Review: Logmein Rescue

This week I stumbled upon a piece of software that I soon will not be able to live without. The software is called LogMeIn Rescue. While looking for the latest version of Hamachi (another fantastic product, but could still use some more dev work) I did something I usually never do, I clicked on a banner ad. The ad was for LogMeIn Rescue, and was on the Hamachi website, knowing that LogMeIn (The company, not the product) owned Hamachi I figured I was safe. I am glad I took the chance.

After getting past my skepticism (and my initial disappointment that the technician console was Windows only) I found a Windows box that I could try it out on (in other words I installed it on one of the intern’s computers in case it screwed it all up). Luckily I needed to help someone out at the BizSandiego office, which is why I was looking for Hamachi in the first place, so I got to give it a trial run. I was quickly impressed with the speed at which it worked, there was virtually no lag! Usually, when using Hamachi to perform the same task I get terrible lag, but not with this product.

I was also impressed at how it handles each session. Within the browser window that the console runs you can have multiple tabs, each one being another session with another computer. It allows you to transfer files, reboot, etc. The one thing that disappointed me is that it required user intervention on the other end to get it going. Sometimes getting the person on the other end that caused the problem that you are trying to solve to follow directions is tremendous challenge in itself.

In all, I think the $129/month is a little steep for the casual user like myself, but for a helpdesk or support technician, this could be an invaluable tool.