LapLink PCsync - Software Review - Evaluation

Home Office Computing, April, 2001 by Dave Johnson

* Requirements: Win 95/98/2000/NT/Me/NT 4.0, 8MB RAM, 5MB hard disk space * List Price: $80 * Manufacturer: Laplink.com Inc., 425-483-8088, www.laplink.com

LAPLINK'S PCSYNC IS A MODERN TAKE ON file transfer software, but there's a lot more under the hood. The package--designed to connect a pair of PCs up to 6.5 feet away--comes with both a serial and USB cable, so older PCs aren't left out in the cold (though we found that serial file transfers run at a fraction of the speed of USB).

PCsync works in two different ways. First, it's a no-nonsense USB home networking solution. Thanks to an installation wizard that did virtually everything, we were transferring files in minutes via Windows Network Neighborhood. But the package also comes with the PCsync software, a networking portal that packs several file transfer features into a Windows Explorer-like two-pane interface.

You can copy files to the other PC in your PCsync network, as well as access Internet storage services like driveway.com and mydocsonline.com. You can also synchronize files between two PCs (like the Windows Briefcase) and configure remote folders across the Internet, as long as everyone involved uses PCsync. The best feature is a wizard that helps you set up a new PC: Specify the kinds of files you want to copy (like Word and Excel documents, for instance) and it will search your hard disk and copy them to the new PC. We liked this feature a lot--it would have saved our skin recently when we forgot to copy essential files that weren't stored in My Documents to a new computer.

Unfortunately, we nicked ourselves on PCsync's rough edges. PCsync can only see a second PC if it's running PCsync as well, and one PC could get confused if the second one closed and then restarted PCsync. And despite the snazzy interface, we preferred using the Windows desktop to manage network files--expanding directory trees in PCsync gave us flashbacks to Windows 3.1.

RATINGS

HOME OFFICE COMPUTING rates products on a scale of 1 to 10--with few 9's or 10's--based on value, performance, innovation [medals go to rare standouts in these areas], ease of use, and suitability for home offices. The A and B symbols indicate pros and cons.

Rating: 6

A Complete networking and management package.

B Six-foot limit; some glitches