Perhaps we’re suffering a bit of online backup fatigue because our first impression of Memopal was “What? You have to pay for it?”. That’s because other tools we’ve looked at – notably Syncplicity – give you 1GB of storage for free, forever, not just seven days. Even Carbonite, reviewed recently, gives you 15 days to make up
your mind.

Memopal does looks nice and the initial configuration process is extremely simple. You download the software first, and are then prompted to create an account. This is a more intuitive user experience flow than Carbonite, which does it the other way around.

Next, you’re prompted to back up selected documents. By default, documents, emails, photos and preferences are backed up. You can select one folder or several using the Custom setting. Click Next and the software backs up your files – giving percentage of upload feedback in the application window and on your menubar. We like this UI a great deal.

When your files have uploaded you can choose to configure privacy settings – keeping them secure or sharing them with other users. You can also search your files, all from the same easy-to-navigate interface. Browse your uploaded files and you’re connected by WebDAV, enabling you to manage them directly in Finder. There’s also a web interface with the same big, chunky icons and easy navigation philosophy as the application.