06-20-2003, 05:30 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 82
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Review: Pocket Quicken 2.01 - Your finances in Hand
We all waited�and waited�and waited. Pocket Quicken is finally here. Does it do everything we expected? Does it integrate seamlessly? Read on to find out whether this software is worth your hard-earned money.
Need your finances at your fingertips? There are several options out there. Does Pocket Quicken set itself apart and is it all that we had hoped?
Taking Account of Your Accounts
Jumping right in, we find that the layout of Pocket Quicken is exactly what we expect. The main screen gives you a familiar view: account name, type, balance and we can sort and change the view simply by clicking buttons on the toolbar or using drop-down boxes.
Figure 1: Nothing new in this basic view. Simple and effective.
Transaction Entries
Entering transactions is simple and shows all the fields that we all expect. Points of note are the ref., payee, category and class fields. The ref. field has 10 entries and the ability to add as many more as you need. The payee, category and class fields all use auto-complete as well as giving you the ability to bring up a list to pick from.
Figure 2: Again, a largely familiar view.
Entries can be split up to 30 times. I know that�s about 25 more than I think I�ll ever need. But then I didn�t need any about a year ago. Tha said, 30 fields seems more than adequate for personal finance. Finally, you have a tab devoted entirely to your memo. I'm not sure that they needed to make it an entire tab when they had plenty of room on the transaction tab, but no harm done.
Budgeting
I can�t say I�ve used the budgeting feature in Quicken in quite a few years, but with it being a ready part of Pocket Quicken I could certainly see myself going back. Use of the budget function is simple enough. By clicking the New button, it prompts you to pick expense or income budget items. From there you select the category and the amount you want to budget per month. As you enter transactions, it will deduct from the Remain column. While there's nothing magical here, this is quite nice to have on hand and really speaks to the simplicity and usefulness of Pocket Quicken.
Options
Those who have read my other reviews know that I love to explore the options screens. Why? No idea. I just findi that I often find little gems. However, I wouldn�t say I found many gems here, but the options are simple and effective. You are able to change what items (account, category, currency and class lists) as well as how much of them get synchronized (by date). You also have the ability to enable or disable transferring transactions entered on your Pocket PC to your desktop Quicken. Why you would want to disable that, I'm not sure, but you have the option.
Under the display preferences, you can change your default account notifications in case you forget to categorize or when you�re deleting a transaction. You can also change settings for hiding and showing different data, such as currency type or hidden accounts and change how the QuickFill will work.
Finally, under security settings you can set a four-digit numeric password for launching the application, which also prompts you when you turn your device on if it automatically shut off while you were in Pocket Quicken. You can also enter your desktop password, if you have one, so you won�t be prompted every time you synch.
Synchronization
This is where the magic happens. I think that this is the defining point for many users and I have to say that they didn�t let us down. The synchronization seems to be flawless. You can set the sync to occur every time you dock, at scheduled times (once per day, week, two weeks or month) or only when you manually kick it off.
Figure 3: Plenty of options on how to have everything synchronize.
Updated
I was barely into working on this review when Landware came out with an update. While .01 updates are usually not a big deal, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it wasn�t a bugfix upgrade as I had thought. Instead, I found that along with a few bugfixes there also some legitimate added features.
First, they added �Quicken Transaction� under the global New menu. Nice touch. Very convenient, yet still secure. You are still prompted for your password before you can enter the transaction. Second, they added a small popup calculator to the main account screen. While using the built-in calculator was adequate, this is a simple improvement that has already proven useful. Finally, and what really set this apart as more than a bugfix update, is Today Screen integration. You can now add the number of unsynchronized transiations you have to your Today screen along with the date of your last synch and the ending balances for any/all accounts.
Figure 4: Today integration
Gotchas
While well organized and simply laid out, there are a few things missing from Pocket Quicken.- Graphs! Charts! There are none to be found. I greatly enjoy viewing my finances in different views, at a glance. Without the pretty graphs I�m reduced to just using the balance total at the bottom of the Account List.
- Personally, I have no need for it, but I can see where people might have the need to synchronize more than one Quicken file. Pocket Quicken doesn�t allow for such a thing, and in fact, merges the two files into one.
