How do I … e-mail very large files?

With more people using cameras and video, many Web mail servers and ISPs impose size limits on the size of attachments people can ship.

Several solutions have come along. One of the first was DropSend, developed in 2005. It uses a simple design that involves no extra software. DropSend does the job nicely because it requires no software download. A more recent option is Pando ( www.pando.com) which requires a download. After testing it, we’ve concluded it’s a great solution, allowing people to send movie clips and huge files without bogging down your e-mail outbox.

Pando’s twist is its use of the BitTorrent protocol, which accelerates downloads and transfers. One recent test involved shipping/downloading a 300-megabyte video file; it took about 19 minutes to complete the transfer using a cable modem connection.

Both DropSend and Pando allow free accounts that provide transfers of files up to 1 gigabyte. Power users can upgrade at Pando and send files as large as 50GB.

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