Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Frustrated in Seattle
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.
Rating: - There is NO Tech Support when you have problems unless ...
FIRST POINT and VERY IMPORTANT: There is NO Tech Support when you have problems unless you want to fork out a hefty [ amount]per minute!!! SECOND POINT, plan to have problems.I made the mistake of upgrading from Quicken 1999 to Quicken 2003 (bigger, better, wow!) Here is the sad situation I just came out of. For three days, and for many hours, I tried to get Quicken 2003 to log on to the Internet to register and use the services (that's why I upgraded). I tried using my Roadrunner cable service (zero). I tried my trusty old 56k modem (nada). Round and round in circles and I got nowhere. Yes, I tried to get help and only got more frustrated and angry at Intuit. The "help" in the program Quicken did nothing to resolve the problem. Then I went online and found that the WEB Support that Quicken provides was as dismal. So I tried the online Chat --- what a joke.
I came home early (and for those that live East of California the Chat support stops at 5pm EST!) to get online with the 'Chat dude'. What a waste of time, a lot of time. He ask you type in your problem and wait for his next reply. He goes on to a dozen other people before coming back to you so you wait, and wait and wait. When he does come back he is zoned out, forgot what your problem was and asks you some remedial question like, "Is your computer plugged in?". You get the abysmal picture. Sure you can get human technical support but you will pay [alot]per minute (and those minutes can rack up). Sure, I kept at it. Yes, I know, that wasting HOURS on [this]program is a waste of time and as my girl friend lovingly puts it, "You know what you have is a sickness, don't you." I know.
But final, the god of gigabits smiled, and per chance, by going back through and check out the security setting of my LAN and Internet I saw that both were on medium security (default setting for one) BUT as soon as I lowered the settings one notch -Voila! I got on. (If you have this problem Try going to 1.settings, 2.control panel, 3.Internet options, 4.security and lowering the security settings.) Quicken 2003 failed me miserably. NOWHERE did Intuit have a notice that these settings could block you from getting on line. NOWHERE. Intuit's installation is not "intuitive enough warn of possible conflict and direct you to reset.
The customer tech support is abysmal and that Chat dude was a waste. A product of their stature should give a minimum of 30 day tech support - FREE! I am definitely going to check out Microsoft Money, and I recommend that you do too. Not Recommended
Rating:  - I read the other reviews and almost didn't buy it
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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