Customer Reviews

Bento 2 [OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

IMprovement over v1, but still has some bugs and issues. Many were present in v1. Filemaker has said they do not fix such bugs, only data loss. v1 has proven this to be correct as it has many bugs, some which prevent its use.

Other issues are you can only use Bento on one machine. Ever. If you move the database file to a new computer your address book and iCal data in Bento is lost. Any custom fields or smart collections are gone. NO syncing between multiple macs either. These were well documented flaws and yet Filemaker chose not to fix them.

Earlier this year I reviewed the new Bento personal database software from FileMaker. Though it has limitations and lacks many desirable features of a database system, I found it to be impressive as a way to store personal information and a low-cost solution for easily tracking your data and keeping organized.

FileMaker recently released an updated version, Bento 2, which adds several improvements and makes the program even easier to use. In this review I will basically concentrate on the new features, particularly those I found most valuable. .

Upon installing Bento 2 I immediately received an update message and proceeded to download Bento 2.0v3, which mainly fixed several bugs in the program. If you are updating from the original version, Bento 2 will update each of your existing libraries. During this process a backup version of all your database information in the original Bento format will be created which will allow you to downgrade to the original Bento if ever needed.

If you are familiar with the Mac programs iTunes and Address Book you will readily understand Bento 2's cataloguing system. Each individual database that you create is called a Library. You can make subdivisions of that library into categories that are called Collections. Each Library is designed for a specific task, i.e. inventory, expenses, contacts, sales and event planning. There are 23 ready-to-use Library templates included in the program which can be easily modified to meet your individual needs. You can create your own custom template from scratch and now download templates that have been created by other users.

Bento 2 offers two views of the data stored in your Libraries, table view and form view. The table view is like a spreadsheet and the new table view is much more flexible and useable. You can now add new fields, change the field type and basically create or edit your form from the table view.

Bento 2 introduces a new split view. The split view allows you to see both the table view and the form view at the same time.

The form layout can now be changed without having to enter a Customize Mode. Simply click near a field's edge to select it, you then can move or resize it, change the font size, etc, Just click inside the field to edit the data.

One feature I was glad to see improved was the import and export options. You no longer need to import and export data only as CSV files. It is now possible to import and export data from and to Numbers, Excel or a text file. In fact, you can simply copy and paste the data from Numbers and Excel into Bento 2 and vise versa. With the original version of Bento I was unable to import my old Apple Works databases, but with Bento 2 the files transferred quickly with no problem. This function will now work with any database that supports tab-delimited files.

Individual library templates can now be exported allowing you to share your favorite templates with other Bento Users. You can also import templates from others with a simple drag and drop. Individual Bento library templates contain the fields and forms from a library, but not the data. Nor can you copy a form from one library to another library. If you want to use the same form, you must recreate the form directly in the desired library.

Never get lost again, just click the new button near any address in a library to automatically display maps and driving directions from the Web.

The printing options in Bento 2 have been improved. Now you can print more than one record per page in Form View and the Fit to Width option makes columns automatically fit the width of the page. However, you still are not provided a lot of tools to create nice printed reports, which could be a disadvantage if you want to use Bento for your small business.

Bento 2 allows you to link Apple Mail messages to a Bento library. Just drag and drop the message into the new Message List Field. You can then view the message from within Bento using Quick Look or use the View in Mail capabilities to open the message and reply.

One definite disadvantage with Bento is its lack of networking ability. You are unable to share the databases with others or to sync information between computers. Bento 2 is available in a Family Pack, which is a good buy, but it just gives you five single computer user licenses.

I was disappointed that the new Bento version still did not provide any security. You are unable to password protect a library that may contain sensitive information. This is a big problem if you want to keep track of financial information, account codes or other information to which you wish to restrict access.

Included on my wish list of features I would like to see in Bento is integration between Bento and iPhoto so you can more easily add photos to your Bento libraries.

The cost of Bento 2 remains at $49 for a single user license. There is no price break for updating from the original version, you still pay $49. A Family Pack is $99. Bento is a real bargain for those of us who want to keep organized but don't need a full-blown database program such as FileMaker Pro. I found the upgrade added enough solid features and improvements to justify upgrading.

Bento may not meet the needs of all businesses or organizations due to its deficiencies such as the lack of scripting and mutli-user access. But, for those of us that need a simpler solution Bento is a great way to easily organize information without having to invest hours in database instructions.

