Review: Pocket Quicken 2.01 - Your finances in Hand [Archive]

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Jordan Rosenwald

06-20-2003, 05:30 PM

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. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/jordan-june03-pq-1.gif" /> <!> 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. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/jordan-june03-pq-1.gif" /> 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. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/jordan-june03-pq-2.gif" /> 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. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/jordan-june03-pq-3.gif" /> 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. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/jordan-june03-pq-4.gif" /> Figure 4: Today integration Gotchas While well organized and simply laid out, there are a few things missing from Pocket Quicken. <li> 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. <li> 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. <li> 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, <a href="http://www.landware.com/pocketquicken/ppc/index.html">directly from Landware</a>. 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.

chrish01

06-20-2003, 05:46 PM

But does it sync with the UK version of Quicken?

Crimguy

06-20-2003, 05:50 PM

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.

Evee Ev

06-20-2003, 05:58 PM

jim s

06-20-2003, 06:50 PM

can you have one quicken file that has your checking, savings, and credit card information? thanks.

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.

James Fee

06-20-2003, 07:07 PM

i've never used quicken, much less pocket quicken. when you say, Pocket Quicken doesn’t allow for such a thing, and in fact, merges the two files into one. 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.

isilver

06-20-2003, 07:08 PM

Jordan Rosenwald

06-20-2003, 07:35 PM

PetiteFlower

06-20-2003, 07:45 PM

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?

Bradskey

06-20-2003, 08:55 PM

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.

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.

Bruce Babcock

06-20-2003, 09:24 PM

ctmagnus

06-20-2003, 11:33 PM

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?

The bottom has Current balance and Ending balance. I read somewhere a discussion about this and iirc it boiled down to real-estate issues and the fact that the PPC screen is 240 px wide.

Everyone reading this post: Please do not start another argument/discussion/brawl regarding the 240x320 resolution of PPCs. Anyone that mentions this in this thread, I kindly ask Steve Cedrone to ban them for life, from all discussion boards across the entire Internet, past, present and future regardless of geographical location. You have the power, Steve, wield it!

PetiteFlower

06-21-2003, 12:56 AM

Like I said, I think there's enough room for it, I wouldn't mind having the other columns a little squished to provide for it. Lots of programs have customizable columns where you have as many as you want and each one can be a different thing(Outlook folders come to mind), having it like that would be swell :) Like, I'd rather have the balance then the reference number or something. Someone else might want to see something else instead; it would be nice if the program could let us see the information that WE think is important!

ctmagnus

06-21-2003, 02:38 AM

Come to think of it, they could probably do that by adding a selector to the Amount column like they did with the middle column. But it'll probably end up a togglable thing, considering they didn't institute it in the first place.

Bradskey

06-21-2003, 02:57 AM

Like a lot of poeple I was awaiting PocketQuicken for a long time and quickly loaded the trial version. For the most part I realy liked the program but I need to sync to the quicken file on my wifes machine across the network. Has anyone else tried this and gotten it to work :?:

PocketQuicken syncs across Wi-Fi in my house with the rest of Activesync, if that's what you're asking. Tethered connection shouldn't make any difference either. This would require an existing partnership with the remote computer, and you may be asking something else I guess. Or maybe you could have your local Activesync client config'd to sync Pocket Quicken to a QDATA file on a remote share or mapped network drive, but I'm not certain about this?

ctmagnus

06-21-2003, 03:18 AM

PocketQuicken syncs across Wi-Fi in my house with the rest of Activesync, if that's what you're asking. Tethered connection shouldn't make any difference either. This would require an existing partnership with the remote computer, and you may be asking something else I guess. Or maybe you could have your local Activesync client config'd to sync Pocket Quicken to a QDATA file on a remote share or mapped network drive, but I'm not certain about this?

The method doesn't matter, only the location of the qdf file. IIRC, when first installed, the conduit searches your machine for all (current?) qdf files and then lets you select one to synchronize with. After that, you're stuck with synching just the one file. AFAIK.

Reason being, the Quicken data is stored as database info on the Pocket PC, not as files on the desktop. Until Landware (or some other developer) comes up with a way to stuff the info from multiple qdf files into the database and/or create secondary databases, you'll only be able to synchronize with one account per Pocket PC. If you synchronize two Pocket PCs with the one PC, you may be able to get away with having info from separate qdf files on each Pocket PC but I don't have the means to try that yet.

makic

06-21-2003, 05:00 AM

The question I really want answered is:

Why do you need to have a subscription service for the site when your "secondary" checking account looks like that????
:jawdrop:

Jason Dunn

06-21-2003, 05:20 AM

Why do you need to have a subscription service for the site when your "secondary" checking account looks like that????

