Rating: 
Summary: Not better than earlier version
Review: I had used Quicken 99 Basic for a few years and was pleased with it. When Quicken 2002 was available essentially free with the TurboTax rebate, I got it. But, I haven't noticed an increase in value. Granted, I don't use the online bill paying features, so many there are some improvements there, but for the run-of-the mill stuff, I find it a lesser product.First, it almost tries to assist you too much. It is always trying to suggest scheduled transactions and ends up cluttering up the reminders page. It seems very laborious to tweak those transactions that you do have scheduled for any given month. Also, I think that they are misleading on the capabilities displayed on the box. It claims to have budgeting capabilities. However, the only budget function it allows is to view your spending versus budget. You can not establish the budget to begin with. I think the only reason I have any budget information in there is because it transfered when I upgraded from 99 (which did allow you to set a budget). Now, apparently establishing budgets is part of the "planning" function and that's not available on Basic, just Deluxe. It think this was very misleading.
Rating: 
Summary: Not very pleased
Review: I have always been a Quicken user until I got a new computer that had Microsoft Money on it. I tried it, but just didn't like it as well as Quicken. I also tried Tax Cut and decided that I will stick with the Intuit products as they are much more friendly. I just bought the latest TurboTax and Quicken 2002, with the great rebate. The most important feature to me is being able to enter transactions from a different computer. I care nothing about being able to download from my bank, etc. From the description, I thought Quicken Basic would allow me to do this. I installed the program, imported everything from Money and after about 2 hours of searching every help page, I find that this feature is not available on the Basic package. I feel they misrepresented the product and I have now switched back to Money.
Rating:
Summary: Confessions of a former Quicken fan
Review: I have appreciated and enjoyed Quicken ever since version 1.0. I've spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars on upgrades. It has really helped me organize and monitor my finances. I used to be a fanatic Quicken fan--that is, until I purchased Quicken 2002 Deluxe as part of Quicken 2002 Suite. I found that the program ran much slower than the previous version, the net worth reports and graphs didn't work at all, and I cannot customize reports since I continue to get "Not enough memory to customize reports" error messages. Since I have 512M of RAM and Quicken is the only app open I don't believe this is my problem. I reported a bug for each of these problems and could find no information on the online help. I thought I would try and see if there was some patch or workaround direct from Intuit. Little did I know this was the beginning of the end of my relationship with Intuit. After some work I found the help numbers which stated there could be a [per]/minute charge for assistance. However, if the problem was a defect the call would be at no charge... So far, so good. The operator who answered my call took down some information and told me I would need to give her my credit card number before speaking to the product support engineer, and that the engineer would make the determination whether this was a defect and then inform me that the timer was started. A bit leery, I passed along the credit card info and was connected. The engineer asked me if I was aware that a charge could apply to this call--I said yes, only after he started the timer. He then informed me he was starting the timer! You can imagine my frustration went instantly to the boiling point! I immediately told him the program was defective, that I was not going to pay [a per] minute [charge] to help them figure it out, GOOD BYE! I am truly not the kind of person who hangs up on anyone, but with a problem that I believe a defect on their part, it was absolute insult to injury to have to pay for it. 2002 Quicken Suite buyers beware! There may be other issues you have with this program and you will be completely at Intuit's mercy. I doubt I will ever buy an Intuit product again.
Rating:
Summary: Uploading Disaster
Review: I have been a Quicken Basic 98 user for some time and had used other versions of Quicken dating back to 1994 (starting on a Macintosh). I have been overall quite pleased with prior versions and the only reason I upgraded to Quicken 2002 was because Intuit elected not to continue to support online banking for Quicken Basic 98... In getting Quicken 2002 set up, I was unable to upload my last eight years of data to my laptop. I kept getting a message stating there was not enough memory although my laptop has a pentium chip and 96 MB of RAM. Before jumping out of the window of my 35th floor apartment, I decided to try installation on my desktop PC. Fortunately this effort was successful so my wife will have to live with me for a while longer. Maybe I just need time to get used to Quicken 2002, but the layout seems much less user-friendly and, quite frankly, a bit busy and confusing. I also had issues getting my online banking set up, although I attribute these issues to my lousy bank and not Quicken (why it should take 5-7 business days for me to get a password to enable me to utilize a service they will continue to charge me for is beyond me - and I only spent about 30 minutes on hold to get low level of service). Guess I will have fun not balancing my checkbook this weekend. Better luck to those of you brave enough to continue to utilize Quicken. Not sure I will go through another upgrade myself.
Rating: 
Summary: Handiest personal finance manager on the market
Review: I have been a user of Microsoft Money for years and never thought I'd be swayed away from the big MS, but Quicken Deluxe 2002 by Intuit surely changed my mind in a big way. They have made the interface simple, but powerful. Features such as highlighting recently used functions for quick reference, and dynamicaly generating reports and information are incredibly usefull to me. I hate manageing my finances, but Quicken has made it take alot less time. It's easier to manage budgets, plan taxes (The tax forecaster is helping me plan my refund for next year!), track investments (New this year is the Employee Stock Purchase Tracker!), plan a house (the mortgage calculator also has links to mortgage companies so you can shop online), and manage your bank accounts (Auto reconcillation is a real timesaver!). Bill Gates, you may have a new battle on your hands, as I give this years version to Intuit Quicken 2002!
