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Summary: not the breeze it used to be
Review: I have always loved Quicken programs, but no more. Having installed 2003 Basic on my new computer a few weeks ago and hating it ever since, I am literally throwing it away and going for something new. When I said I wanted Basic, that is what I meant. Instead, the register page is so cluttered with extras, I can barely see the register and there is no way to hide the extras. The program prompts me to connect to the internet constantly and there is no way to get it to stop. It uploads, downloads, reconfigures, gives me messages that says my account balances don't match those on Quicken.com. huh? How did they get my account balances? Intuit has no real support. For example the support department is closed on weekends. I don't know about you, but that is when I balance my finances.
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Summary: Quicken user for over 10 years-2003 is AWFUL
Review: I have over 10 years of financial info on Quicken. Started using it on DOS, have purchased most upgrades and loved them all BUT 2003 Premier is terrible. I was using Checkfree to pay bills electronically and was forced to upgrade Quicken AND change to Quicken Bill Pay as Checkfree has some altered relationship w/ Intuit. It seems a main objective of the program is to advertise Intuit services and get you to go online-not keep my books in my house. The reconcile feature is terrible--cursor bounces all over, impossible to use the keyboard to scroll, blocks of entries become checked or unchecked at random. It is so bad that I am going to look for an alternate program and this from someone who has over 10 years of personal and business data on Quicken.
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Summary: Quicken 2003 Deluxe
Review: I have read a couple of reviews posted on this site. I disagree with the guy who says the subject program is a bust. I upgraded from Qucken earlier model. What an improvement! Great easy to use screen and functions. Two people said they were going to MS Money--I don't recommend it. Money is not as user friendly. The only reason I didn't give the 5 star rating was because of the programs included guidebook--it is pretty much useless, and is poorly written (terminology confusing and quite ambiguous). However, telephone tech support was great. Good program!
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Summary: Buy Quicken 2002 Instead
Review: I have used Quicken from the beginning and updated annually, but I'm tossing 2003 Basic and going back to 2002. Quicken 2003 has adopted a Microsoft-style "do it our way" format that makes their product harder to use. This user unfriendly version takes away user control of the desktop, and much of the intuitive navigation that made earlier versions winners. 2002 was a vintage year for Quicken, but the 2003 version should be avoided.
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Summary: not ready for action yet
Review: I have used quicken since 1996, for the most part i have like it. However this version is not great at all, I can not update to my bank to get my tranaction. and they{quicken} charge for support. I wish I left this one on the shelf at the store.
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Summary: Frustrated in Seattle
Review: I read the comments from the 2003 users where people suggested buying the 2002 version-I did buy Quicken 2002-and it[s bad] too! I can't imagine how bad the 2003 version must be that people thought this was better. From what I can tell, Quicken Basic is just a tool the company uses to sell you more expensive software that might be useful and [pull] you into using their financial services. IT IS A MARKETING TOOL FOR QUICKEN-NOT SOFTWARE YOU SHOULD PAY FOR! Anything you try to do, Basic will tell you can't do, unless you upgrade to Deluxe. In addition, my overall impression is that Quicken despises their customers. I cannot imagine using a company with such low morals to handle my portfolio. This software won't do anything your bank's Internet site can't do, other than put all your information in one place. You will be disappointed if you actually pay for this software.
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Summary: I read the other reviews and almost didn't buy it
Review: I recently had a worm on my computer and was forced to reformat my hard drive. After reformatting I realized that I could not find my old copy of Quicken 99 to reinstall. I'd used that program for the past few years for basic checkbook functions as well as credit card transactions. I use Quickbooks for all my higher end business accounting. Before automatically going to buy the program I checked some of the reviews here and I was really scared to try this product. But since I already had my old quicken 99 data backed up I thought I'd have to take a chance and try it. I have to say that I'm really glad that I did. One of the other reviews I read talked about not being able to enter hand written checks or not being able to enter a missed transaction in the middle of reconciling. Both of these are just not true. I've done both of these things the same way I did them in Quicken 99. If you need to enter a transaction in the middle of the reconcile process you just minimize the reconcile window and enter the transaction in the account, then restore the reconcile window. If you need to make a change to a transaction that's in the reconcile window, just double click on it. To me it's quite "Intuitive". As far as the review claiming you cannot enter handwritten checks, this is done the exact same as it was before. Just open the account register enter a date, enter a number, payee... etc. Don't get me wrong, I've had my beefs with Intuit products through my business. They do use their products to market other services. Even though this is a pain for the consumer, it is smart business practice. Their customer support "is bad." I've used it for the Quickbooks product I have and it's not pleasant. But this is BASIC personal finance software for "a good price" Even on the outside of the box, there's a list of all the functions the Quicken 2003 software family can do and only "Track your checkbook & spending" is highlighted for the basic version. So they are being honest from the beginning. If you want software that tracks investments or does business functions this is not the software for you. If you want to keep track of your checkbook, bills and credit cards it seems to do it quite well.
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Summary: Quicken 03 Hogs Memory
Review: I swap back and forth between different Quicken accounts, my kids, my Mother etc. Every time I do Quicken grabs another wedge of memory and soon even with 768mb of RAM I'm into Stack Overflow and "Insufficient Memory" messages. Have to reboot the computer. Just be aware if you switch between several Quicken accounts.
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Summary: Buy a different product instead
Review: I'm afraid I have to agree with Ivan Thompson's review. This product is not ready for action. Or maybe it's Intuit that's not ready anymore. I've used Quicken for more years than I can remember, have upgraded frequently, and have been happy with the choice. However, this 2003 version installed badly and did not allow me to register the product, which in turn meant I would not be able to use it to retrieve bank and credit card transactions from the Internet. There was no help to be found at the Intuit site, and no way to contact the company in a way that would evoke a response to my specific issue. Therefore, I'm going to have to go over to the other side -- i.e., Microsoft Money -- as much as I regret doing that. Intuit: Go back to being the friendly, supportive, and competent company that you used to be!
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Summary: Quicken is the best home finance program
Review: I've been using Quicken for about 13 years. Quicken is easy to use and gives good snapshots and graphs of your finances in one centralized place. Don't take the negative reviews too seriously, Quicken is the best personal finance program on the market. While I've had my beefs with Quicken over the years, the negative comments here are WAY off base and ill-informed. The ability to download transactions directly from your bank is awesome. Not all banks support it, but when it is available, it's great. To use Quicken properly requires personal committment, you get out of Quicken what you put into it. Quicken has a MUCH easier and more intuitive user interface than Money. I tried Money a couple years ago, and was totally lost. If you try Quicken and find your head swimming, then go buy a Quicken instruction book, possible "Quicken for Dummies", something to explain it in simple terms. It's a great product.
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