Not sure Bento 2 is for you? Download the free 30 day trial version and check it out.
[...]
Bento 2 Requirements:
A Macintosh computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5, or G4 (867 Mhz or faster) processor
Mac OSX 10.5.4
512 MB of RAM (1 GB recommended)

I've been using Bento 2.0 every day for the past month. I started using it after 2.0 came out, so I have none of the bitterness from upgrade users having to pay the full price for relatively minor improvement. (However, I also use Filemaker 10 Pro myself, and I have another kind of bitterness with this product.)

In short, Bento 2 is very useful for personal users, for purposes it is advertised, but I would not expect much more from Bento. It is no Filemaker. It is very useful when you want to extend or add function to Addressbook, Todo list, calendar, etc., or make your own task manager. In other words, Bento can serve very well as a highly customizable personal information management (PIM) or digital organizer system based on simple databases. Its main weakness are limited relational functions, limited to one table per "library" (databse), and lack of embedded browser interface. Also, "media" field and URL list field of Bento databases are not exportable or importable through CSV files. They are retained within local Bento database files, and they can't be exchanged with other apps in any standard way (unless you are familiar with SQLite database engine, used by Bento. You could access these files directly, if so desired.).

Since I mentioned above that Bento is very useful as a customizable PIM, I might add that Bento currently does not sync with any portable device. They say it works with iPod Touch, but that is only for Addressbook and iCal. This area needs improvement for better usability.

There are many annoying inconvenience in terms of features and user interfaces. I'm actively filing suggestions though their website, so I am strongly hoping that they will release version 2.1 soon to fix these problems. I will revise this review and potentially raise the star rating when I see this happening.

Compared to Filemaker, Bento is a lot easier to use, and much more like Mac software, while Filemaker has more awkward user interface as a Mac application. When creating a simple database, Bento requires a lot less initial work than Filemaker, and the screen layout looks much nicer. Fast, easy, convenient, streamlined are the strengths of Bento over Filemaker.

Bento also has star-rating element, and a few other convenient features that Filemaker lacks. It seems to me that Filemaker avoided these useful features from Filemaker Pro 10 to distance itself from Bento. (I personally want Filemaker Pro 10 to be a superset of Bento, so that I don't have to switch apps to manage personal records, and research data sets, business data and others.)

On the other hand, Filemaker is much more powerful when it comes to relational functions, elements available to user interface. For example, Filemaker can have a web browser (which can also display PDF documents or local files) embedded as an element of user interface within the Filemaker window, which I find very convenient. When the database is large (say more than 10000 records), Filemaker is considerably faster when running search, etc. This is to be expected, since Bento is based on SQLite engine, while Filemaker Pro uses more powerful database engine.

I bought both Bento and Filemaker Pro 10 myself, out of my personal funds. That should tell you that I find both apps are useful for different purposes, and they are different enough. This much is true. What I am not happy is why they did not make Filemaker Pro 10 to have some of the cool features of Bento to make it more useful for quick applications by power users. If you are a Filemaker user, you may find the same bitterness when you decide to shell out for Bento.

I use Bento among my MacPro, Macbook and iMac, synchronized via a pocket hard drive (iMac and Macbook) and/or intranet (MacBook), using MacPro as the base machine. I do this by syncing Bento database folder, Addressbook folder and iCal folder using a free software called unison. It is essential that all three of these databases are synchronized concurrently on all machines, or the references from Bento to the other Mac apps will be broken. If you routinely use multiple computers, Unison is a very worthwhile software to familiarize yourself with, although it is a Unix-originated free software and there is some unfriendliness to it.

I've been working with Bento for a couple of days now. I've used it for some databases for personal use. The integration with Address Book, iCal and Mail are just amazing, and turns out to be essential for my use. I was prepared to spend hours or even days to create these databases in some other database or spreadsheet, but was able to do so in just a few hours and get the exact functionality I wanted.

Granted, there are some limitations, but understand this product is a low cost, 'consumer' database tool. For me, there is huge value being able to tie into my address book and calendar.

Try the 30 day trial. Very easy to use, and you can read the entire user's manual in a few minutes.

Highly recommended.

Great idea AWFUL software.

For something that is supposed to simplify one's life, this software is so unstable, the only thing I have gotten from it headaches.

