At the price charged, plus bi-annual renewal costs, I have always, over the years, compared Sync Pro's features to alternative software to see if it’s worth it and over the last 7 years, I found it to be indispensible as it could do a whole load of things other backup software couldn’t. As its now time for another comparison (another bi-annual cost is looming), I thought I'd post how, for me, Sync Pro currently compares:

1) Bootable Backup - One of the reasons I bought Sync Pro X years ago was because of its ability to take advantage of FSEvents technology in OS X which initially resulted in me being able to do a bootable backup on my MBP in seconds. However, FSEvents has proved to be a bit flakey, resulting in Sync Pro being unable to properly commence, let alone finish a bootable backup. The workaround is to turn off FSEvents, which reduces Sync Pro to the same speed as the considerably cheaper and even free alternatives out there. In fact, those same alternatives actually produce a better quality clone, if Backup Bouncer is your guide. The developer has also suggested that I should fix permissions on my drive/ completely re-install my system, just to make Sync Pro work properly. Despite the fact that I haven’t needed to do this with other backup software, I went along with these suggestions, but the issues still persist.

2) Syncing - No problems here but again, the syncing abilities are easily replicated by cheaper alternative software.

3) Archiving - There’ still nothing that can better Sync Pro’s archiving options. By this, I mean the ability to distinguish exactly what files and folders get archived, where the archives are saved (ie, a different disk to your backup destination drive), and the ability to group archive folders into DVD sized chunks. Well, DVDs are on the way out, so there’s not much need for me to burn archives to DVD and to be honest, I can’t think of a reason for me to save archives to a different disk (your experience may vary). Personally, I am happy to archive files and folders in a folder structure to the same destination backup disk and this can also be done with cheaper alternative software.

4) Ability to open and close disks - Again, this can be one with cheaper alternative software.

5) Ability to open and close other programs - Still (I think) a unique feature of Sync Pro if it’s what you need.

6) Bugs and support - In my experience, Sync Pro has always had bugs of some sort, which is ok, considering how complex it is and the developer will always strive to provide a fix. My current issue is that it won’t complete a backup on just my home folder then, after a special copy of Sync Pro had been provided by the developer to try and fix the issue, files and folders which it was supposed to backup were completely missed. I'm sure, the developer would have eventually found a fix or workaround for all of these issues and he does reply within a day, provides suggestions to problems and provides specific copies of the software to try work around your problem. But for the price paid, I'd hoped that these kind of issues didn't arise in the first place, they don't seem to with the alternative software available. The developer's suggested solutions (fixing permissions/ reinstalling the system which as I say, aren't necessary with alternative software) haven’t always worked.

Sync Pro does provide extra very good features such as folder watching and being able to log in without being the root user but for the price paid, what I really wanted/needed was for this to work first time a lot more than what it did without having to find fixes. So for my needs, I settled on separate cloning software and syncing/ archiving software to complete those specific tasks. I find that works out far more reliably and cheaper than Sync Pro.

No set agenda here, and the software has worked more often than not - just my experience.

I’ve been a Mac user since 1986, so I have some perspective on Mac applications. There are few that I rate as highly as SyncProX. It was the first full-featured OS X backup app that could reliably make bootable backups. I’ve been using it since 2002 (v1.2.2). When SuperDuper and Carbon Copy Cloner came along, I tried them. I even own a SuperDuper license. So, I know what those apps can do.

First let me say that any comparison between backup & synchronization applications is useful only if you’re fully informed about their capabilities—and you seldom get that in user reviews (even this one). All backup & sync requirements are not equal, and neither are all backup & sync applications. If your needs are simple, you can get by with a simple app. But if you need a backup & synchronization application that can do it all, then you should take a closer look at SyncProX than most user reviews can provide.

Anyhow, here’s what SyncProX does for me. I need to run both manual and scheduled backups of data on networked computers. SyncProX can handle either, but part of its power is in its ability to automate the process. The backups include complete bootable backups as well as dedicated backups of database files.

For automated backups, I need powerful control over permissions and difference criteria for file size, date, modification time, creator, type, ID resources, as well as the ability to specify file skipping rules (in case of errors), what data are logged, how to handle file attributes, what should and should not be copied…and that’s just a partial listing of the kinds of options SyncProX provides. It takes some time to learn what all the features do, but it’s well worth the effort if you need them.