- No ability to reconcile transactions that are synchronized down from the desktop. You can reconcile transactions entered on the Pocket PC, but not ones that come down from the computer.
Where To Buy
The software can be purchased for $39.95, directly from Landware. As a special offer to Pocket PC Thoughts readers, simply put PPCTHOUGHTS in the comment field when purchasing the downloadable version and receive $10 off the price. This offer will expire July 20th, 2003.
Specifications
Pocket Quicken requires 593.6KB to install. I did install it on a Secure Digital card without any issues.
Conclusions
Pocket Quicken is a great companion for any Quicken user. The seamless synchronization is the killer part of this app. If they could throw in my pretty graphs and the ability to reconcile all transactions there�d be no reason for me to even entertain any other personal finance software. I anxiously await the next version. Let�s just hope it doesn�t take so long.
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06-20-2003, 05:46 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 5
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But does it sync with the UK version of Quicken?
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06-20-2003, 05:50 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 19
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Nice Review
Thanks for giving some info on this product. One question:
Can you fill out online transactions? I think it would be terrific if you could set up to pay your bills, and have them sent when you do your activesync. I haven't seen any info on Landware's site regarding any of this.
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06-20-2003, 05:58 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 160
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the "gotchas"
i've never used quicken, much less pocket quicken. when you say,
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Pocket Quicken doesn�t allow for such a thing, and in fact, merges the two files into one.
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what do you mean? can you have one quicken file that has your checking, savings, and credit card information? thanks.
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06-20-2003, 06:50 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 79
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Re: the "gotchas"
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Originally Posted by Evee Ev
can you have one quicken file that has your checking, savings, and credit card information? thanks.
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Yes, you can have as many accounts as you want in one file, just not different files. What I really miss are the Investment Accounts. You can have the total value of an investment account show, but not the details. It would be nice to have at least the Stock, Cost, Current Price, and # of shares available.
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06-20-2003, 07:07 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,819
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Re: the "gotchas"
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Originally Posted by Evee Ev
i've never used quicken, much less pocket quicken. when you say,
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Pocket Quicken doesn�t allow for such a thing, and in fact, merges the two files into one.
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what do you mean? can you have one quicken file that has your checking, savings, and credit card information? thanks. |
Well my wife owns her own business and the way Pocket Quicken would work is it would merge her business accounts with our home accounts. Because of this, I have our home accounts on my PPC and she has her work accounts on her PPC.
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06-20-2003, 07:08 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 136
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Kind of Pricy
I tried the beta for Quicken and did really like what I see but the price is kind of high. To use you need the full version of Quicken ($70.00) and then the pocket PC version ($39.95). That is a lot of money.
I hope to see the price drop in the future because right now Quicken is telling me I can't afford it.
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06-20-2003, 07:35 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 82
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Re: Nice Review
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Originally Posted by Crimguy
Thanks for giving some info on this product. One question:
Can you fill out online transactions? I think it would be terrific if you could set up to pay your bills, and have them sent when you do your activesync. I haven't seen any info on Landware's site regarding any of this.
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No, there's no online transaction processing. Not a bad idea for a future enhancement, though.
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06-20-2003, 07:45 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,124
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I really like this program; it was worth the $30 I paid for it, but one very important thing is missing--a RUNNING BALANCE COLUMN in the register! This would be SO useful to me, and it seems like there's plenty of room for it. Landware, is there any plans for this in a future version?
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06-20-2003, 08:55 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 21
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Re: Kind of Pricy
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Originally Posted by isilver
I tried the beta for Quicken and did really like what I see but the price is kind of high. To use you need the full version of Quicken ($70.00) and then the pocket PC version ($39.95). That is a lot of money.
I hope to see the price drop in the future because right now Quicken is telling me I can't afford it.
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Ummm... I use Pocket Quicken with the Basic version of Quicken 2000 ($29.95 at the time, still is I think). AFAIK, it works with the current basic version just as well, which makes sense because the Quicken file format is pretty much the same between feature versions.
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Linear Mode
