The Best Cyberlockers

Like other cyberlocker services, you can choose to pay a nominal fee each month for more storage space and features. But if you choose to stay with the free FilesAnywhere account, you do get 1 GB storage space. You can also send email notifiers to the people whom you wish to share with.

Hotfile is hosted out of the country of Panama. You are limited to 400MB files and smaller, and unregistered users will lose their files after 90 days. Downloaders are required to wait for 15 seconds and pass a CAPTCHA test. But there are no daily limits on downloads or uploads, and there is no set cap on maximum storage space used.

Dropbox is perhaps the most 'luxurious' of cyberlocker services. This website integrates directly into your PC file folder system, so your cloud storage appears as if it were a regular folder on your desktop computer. You can drag-and-drop files, copy-paste, and all the regular file management routines... it just takes 10 minutes for it to synch and transfer with the cloud hard drive. You get 2GB maximum hard drive storage space (but can get more if you convince your friends to join), and you can easily transfer files to your friends without having to log to a website. Definitely, try Dropbox to see how convenient online file management can be...

At Minus.com, you get the option of fully registering or staying 'anonymous' (nothing is ever really anonymous online, as you perhaps know). But you might want to register, as your files are never deleted then. If you get friends to join, your 10 GB limit is increased up to 50GB. Individual files can be up to 2 GB, too. Readers report that the upload and download speeds are good, and you can download to your heart's content with no limits or quotas. The price is perfect, too.

While the price is right, you will have to wait for upload and download queues, and your files only live for 30 days before they are removed. There is also a daily limit of 5 gigs per day downloading. But you don't have to log in, and the download speeds are consistent and rapid.

If you choose to register at Oron, the advertisements are removed for you and you can upload 1 GB files. Your files do get removed after a month, and you will be throttled and limited (max 244 GB storage). Not exactly gargantuan file sharing when compared to competing sites, but readers do like Oron.com. Try Oron out, and let us know what you think.

Some call RapidShare the new king of cyberlockers. This website does require you to log in, and there are queues that will make you wait. But you have no limits on file size or hard drive space, and the download/upload speeds are quite good (once you get past the download queues). One reader described that she lost a couple files because she didn't log on in two months, but otherwise, people speak highly of the RapidShare service. Try it now before the US government shuts this site down, too.

Mediafire is arguably the biggest competition to RapidShare. They have no limits on bandwidth, downloads, total disk space used, and you don't have to log in if you don't want to. Unfortunately, individual files must be 200MB or smaller. If you are looking to share files that are smaller than movie-sized, then do consider Mediafire.com.