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Quicken 2001 Deluxe

Quicken 2001 Deluxe

List Price: $52.99
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Helpful product, but has a time commitment
Review: The reviews on Quicken 2001 seem to be very mixed based on experience with prior Quicken products. The last version I used was Quicken 98 and I am very impressed with this edition. The interface has changed quite a bit (much more "web like") and many of the features have improved significantly (such as it's online connectivity).

Here a couple things I've noticed while using the program:

- At first I found the interface and all of the features were a bit overwhelming -- there was just a lot of information on each screen. After reading through the Quick Start guide and playing around with it I got the hang of it.

- Getting your accounts set up can eat up a lot of time, depending on how you choose to do it. If you don't want to backfill any data then you can get up an running very quickly, but if you want to do any backfill you might find yourself spending a lot of time entering information from old statements an reconciling accounts. Personally, it took me a couple evening to get the accounts backfilled and set up the way I wanted.

- There is a degree of ongoing maintenance, but no surprise there. Periodically you need to enter new transactions from all of your accounts. I've found that some banks limit the transaction history they keep online, so if you fall behind you end up digging through paper statements.

- Getting some of the graphs to give you the "true picture" can be difficult. For example, if you incur a lot of business expenses for which you are later re-imbursed you will find those transactions landing on different months. This throws off any monthly cash flow analysis you do. Luckily, Quicken's graphs are pretty configurable so there are work arounds.

Overall, I think this product is a good purchase. It has really helped me organize my finances and has proved well worth the investment (which isn't much after the rebate).

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Mutual fund subtotal shares
Review: This is for the owners of this version of Quicken. Does the mutual fund share subtotals on the right hand column gives you 2 decimal digits or three. I like Quicken. But every version since version 5 I've written to Quicken to ask for a display of 3 decimal digits for the mutual fund shares subtotal on every row. I've yet to see it being implemented. My mutual fund statement gives me share total to the 3rd decimal digits. I would like to see them in my Quicken register. How difficult is it to implement this feature? I know that internally it stored more than the 2 digits displayed, but I want to see the 3 decimal digits on the register.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A Quicken Non-Upgrade.
Review: This version of Quicken is a step backward. The main views are crowded with links and information you only need rarely if ever and you can't customize the views to get rid of this junk. I have seen nothing new to justify even the [$] upgrade price. Save your money and stick with an earlier version. I wish I had.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great product! Lots of improved features. Few annoyances.
Review: To all of those people who wrote so many negative reviews lately I can kindly say: JUST READ THE MANUAL!!! I mean the program's Help feature, which is really good and offers tons of useful information. Overall, I found the new look and features VERY intuitive and easy to use. Practically all the screens and charts are customizable, just practice using the RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON. Most views and reports (including Reconcile) can be conveniently sorted by different parameters. The big configurable buttons on top of the screen are really nice; I customized them so that I get anywhere I want with a single click. The tabs on the right are a little confusing at first, but when you understand what they really are, they do help you a lot; for example you can switch between different open tabs (like switching back and forth to Register when you are in Reconcile), or close all unused tabs to free up the memory.

I have used all versions of Quicken since about 4 years ago, and I can tell you that they really try to improve things, NOT just add lots of useless features, as some people think. I know people who though so too, but after I urged them to sit down and LEARN those things -- they started using those features on a daily basis and they do benefit from them. I myself use about 60% of features and I think they simplify my personal finances a great deal. I agree that improvements since the last version look minor and not worth the price -- but just at the first glance! If you use Quicken a lot (like every day or so), you will soon appreciate the improvements. Investment portfolios, 401k and Tax-related features are only some examples.

I'm not trying to say Quicken is perfect. That's why I gave them only 4 stars. They do have quite a few things to work on, like improving the Tax Advisor feature, developing their customer support (which is currently nonexistent), and so on. But overall, in my opinion, Quicken is the best, most intuitive and most comprehensive way to keep track of your family finances. And it is getting better.


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