RemotePC by iDrive review: The big dog of remote desktop and backup

Price When Reviewed

$19.50 per laptop

Best Prices Today: RemotePC by iDrive

Having reviewed iDrive’s online backup service a number of occasions over time, I’m accustomed to the corporate’s penchant for feature-rich efforts. And RemotePC, which may leverage iDrive for backup, is essentially the most feature-laden distant desktop software program on the planet. I just like the perspective—if it might or needs to be executed, let’s simply do it.

Note: This evaluate is a part of our roundup of Best remote desktop software. Go there to study extra about our analysis course of and the way competing merchandise evaluate./

Design and options

Even in terms of the fundamentals, RemotePC is taking part in big-league ball. It helps each consumer/server entry utilizing regionally put in software program, in addition to web-based entry out of your browser. You may invite others for one-off periods. RemotePC doesn’t depend on net entry for variegated OS assist both: there are servers for Windows, macOS, Linux, and—very unusually—Android. In distant desktop lingo, a server or host is the software program on board a tool that allows you to management it.

Android management may very well be insanely useful for finding a misplaced cellphone. Access it out of your PC, and have your cellphone make noise (play a tune, or change the ring tone) so you will discover it. Don’t ask me why I instantly considered this… 😉

Most distant desktop applications present solely purchasers/viewers for Android (or iOS), from which you’ll management your remotes gadgets. Sadly, there’s no iOS server/host.

As talked about, iDrive is legendary for its top-rated on-line backup and storage (its amongst our top picks for this process), and the corporate leverages the service for backing up computer systems/gadgets with RemotePC put in. It prices an additional $60 a yr (solely $6 for the primary yr) however could be very beneficiant when it comes to capability—3TB whole. That needs to be sufficient for almost any end-user, even when safeguarding a number of PCs. Using this facility requires putting in iDrive 360.

RemotePC is embarrassingly feature-rich. Just a few of the highlights are: multi-monitor assist with mapping to native shows; drag-and-drop file switch between the native and distant computer systems; display recording; distant sound and printing; whiteboarding (drawing on the show) and chat; in addition to display seize of distant periods.

RemotePC additionally gives a web based assembly facility, though, as with iDrive backup, it’s additional—$10 a yr, which is fairly low cost. Cheap, but additionally competing with free options akin to Zoom and Skype. It’s a tricky market section.

RemotePC additionally offers a neater expertise for Windows RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol featured in pricier variations of Windows). The software program offers brokers (a entrance finish for the Windows service) for all RDP-enabled variations of Windows, in addition to a viewer for each Windows and macOS. It’s $10 per RDP laptop per yr.

Why would you need to pay for one thing that’s in any other case free? Ease of use. RemotePC’s model gives portal-based connections and group administration so that you don’t need to configure firewalls or routers.

Pricing

RemotePC isn’t free, so it’s seemingly solely of curiosity to customers with ongoing distant desktop wants, not these searching for the occasional one-off. I examined the Soho plan which is $79.50 a yr for 10 computer systems, however the $39.50 two-computer plan is probably going the perfect match for many people. There are additionally heftier plans for bigger companies and the enterprise class companies. All are discounted for the primary yr. See beneath.

Note that the variety of computer systems in every plan is the variety of computer systems that could be managed. As with all companies, you possibly can set up and use a consumer on/from any laptop. All the at the moment out there plans and the accompanying first-year reductions are proven beneath. As famous, backup to iDrive, RDP assist, and conferences assist are separate add-ons.

Performance

iDrive burdened to me the efficiency facets of RemotePC. And in my expertise it was clear that it’s a precedence. Connections are made by iDrive’s net portal, however after that communications journey the shortest route. That made RemotePC fairly sprightly with each my native community and web periods. The pace with which RemotePC related and transferred recordsdata was glorious, and navigating menus and home windows on the distant PC was extraordinarily facile.

I can’t say if RemotePC is the quickest RC program I’ve used, nevertheless it’s darn near TeamViewer—the general quickest in my expertise. The identical connections using Microsoft’s and Chrome’s Remote Desktop software program had been significantly much less zippy, albeit nonetheless completely usable. This was, nonetheless, from macOS so the state of native GPU driver assist is suspect. I used to be additionally impressed with the standard of the audio RemotePC delivered from the, ahem… distant PC.

Performance controlling my Android cellphone was first rate, although not good. There was the occasional bother scrolling, and the connection wavered a few occasions. But as I mentioned earlier, that RemotePC can do it in any respect could be very useful. I did truly use it to find my cellphone as soon as.

Excellent in all regards

There are after all free distant options, however RemotePC gives a lot further performance (free and pay), and performs so nicely, that I’d advocate it for even the typical person if the free stuff has confirmed irritating. It ought to after all be on the quick checklist for any IT division. In fact, it in all probability deserves greater than a 4.5. Add iOS management and we’ll discuss.