My experience with Bento 1:
Immediately after installing, on my first use of the software, every action generates the dreaded 'the spinning wheel'.
Then the whole software hangs and it crashes my entire system. I don't recall all of the minutia of how this happened, but what I do recall is that I lost a whole lot of data (Time Machine for some reason doesn't back up Entoruage) and when I got my system back up and running had to re-install a bunch of software....The biggest headache of which was Entourage. I think the crash somehow corrupted Entourage because iCal was pulling data from Entourage. Make sure you don't have your system set up to do this because due to the 'user' issue re-installing Entourage was not a simple task and took days of touble-shooting.

So, because the concept of this software is great, and because Apple promotes this software and I figured surely these people would have ironed out all the bugs of version one before putting out version 2, and because I now don't have iCal pulling data from Entourage - Turned that off, I decide to give it another go.
UGGGHH. Once again, very action generates the dreaded wheel. Then, and this happens after every action, the software hangs up and I get an error message. Not only that, I can't 'force quit' because it has again made my whole system unstable and everything generates the wheel...Not just this program.

Over the 3 years I have had my Mac, it has been proved to be an incredibly stable system. The only crash I have ever had was when I put Bento 1 on.o. I had thought that my first experience was possibly a fluke but with the same instability showing with version 2 immediately, I am not waiting for the crash. I am dumping this software once and for all.

As an added note, it would appear from the ratings around that my experience is not uncommon. What gives with Apple promoting this software. The 2 worst pieces of software I have ever used, iSale and Bento, were both give 2 thumbs up by Apple. This is why I purchased them. I later learned with both that my opinion of them was by no means isolated. What gives Apple? You're losing credibility recommending software like this.

Pretty good product. Very easy to use. Syncing with databases on other computers would make it better (home and work for example).

Bento is an excellent product. The little brother to FileMaker Pro, this database program will fill most peoples needs and could replace several other programs. Just let your imagination go.
Catalog your music, movies, recipes, contacts etc. etc..
Short learning curve and easy to use. I expect to be using Bento in place of several other programs. It may take a little time to input all of your stuff. BUT, you'll be glad you did.

I hesitated in purchasing Bento since I'd been an avid user of FilemakerPro at my work site. I wondered if Bento would be sufficient to meet my home needs. The price was the key factor in purchasing Bento. I've been using it for months now and found it's easy to use and flexible. It doesn't have the ability to create the forms like FilemakerPro; however, the Bento Templates meet my needs and the template exchange program provides me with more ways to use this simple inexpensive and yet satisfying database.

One would assume the reason Apple bought Filemaker (/Bento) was because it realized the Mac platform needed some half decent file management programs. My own experience has largely been one of disappointment -- this is maybe a quarter decent program.

To begin, Bento is a great idea: a simple Mac database for under $100. Sadly, if Bento had simply copied the functionality of something the 25 year-old Q&A for DOS, it would have a far more capable program. Such virtues as speed, reliability, good print formatting, simple rules, reusing templates (until recently), and bug fixes for Bento simply aren't to the standards of even the early 1990's.

There are a few good moves, such as iPhone support (I'd add a wish for Google / Magic phone support). But, overall the impression is one of a poorly managed and perhaps poorly staffed development team.

Support may fall into the same chasm, judging from my one experience: on hold for 2.5 hours today waiting in queue for someone in support to answer my question. I gave up and tried later. Later, the anwer was our support system is "down." The Bento team also hasn't won any friends by failing to fix bugs and/or charging for a full next release for partial fixes. I suspect for most customers, the issue isn't so much the $45 or so involved as the shoddy treatment along the way.

Providing a somewhat seamless range of decent database options should surely be a priority for Apple if it wants to continue to make inroads against the PC and, eventually, Google OS. Sadly, right now Apple's management of Bento seems sliding toward something like an echo of Microsoft's arrogant management of Vista: hope customers will pay for unreliable software and not seek an alternative.

Among the things Bento needs ASAP: use of a blank form to set up searches (which might also solve the current speed problem of the Apple-style search), more flexible screen formatting of forms, decent print output options, greater reliability (especially in links to Address Book etc.), and faster response to bugs (such as the problem with sorting by choice fields). It's also a bit too easy IMO for users to trash their data inadvertently.

I converted from PC to Mac last year. I had used FileMaker on the PC for years. The switch to Bento 2 was great. The ease of installation and use and the features the program offers did not disappoint.