Backjack Review

Notice

Backjack has been discontinued. You might want to take a look at Backblaze, Carbonite, SugarSync, CrashPlan or Mozy for your online backup needs.


At a Glance

Our Rating

[xrr rating=3/5]

Price:

  • 20GB Account: $96.00/year

Pros:

  • Easy to use and seamless on Mac.
  • Free 4GB Account.
  • Support up to 5 computers on a single account.
  • 30-day Money Back Guarantee
  • Saves up to 10 of your latest revisions within the last 30 days.

Cons:

  • Small storage plans
  • Poor web access.
  • No mobile access.
  • Expensive compared to other Mac options.
  • Mac only.

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Full Review

There is online backup software for the Mac and then there is Backjack. Backjack specializies in online backup only for Mac users so Mac users can rest assured that their software runs well. I am not a regular Mac user but I have several clients that use Macs and I am familier enough with the platform to know what I like.

Installation
Installing Backjack is as easy as downloading the installer from their website. After the download is complete you can double click the icon to install Backjack on your Mac. After going through the installation wizard you will be able to launch the application. If you are familiar with installing software on the Mac you will have not problem getting this online service software installed.

Backup
Starting the backup for the first time will prompt you to create an account with Backjack. If you already have an account you can enter your login information or you can create a free 4GB account like I did. After creating your account you will have to confirm it and then set your encryption. The wizard walks you through the setup of your encryption easily. Make sure you remember what your encryption phrase is.

After walking through setting up your account and encryption settings you can use the backup configuration assistant to help select what files you want included in your backup. It easily helps you select files for backup and gets you backing up to Backjack in quickly. After starting the backup you get clear updates on the status of the upload and a choice to quit the application when the backup is complete. Overall a fairly painless backup procedure.

Restoring
Restoring files is as simple as using the desktop client to select the folders and files you want to restore. Browse to the folders or files you want to restore in the Backjack client, set a location and click restore and you will easily be downloading your files to your Mac. There is no other way I could find to restore files except through the client. See my comments on web access.

Web Access
There is web access to your Backjack account, but this is limited. Perhaps it is because I have only a free account but there is no way to restore files through the web interface. You can edit users etc but there does not seem to be anyway to access your files through the web. If your Mac dies and you need to restore all your files from Backjack be prepared to download and restore your files through the client.

Overall
Backjack is limited to working on the Mac. There is something to be said about specializing but is it realistic to only provide an online backup service for only one main operating system? The advantage is Backjack does seem to integrate well on the Mac, but there are other services out there that run just as well or better on the Mac as Backjack, are cheaper and offer better web access to your files.

Start Backing up with Backjack

Start Backing up with Backjack

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