The review is by Jordan. My name is Jason. Jordan, Jason. Different names, different people. :wink: :lol:

Janak Parekh

06-21-2003, 05:49 AM

The review is by Jordan. My name is Jason. Jordan, Jason. Different names, different people. :wink: :lol:
Too many J's! Oh, wait... :lol:

And in any case, I strongly suspect Jordan didn't take screenshots of his actual finances, but rather was using test data. :D

--janak

k_kirk

06-21-2003, 08:51 AM

I too waited for this product for a while and had a chance to run some comparative tests with its main competitor (SPB Quick). Not related to either company. Here are some of my findings for anyone who may be interested. Apologies for the long post.

Synch time - P.Quicken is significantly slower to synch the same datafile and transactions. SPB Quick is faster to sync but does not allow focus to change to some other program during sync so essentially you can't use your PC while it is synchronizing Quicken data.

Control over which accounts are synchronized from PC to PPC - The two products can almost achieve the same results but in two different ways. SPB Quick has the ability to filter accounts that will be synched to PPC and you can choose as many or as little of them. P.Quicken does not have this high degree of flexibility and only has the ability to control synch of hidden accounts on the PC. That is to say, if you do not wish to see an account on the PPC you must hide them on the PC as well which is a bit limiting.

Multi Currency Support - This is an interesting point the reviewer did not seem to pick on. P.Quicken supports multiple currencies and transactions etc. SPB Quick does not have support for multiple currencies. This feature is great for frequent travellers who use their PPC for trip accounting. I truly hope Landware further improves this feature to include currency rate synchorinization with one of the sources on the net.

Budgeting - Another P.Quicken does, SPB Quick does not capability. I hope Landware considers synchronizing PPC Budgets with PC Budgets. Right now the budget settings you may have on both sides are not linked.

New payee entered on PPC - The new payee entered into P.Quicken is memorized on PC without any manual intervention. On SPB Quick new payees are not memorized by default on the desktop. One must open the transactions involving the new payee and memorize them on desktop manually. If this tedious step is omitted then the new payee does not appear on PPC while using SPB Quick. Major hurdle...

Security - Password control exists on both products. P.Quicken has an additional capability such that if the PPC is powered off while using P.Quicken and powered back up again P.Quicken asks for password verification. SPB Quick does not have this feature. Furthermore in SPB Quick all data is written to non-encrypted files as well as account balances into the registry.!!! This means any one with a registry editor who has access to your PPC can see your account balances if you are a SPB Quick user.

Next CQ No - P.Quicken generates on next cheque number on PPC but does not update PC record so next cq registered on PC still goes to an older number. This is an area I am hoping Landware will focus at the next minor update and synch back the cheque numbers to PC so as to avoid confusing duplicate numbers. SPB Quick does not generate next cheque numbers on PPC. There is a reference field for manual entry.

I would like to congratulate and thank both companies for the efforts they have put into their respective products. Regards,

K.

ctmagnus

06-22-2003, 02:20 AM

Control over which accounts are synchronized from PC to PPC - The two products can almost achieve the same results but in two different ways. SPB Quick has the ability to filter accounts that will be synched to PPC and you can choose as many or as little of them. P.Quicken does not have this high degree of flexibility and only has the ability to control synch of hidden accounts on the PC. That is to say, if you do not wish to see an account on the PPC you must hide them on the PC as well which is a bit limiting.

I managed to set Quicken XG up so my hidden accts are greyed out, rather than hidden completely from view. And on the PPC end you can show or hide hidden accts, they have an H beside them when shown.

Madoc Owain

06-23-2003, 11:03 PM

The only reason I still hang onto and use my ancient Apple Newton MP130 is because I have PocketQuicken on it, and don't have to own/use/synch up to a desktop version of the software to use it fully. When Landware can do that, then I'll buy their software. Until then, Make Mine Newton!

:twisted:

M.O.

Bruce Babcock

06-24-2003, 03:33 PM

PocketQuicken syncs across Wi-Fi in my house with the rest of Activesync, if that's what you're asking. ................
Or maybe you could have your local Activesync client config'd to sync Pocket Quicken to a QDATA file on a remote share or mapped network drive, but I'm not certain about this?

I didn't have any problems when the QDATA file was on My computer. But it is normaly on my Wifes computer across the network. I may resort to using some file sync software to keep two files current on both computers.

Bruce