Rating:
Summary: Upgrading to 2002 has been a nightmare
Review: I have been using Quicken for years and usually upgrade from the previous year. When 2002 Deluxe was introduced I purchased the program and did the install. Then the nightmare began. During the conversion I lost an incredible amount of data. After calling customer service (an ordeal in and of itself) I was told that this is not an uncommon problem. Their solution was to enter the old data for the previous year transaction by transaction. After almost six months of using the "upgrade" I've run into one bug after the other. Data mysteriously disappears and reappears. Statements that I thought had been reconciled correctly turn out to be incorrect when subsequent statements are reconciled. The program crashes on both NT (an iron horse of an operating system) and 2000. I'm constantly prompted to synchronize with Quicken.com even though I've synchronized. I won't even talk about the amount of advertising built into the product. And that brings me to the last item. One would think that with the amount of advertising and promotion built into the program that Intuit could provide at least a basic level of techinical support for what is an unbelievably buggy program. Their support can only be described as shameful. SHAMEFUL. It feels downright scammy when you call. Even the agents are often embarrassed by their system. There was a time when Quicken was a great product with great service. I guess that now that it has a stranglehold on the personal financial software market we can look forward to even more dreadful customer service. Thank God for Amazon because I thought I was the only one having this kind of trouble.
Rating:
Summary: I am addicted to Quicken
Review: I have been using Quicken since it's early DOS versions. In my humble opinion, there is simply no better way to organize all of your finances. Most banks and credit card companies will allow you to download transactions directly into Quicken (no file download from the institution's web site, and then import into Quicken) -- I'm talking about knowing your recent credit card transactions within a day or two (in case you are not the type to enter them in right when you get home). Manage all your brokerage accounts, 401k, IRA, track your mortgage, car payment, etc. It is all there, and come tax time - you will be sitting pretty when you need to import your neatly categorized Quicken transactions into TurboTax or TaxCut. You will not be disappointed, I highly recommend Quicken 2002 Deluxe or Suite.
Rating:
Summary: I am addicted to Quicken
Review: I have been using Quicken since it's early DOS versions. In my humble opinion, there is simply no better way to organize all of your finances. Most banks and credit card companies will allow you to download transactions directly into Quicken (no file download from the institution's web site, and then import into Quicken) -- I'm talking about knowing your recent credit card transactions within a day or two (in case you are not the type to enter them in right when you get home). Manage all your brokerage accounts, 401k, IRA, track your mortgage, car payment, etc. It is all there, and come tax time - you will be sitting pretty when you need to import your neatly categorized Quicken transactions into TurboTax or TaxCut. You will not be disappointed, I highly recommend Quicken 2002 Deluxe or Suite.
Rating:
Summary: Best Upgrade For The New Year!
Review: I have been using Quicken since Windows 3.1 starting with the DOS version. Can't imagine going back to pencil, paper and a calculator. Quicken 2002 Deluxe is a welcomed upgrade on my 600 MHz Pentium III PC running Windows 98 SE . It installed and converted my files easily and flawlessly! After I registered online it downloaded and installed an upgrade without any problems. It integrates with Quicken's web site (...) very nicely, even with my slow dialup connection. It seems to be even easier to use than previous versions, even though it does more. I base 'ease of use' on how often I have to click on help to figure out how to use the program. Its interface is well laid out and easily navigated, although if you are new to Quicken it may seem a little overwhelming at first. It almost holds your hand as it walks you through account set up and some of the data entry. It even has a 'Quick Entry' feature that only loads your account register to enter just a few transactions. This is very convenient if you don't need the full range of Quicken tools. It can also track the stocks you are interested in and keep tract of your portfolio's current standing. Coupled with (...) researching stocks is much easier and offers a lot of help if you are new to investing. One thing consistent with all versions I've ever used, it does many more things than my finances dictate. To be honest, the only reason I upgraded is I just found out that Quicken 2000 Basic does not let you create savings goal accounts, which is one of my favorite features, but the Deluxe version does. I am very happy with my purchase and would strongly recommend Quicken 2002 Deluxe to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Good Product
Review: I have found Quicken 2002 Deluxe very easy to use. It helps organize finances (e.g., create online accounts, all types of planners, balance your checkbook; reconcile your bank statement, track investments 401k, IRA(s), and Savings Bonds. It even has a simple way to track you paycheck income and deductions. System Requirements
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- 100% IBM Compatible, P90 Minimum
- Windows 95, 98, 2000, Me, or XP
- 24MB RAM Minimum, 32MB RAM Recommended
- 67MB free hard disk space
-Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 (is included on the CM ROM)
-Double-speed CD-ROM drive
-VGA with 256 colors minimum (SVGA 16-bit color recommended)
-Sound board and speakers recommended
-Works with any printer supported by Windows 95, 98, 2000, Me or XP
-14.4 Kbps or higher modem required to access online features; 56 Kbps modem recommended Here are some of the Quicken 2002 Deluxe features:
-------------------------------------------------- Down load your data from over 1700 financial institutions, to include: Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, and Charles Schwab (This feature does require Internet access e.g., a modem). You also have the ability to setup up alerts and watch list for your investments. Plan and prepare for taxes: The tax tracking and planning tool help you "ease" the pain at tax time. Set up planners to estimate how much home you can afford, create budgets, figure when you can retire, set up a college planner, etc. Set up accounts for various types of loans to include home, car, basically define any loan account desired. Set up online banking (e.g., pay bills, get a copy of your credit report, set up to get bills on line, etc.) The program gives the user the ability to setup and define passwords for files and transactions (that are date specified). The user also has the capability to store online account PINS that are protected with a password. Therefore when a financial institution request a PIN, Quicken prompts you for your PIN vault password, and provides the PIN as needed. The program has all kinds of report at your disposal for all of your accounts to include the capability to create graphs, pie charts, and etc. so you can easily view your accounts.
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