Bento 3 [Old Version]

by Filemaker Inc.

Product Features

• Organize contacts, track projects, plan events and so much more with Bento 3
• Links directly to your Address Book and iCal information--store important details about each person, event or task, including related files, photos, and emails
• Link your photos to contacts, projects, and events stored in Bento giving you a more complete picture
• Easily share your contact lists, project plans, event details, and other information with up to five Bento users on your local network
• Choose from 35 pre-designed templates, download and import templates from others, or design your own custom forms using beautiful themes designed by Mac artists

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002O0H5B6
• Item model number: TW345LL/A
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 2009
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,036 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #21 in Software > Business & Office > Database

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Meet Bento 3 for Mac, the breakthrough new version of the wildly popular personal database from FileMaker that's as easy to use as your Mac.

Organize contacts, track projects, plan events and more--all in one place.

Organize contacts, track projects, plan events and more--all in one place.

Bento 3 now includes iPhoto integration, security options, multi-user sharing, and much more!

Choose from 35 pre-designed templates included with Bento, download and import templates from others who share your passion, or design your own custom forms using beautiful themes designed by Mac artists.

Bento links directly to the Address Book and iCal information you already have on your Mac to display your contacts and calendars in new and exciting ways. Add places to store important details about each person, event, or task, including related files, photos, and emails. Plus, changes you make in Bento are reflected in Address Book and iCal so your MobileMe account, your iPhone, and your iPod touch will be in sync.

Now you can easily share your contact lists, project plans, event details, and other Bento libraries with up to 5 Bento users on your local area network. Choose which libraries you want to share, and if you want to allow adding, deleting, and updating of information, or limit access to viewing only. Even add a password if you like. Now your family and friends, classmates, and coworkers will always be informed and up to date.

Do all this and more with pre-designed, ready-to-use templates:

• Organize contacts, clubs and mailing lists
• Track projects, tasks, and deadlines
• Plan special events, parties and weddings
• Link photos to contacts, projects, and events
• Manage students, classes, and lecture notes
• Search wine and movie collections
• Catalog inventory, assets, and equipment
• Record billable hours and payments due
• Keep a daily log of diet and exercise
• Store recipes and shopping lists
• Secure encrypted passwords
• See details of products for sale and items sold

View your iPhoto information inside Bento in the new Grid view, Table view, Form view or Split view.

Link photos to contacts, projects, events or other data stored in Bento.

View any library in the new Grid view to show a grid of pictures and forms for a more visual approach to your information.

Here's what's new in Bento 3:

iPhoto integration
Store more info about photos and link them to contacts, projects, events, and other information stored in Bento.

Grid view
In addition to Table view, Form view, and Split view, you can now see your images and forms in Grid view for a more visual approach to your information.

Security options
Protect your sensitive data using encrypted fields and password protection. Great for web site logins and banking details.

Multi-user sharing
Share your Bento libraries with up to 5 other Bento users on your wired or wireless local area network. Ideal for sharing contact lists, project plans, and event details with family, friends, classmates and coworkers.

Related data field with thumbnails
Displays thumbnail images of related data instead of just text. For example, link a list of guests to an event--and see a picture of each person invited in the related data field.

File list with thumbnails
Displays thumbnail images of related file instead of just text. For example, link a list of files to any record and see the first page of PDF file or a mini version of jpg images in the File list.

Simple list field type
Add a freeform table to your forms. Great for creating a quick to do list or shopping list--and for tracking gifts received at parties and weddings.

Library folders
Save space in your Libraries pane by grouping like libraries in a single folder. Libraries contained in the folder can also be exported as a group.

Group emailing
Send one email to multiple recipients through Apple Mail with a few clicks.

Ten new templates
Thanks to the addition of ten ready-to-use templates, there are now a total of 35 templates to choose from.

See and interact with your information in stunning new ways

New--iPhoto integration

• See all your albums listed in the Bento Libraries pane automatically--no importing required.
• View your iPhoto information inside Bento in the new Grid view, Table view, Form view or Split view.
• Add additional fields and forms to store more information about your photos beyond what iPhoto stores.
• Link photos to contacts, projects, events or other data stored in Bento.