My automated database backups need to run scripts to shut down data and license servers, write the backups to sparse.image disks mounted remotely from the networked computers on which they reside, then unmount the disks, and then restart the servers. Everything has to be done with root privileges because the database directories have “No access” permissions for everything except the database application. SyncProX does it all, fully automated, without any need for me to log in as the root user.

The ability to specify what data are logged is critical for troubleshooting any problems…for example when an anti-virus app detects and quarantines some malware during the backup write operation, and creates several hundred temp files in the process, all of which appear as errors in the backup log. Ditto for bizarre problems that occasionally show up due to the way OS X reports changed files in FS Events when Fast Scan is enabled. In that case, turning off Fast Scan, repairing permissions, and running a full backup clears the problem. The log file provides all the info I need to track down the culprit and solve the problem, or get help from Qdea support.

Oh, yeah…want support? Got it. The developer usually responds within 24 hours, and often within a few hours. Qdea has even provided me with special builds of SyncProX to work around problems that appear when something changes in OS X…and something is always changing in OS X.

Qdea’s licensing policy is eminently fair…although for some reason it’s often deeply misunderstood. Well, here’s the bottom line: Any version of SyncProX that you download works forever…or for as long as the version of OS X you’re running is compatible. I have copies of SyncProX v 4.x and v5.x running on two old Tiger machines. They’re fully licensed, forever.

If I don’t need to upgrade when the two-year license expires, I just don’t renew the license until I need it. All previously installed versions continue to work on their respective licenses. If I upgrade my system and need a SyncProX upgrade, I buy the renewal (for $49.95…NOT $99.95), but I don’t have to buy it until I need an upgrade. And during the two-year license period, I can download any upgrade that Qdea releases, any of which are covered by that license—permanently. Sounds fair to me.

Considering the great support and the fact that SyncProX is constantly under development to keep up with changes in OS X, that’s a pretty low cost of ownership for an application that does so much and works so well.

SyncProX probably isn’t for everyone. If you don’t need all the features it provides, then use a backup application that does what you need. But if you need the Swiss army knife of backup apps—the stainless steel, chrome-plated, nuclear laser turbo-diesel high-strength industrial backup app—SyncProX will get the job done. It’s worth every penny.

Please don't use the free as below. It's not free since I have to buy the software in the first place to get the upgrade. Look up the definition of free...

"Access to this version of Synchronize! Pro X is free if you've purchased a license within the last two years.
Document revisions are now backed up on Mac OS X 10.7 Lion."

I have used this software for a couple of years with no problems. Of course I have never had to do a restore, so I cannot state it does that function well.

WARNING - READ THE FOLLOWING BEFORE DOWNLOADING THIS UPDATE!

My problem is that this company is now demanding $100 to continue using their product. They say my license expired. Who the hell does that? I understand paying for an upgrade when a major revision is released, but a license that expires? Even Microsoft doesn't screw their clients in that way. On top of this, there is no upgrade price for current users. I am supposed to pay $100 for another two years.

I am off to find a replacement. Screw these bums.

I am registered to this application since August 2004 and through all the years on any OS X version on any of my Macs Synchronize Pro X has been a stable workhorse. And it still is.
It is fast, it is absolutely reliable and very powerful! I love the many options, e.g. SPX lets me start scripts that closes different databases before the back up begins and that opens them again, when SPX has finished ... or that it starts a back up when a folder changes.
I have different scheduled back ups for different purposes and content, some running every two hours, some scheduled weekly and also I made bootable system clones all the years. I have never experienced any failures or problems when I needed those clones or back ups.

Over the many years I contacted Hugh Sontag four or five times. He always replied literally instantly with great help, always competent and kind. Half a year ago I was trying to figure out the best way for a complex yet flexible back up strategy for a friend of mine and asked Mr. Sontag if my concept could work and received great help and much input from him.

There are many competing apps to this product, many somewhat more popular-priced. At the time I registered to SPX I tested many and found none to be as powerful. Since then I never cared for other apps as SPX just does it perfectly for me and I simply totally trust this app.

Just downloaded v 5.1. Crashes immediately under OS 10.4. Reverting back to 5.0.7 works fine. I haven't loaded Leopard yet, but will try this version again when I do, even though the description says that 5.1 is still compatible with 10.3-10.4.

I'd recommend holding off on this one unless you're ready to do some troubleshooting.