options. Armed with a 40MB zipped file, TODAY tests three such services to find out which one is ideal for those heavy-duty uploads.

Drop.io: http://drop.io

STORAGE CAPACITY: 100MB (free), up to 25GB (US$10, or S$13.50, per year for every 1GB)

TRANSFER SPEEDS: 24 mins (upload), 3 mins (download)

OTHER FEATURES: Progress meter for uploads; ability to upload files via email, fax, phone, MMS and widgets on Facebook or your blog.

What first strikes us about drop.io is its simplicity. There’s no need to set up an account. Yet, you can choose to protect your uploads with a password or set an expiry date for your files. There’s also a nifty progress meter that keeps you informed on how long your uploads will take.

When you upload a file, it creates a “drop” — a chunk of online storage that you use to store files. A “drop” can contain multiple files and Drop.io organises uploaded items automatically according to file type. If you upload several files, recipients can choose to download them as a single zip file. You can also preview audio or image files before downloading them.

Drop.io gives you several options to upload files into your already created “drop”. You can email them or send an MMS (with the file attached). You can make a call and save a voice-recorded message as an MP3. Faxing documents to the drop will add them as PDFs.

Drop.io is available as a Facebook application, so you can share files easily with your contacts on the social-networking site. It also provides a blog widget so you can add files from your blog or website.

VERDICT

Drop.io removes common bugbears associated with file-sharing services, such as account registration, file organisation and the need to use your email address. It’s easy to use, gives you plenty of privacy options and allows you to easily integrate it with your blog, website and Facebook.

Mediafire: www.mediafire.com

STORAGE CAPACITY: Unlimited (free)

TRANSFER SPEEDS: 23 mins (upload), 4 mins (download)

OTHER FEATURES: Progress meter for uploads; gallery feature for emails; folder-based file management, Facebook application; virus scanner.

The most enticing feature of Mediafire is its unlimited amount of storage. However, each upload is limited to 100MB per file.

The service doesn’t require any registration and seems best geared for sharing image files. Its' image gallery feature is very useful for sharing vacation or wedding photos. Enterprising users like photographers or students could use it to share their portfolio of images as well.

Mediafire lets you organise your files in folders, much like how you’re used to on your desktop computer. You can search through the folders, too — which should be the case if you’re going to upload a huge amount of files without the cap on storage.

Its progress meter not only tells you how much time your uploads will take, but also gives you the nitty-gritty on transfer speeds — our file uploaded at an average speed of 225kbps.

You can embed links to share entire folders by email, instant messenger, on your MySpace page, blog or forum. Its Facebook application gives your contacts on the social-networking site access to your uploaded files. Mediafire also scans files for viruses before recipients download them.

VERDICT

Mediafire’s strength seems to be in creating and sharing image galleries. Pity that there’s a 100MB cap for each file despite the unlimited storage. It will be launching a subscription service later this year that will let you upload larger files.

Windows SkyDrive: http://skydrive.live.com

STORAGE CAPACITY: 5GB (free)

TRANSFER SPEEDS: 27 mins (upload), 3 mins (download)

OTHER FEATURES: Integration with Windows Live Messenger; folder-based file management.

Launched in Singapore last week, SkyDrive allows local Windows Live users to share up to 5GB of data online.

And just because it’s by Microsoft, that doesn’t mean it’s only for Windows. SkyDrive is accessible on Mac via the Firefox browser. If you’re using Internet Explorer, you can add a web plug-in to drag-and-drop files from Windows Explorer.

The online storage service uses folders to organise files. You can make folders private and even set up a shared folder to share files with classmates or colleagues. Thankfully, files that are publicly shared don’t require your contacts to have a Windows Live account.

Although this service lets you take control of your files, we found it too much of a hassle to set up permissions for our contacts. The password-protected system that other services employ seems to be easier to use — we just need to send our friends a password.

Each folder on SkyDrive has its own Web address so you can easily send a link in an email or embed it onto a document or website.

Its integration with Windows Live Messenger could be better. SkyDrive sets a yellow orb next to any contacts on your list when they upload a new file and provides an updated list of files when you click on their contact card. It doesn’t allow you to download the files directly from Live Messenger; you still have to do it through a browser.

Another drawback of SkyDrive is that you need a Windows Live ID or account and there’s a 50MB cap on file size for uploads. There’s no progress bar for uploads, leaving you to guess how long they will take. It loads a rather dull beachball game while you wait.

VERDICT

This new entrant to the online file-sharing service needs more polish. For starters, it could make file protection and privacy easier to set up. And tying it to a Windows Live account makes sending files a hassle. - TODAY/fa