Note: Photos and associated data from iPhoto can only be viewed from within Bento and cannot be edited. However, you can add new fields to your Bento forms to store more data about your photos, but it will not appear in iPhoto.

New--Grid view

• View any library in the new Grid view to show a grid of pictures and forms for a more visual approach to your information.
• Customize the Grid view to display additional information under each thumbnail that is most relevant to you, like phone numbers or email addresses for all your contacts.
• Create and view your own customized thumbnail forms. For example, say you have 40 products that you're selling. You could create a form where you have an image of the product next to the part number and price to see multiple product "cards" together on one screen.

Improved--Related data field--now with image thumbnails

• See thumbnail images of media in your Related data fields (formerly called the Related records lists).
• For example, you can link a list of guests to an event--and see a picture of each person invited on the event record.

Improved--File list--now with image thumbnails

• See a thumbnail image of each document in the File List instead of seeing a list of text containing names of files.
• For example, you can see the first page of PDF file or a mini version of jpg images.

Improved--Table view with media cell

• See mini versions of pictures, movies or PDFs stored in a media field when you're in Table view.
• Use Quick Look to view the media cell contents while in Table view.

Bento links directly to the Address Book and iCal information you already have on your Mac to display your contacts and calendars in new and exciting ways.

There are now a total of 35 templates to choose from.

New--Simple list field type

• Add a freeform table to your forms for quick list tracking.
• Create a quick to-do list, shopping list, or keep track of gifts received at birthdays and weddings.

New--Library folders

• Save space in your Libraries pane by grouping like libraries in a single folder.
• Export the entire folder as a group of templates for easy sharing and uploading to the Bento Template Exchange.
• Export data from all of the libraries at once into separate CSV, Tab delimited, Excel, or Numbers files.

Improved--Library icons

• Change the icon for any library, choosing from the list of available icons.
• Resize your library icons to display either large size or a more compact size to save space in your Libraries pane.

New--Image box

• Add a static image, such as a team logo, to any of your forms.
• The image appears on all records in the library automatically.

Protect your valuable data with new security options.

New--Security options

• Use the new field type called "Encrypted" to store sensitive data, like web site logins and banking details.
• Unlock encrypted fields to display contents by entering the database password.
• Assign a database password to your entire Bento database. You will be prompted for the password upon launching Bento. Once the correct password is entered, Bento will open your database giving you full access to all your libraries.
• Assign a sharing password to allow others access to your shared libraries. This password is different from the database password and only allows access to specific libraries that you have chosen to share over a local area network.

Keep your team informed and up-to-date.

New--Multi-user sharing

• Share your Bento libraries with up to 5 other Bento users on your wired or wireless local area network.
• Choose to share your entire Bento database or selected libraries.
• Add a sharing password that prevents access to shared libraries by unauthorized users.
• Allow adding, deleting, and updating information or choose to limit access to viewing only so no changes can be made.
• Uses Apple Bonjour to automatically find shared Bento libraries on the same network.

*Sharing requires each user to have their own copy of Bento, and a local area network using a wired or Wi-Fi wireless connection.
*iCal events cannot be edited by others when sharing libraries.

Get even more new features that you'll wonder how you ever did without.

New--Group emailing

• Send one email to multiple recipients through Apple Mail with a few clicks.
• Select the email addresses that you'd like to send to in Table view, then choose 'Email Selected Addresses' from the Edit menu. Apple Mail opens, creates a new message, puts the selected email addresses in the 'To:" field and leaves the cursor in the Subject field so you can complete the group email.

Improved--Theme Chooser

• Browse, try, and apply themes more easily than in previous versions.

New--Print blank form

• Print a blank version of any form, great for surveys and sign up lists.

New--Copy forms

• Now you can copy forms within a library and between collections--a huge time saver and great way to keep things consistent throughout your libraries.

