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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 31 customer reviews )
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110 of 117 found the following review helpful:
 If you're considering jumping into Quicken Sep 14, 2007
By J. Nelson
You should ask yourself - "how can a piece of software be capable of generating so much hostility from its user base?" If you can't think up a good answer, go ahead and install Quicken, and you'll have an answer before long.
Some of my favorite quirks from Quicken 2006 & 2007 that I'm glad to see survived the upgrade to Quicken 2008:
Basic arithmetic errors: sometimes, if you edit transactions in the register, every subsequent transaction will get confused about the running total (e.g., change a $10 debit to a $20 debit, and instead of changing the running total by $10, watch in delight and amazement as the running total leaps by thousands, literally thousands, of dollars).
Basic reporting errors: go ahead and open the category list, and click the (very unintuitive) button to generate a report for the category _DivInc. If, like me, you have several years of investment transactions, you're sure to have dividend income, but Quicken will tell you "no transactions for this category." Funny, if you type _DivInc into the global search window, it will bring up all those transactions the report couldn't locate.
File corruption: sometimes, I like to imagine Quicken's routines as a bunch of angry little gnomes running around the traces of my processor and through the registers of my memory. This is because, every so often, the gnomes demand a sacrifice, and offer up burnt offerings of your data integrity to their terrible god of woe. I can't otherwise imagine how downloading QFX data from Hewitt Associates confused Quicken so - in the online center, it shows "number of outstanding transactions: -65,536" Yep, negative 2 to the 16th power of transactions outstanding.
Probably the worst part about Quicken, however, is trying to free your data. If you've got any kind of complicated financial picture (i.e, if you're over 25 years old), you won't be able to free yourself from Quicken's grasp, since the only way to get data out of the program is in QIF format, one measly account at a time. Funny, they don't support _importing_ QIFs, claiming, and I quote, "QIF technology is over 10 years old and was designed for technical support purposes . . . QIF Data Import requires many steps to download, is a poor customer experience and can lead to duplicate transactions and errors." That old technology is good enough for you should you dare to _export_ data from Quicken, however. They're going to make darn sure that you have a "poor customer experience" and suffer from "duplicate transactions and errors" if you try to take your data anywhere else.
39 of 39 found the following review helpful:
Don't waste your money Oct 08, 2007
By Jo Gusto
Quicken has come out with yet another in a parade of buggy, incrementally underwhelming releases.
I've stuck with Quicken 2006 which has quite a few bugs, but I know what they are now after using it for 2 years. There are vast reaches of every Quicken release that will just not work right. Those are usually the "nifty/cool" features they tout on the box and in the ads. They just slap those features in and then ship the product, even with the code not completely tested and working correctly.
The check register and so forth is pretty solid -- most of the time. Even so, once you get a lot of transactions in your database, things start to go a little nuts and you can't reconcile anymore, without putting in "Balance Adjustment" entries. Believe me, I have sat there with printouts and hardcopy statements in hand, and there is no discrepancy. Just a bug somewhere that pops up every 3-4 months or so.
If you own a previous version of Quicken, don't bother upgrading. If you are looking to buy something new to get started, try Microsoft Money first.
50 of 53 found the following review helpful:
Buyer Beware Sep 11, 2007
By R. Farley
Don't believe the description which states you can track your investments with this version. It only supports checking, savings, and credit cards. Looks like you need to spend an extra $60+ for the Premier Edition to support investment tracking.
31 of 35 found the following review helpful:
Does Not Convert Old data Sep 14, 2007
By S. Hickman
I guess I should have read the description in more detail but this version will not convert ANY data from a previous version of Quicken. In fact, it cannot be installed on your computer without deleting any previous versions of Quicken.
If you want to convert existing data you have to buy a more expensive version(or Microsoft Money).
Thanks goodness for the 60 day return guarantee.
12 of 12 found the following review helpful:
 Read the Box - for "First Time Users" Jan 03, 2008
By Boilermate
What's with all the whining? Didn't the negative reviewers read the box before they bought it? The front of the box clearly states it is for "First Time Users."
From the Quicken Web site:
>>>
Get a better handle on your finances, so you always know where you stand. Quicken Starter Edition shows you where your money is going for the month -- so you can see what you have left over. Ideal for first-time Quicken users.
NOTE: Does not import existing Quicken data.*
<<<
I have used Quicken since V2 for DOS (that's almost 20 years) and have found it invaluable. No, I don't use some of the more advanced features and I don't upgrade every time they come out with a new version. (I am currently using 2005 Basic.) I have never had an issue with it as far as math mistakes or reconciliation, except for the time I forgot to make the deposit I entered into the program. : <
Am I a total fan? No. I am annoyed that every upgrade changes the file format. After installation it upgrades your data so you can't go back to the previous edition if you don't like the "improvements." They also can't leave well enough alone and have to tweak the interface each time, usually screwing it up. And the lack of a "Basic" edition that will allow me to use my current data is enough to not upgrade for me. (Besides, how can you improve on 1+1=2?)
Would I recommend Quicken? Yes, but know what you are getting. This version is basic and for first time users only. If you must upgrade from a previous version it looks like the Deluxe version is your "basic" choice. For me, there aren't enough "improvements" in the new version to justify the cost. The "old" version continues to work fine.
See all 31 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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![Quicken 2008 Starter Edition [OLD VERSION]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51wUsadYBQL._SL160_.jpg "Quicken 2008 Starter Edition [OLD VERSION]")
