Need recomendations for syncing/backing up solutions to replace Kies..

[Kane860]

Samsung Kies syncing software is absolutely pathetic.. it hardly works and is a terrible alternative to what I have been using for years - iTunes... since I was an iPhone user for many years up until 2 weeks ago... with that said, can anyone let me know if there are any alternatives that are worth looking into for syncing, backing up and restoring from backup? I want to make sure I can sync my music and back up all my data including my app data and then be able to restore everything if I got a phone replacement or had other issues with my phone.. does such a solution exist other than Kies? I just tried Helium which backs up data to my microsd card but I don't know how good it is since I haven't had to restore from it yet.. I would like to know everyones thoughts and feedback on all this please.. thanks

 

[chanchan05]

I never used Kies for anything other than updates LOL.

For backup:
Google Contacts and Calendary sync
Helium (cloud backup to Dropbox)

For Music:
WinAmp for PC