I started using GoToMyPC in September 2004. It was an excellent
product and did exactly what I needed. I could control 65 PCs from a
distance and help my clients, wherever they may be in the world,
whenever they had a problem without having to leave my office. Having
used PC AnyWhere for years I thought this was the greatest invention
ever. I was paying "only" about US$ 700 per month for the 65 PCs and
thought this was excellent value for the money.
About 3 or 4 months ago (April 2006) I heard about Log Me In on a
telelvision show on the BBC while travelling. I gave the free version a
try first. I realised I could use the free version for about 20% of my
needs right away. The greatest limitation of the free version is no
file transfer. But I get around that generally with e-mail or
something else if necessary. I then decided to try the Pro version for
a month.
The Pro version was a revolutionary awakening for me. The Pro version
can do all sorts of thing Go To My PC doesn't. They've got this great
Dashboard feature which allows me to see what's going on in the client
computer without opening a remote control session. I can see the disk
space, the memory and processor usage, the current processes and the
event viewer. I can even go in and manage users, services, the
registry, automatic logons and a whole lot of other stuff without
bothering the user. The remote control system is seemless and offers a
very nice Chat function (as does GoToMyPC) and a screen resolution
management option which works great. The file transfer system in Log
Me In uses a file synchronisation system so when I upload files to a
given folder it only uploads those which have changed. This saves an
awful lot of time on slow connections.
The biggest difference for me is the management options. With GoToMyPC
I have to use an e-mail address and a different password to connect to
the client's computer. With 65 computers I ended up using the same
password everywhere as it was impossible to remember the GoToMyPC
password in addition to the user's password. With Log Me In it
automatically uses the user's password on the computer. It even lets
me use my user account on the user's computer, with my password,
whenever I want. This is much more secure for me as I can change the
windows password on the computer and Log Me In automatically uses the
new password. The other management option is that I can give my
assistant access to certain computers without giving him access to all.
I can even allow a client to connect to their own computers throught
he same account. I can see a connection log on every computer to see
who accessed it when. I can't do this with Go To My PC. The last, and
probably most useful, piece of equipment is the Network Console which
Log Me In sells ($199 per machine one-time charge). This allows me to
open one program and see all of the computers I can access on one
screen. It saves the access information for me so all I have to do is
choose a computer and I can remote control right away.
As you can see I had made up my mind. Two months ago I moved all of my
computers over to Log Me In. I am now paying Log Me In less than US$
200 per month (over 70% less) and am overjoyed with the product and
services.
That should have been the end of this story and allowed me to simply
compare products and have others benefit from my experience. I was
astounded when I then went to Go To My PC to cancel my subscription. I
had purchased a monthly subscription intentionally so as to be able to
change whenever technology and competition changed as it always does.
I was apparently mistaken. According to Go To My PC even though I pay
monthly I signed on for an annual contract. I therefore am now paying
Go To My PC US$ 700 per month for another 6 months (US$ 4,200) for
absolutely nothing! Buyer beware!!!