New--10 additional templates
Thanks to ten new, pre-designed templates, there are now a total of 35 to choose from. New templates include:

• vacation planner
• health records
• job search
• house search
• wine collection
• home maintenance
• party planner
• TV & movie catalog
• user names and passwords
• meeting notes

Product Description

Meet Bento 3 for Mac, the breakthrough new version of the wildly popular personal database from FileMaker that's as easy to use as your Mac. Organize contacts, track projects, plan events and more – all in one place. Bento 3 now includes iPhoto integration, security options, multi-user sharing, and much more! Choose from 35 pre-designed templates included with Bento, download and import templates from others who share your passion, or design your own custom forms using beautiful themes designed by Mac artists. Bento links directly to the Address Book and iCal information you already have on your Mac to display your contacts and calendars in new and exciting ways. Add places to store important details about each person, event, or task, including related files, photos, and emails. Plus, changes you make in Bento are reflected in Address Book and iCal so your MobileMe account, your iPhone, and your iPod touch will be in sync. Now you can easily share your contact lists, project plans, event details, and other Bento libraries with up to 5 Bento users on your local area network. Choose which libraries you want to share, and if you want to allow adding, deleting, and updating of information, or limit access to viewing only. Even add a password if you like. Now your family and friends, classmates, and coworkers will always be informed and up to date.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

86 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Simple to use, useful, but also limiting in many ways, November 20, 2009

By 

Ryuji Suzuki (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bento 3 [Old Version] (CD-ROM)

I've been a Bento user since 2.0, and I'm reasonably experienced in database. I also use Filemaker Pro 10.

In short, Bento 3 is very useful for personal users, for purposes it is advertised, but I would not expect much more from Bento. Bento 3 is also not much more than Bento2 engine with new cosmetic features. 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.).

There are many annoying inconveniences in terms of features and user interfaces. I'm actively filing suggestions though their website, so I am strongly hoping that they will release new version soon to fix these problems, but so far I didn't get any luck. I will revise this review and potentially raise the star rating when I see this happening (by the way, I gave 3 stars to Bento 2).

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.

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars an odd software package with distinct limitations, December 13, 2009

By 

Neurasthenic "neurasthenic" (New York City, New York) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Bento 3 [Old Version] (CD-ROM)

First, let's give credit to the things Apple got right -- they correctly identified that Filemaker had grown too complex for the needs of many people, and they set about creating an elegant, flat database with tight integration to other Apple software packages. I suspect most people will be able to use Bento productively on their first exposure to it, and it effectively turns iPhoto into "iPhoto+," Address Book into "Address Book+", and iCal to "iCal+" by allowing the user to wrap a Bento interface and fields around the data from these applications. This means that you can use Bento to add an "assigned to" field or "location" field to the iCal To-Do list, for example. Plus, for another $5, you can get an iPhone client that gives you access to your Bento data on the fly, and allows editing of both the database form and content on the road.

What's not to like? Excepting the integration to other Apple software packages, this is essentially a 1985-level flat database. Want to enter a variable number of items (say, items in a shopping basket or a diet list), associate a second field with the first (the price associated with each item, or the number of calories), and then perform rudimentary math on that second column (total price, total calories)? No chance. Want free-form design, or to control the tab order, or even to suppress field labels on a form? No chance. Bento has no report-generating ability, rudimentary import/export, and it doesn't support any sort of scripting or macros. Even the iPhone client, which has such great promise, is riddled with seemingly odd limitations. It does not sync with your computer automatically, but only when told to do so manually. It syncs only if Bento is running at the same time. It syncs only over WiFi, not the cellular network or your USB cable. And it does not display anything like the forms you've created in Bento, instead it shows each record as a list of fields, in which calculations are frozen (if on the computer, field 3 = field 2 + field 1, the iPhone client will let you change fields 2 and 1, but it won't update field 3 as a result).

If you are considering buying Bento 3, spend time on Apple's website looking at the demos and understanding the limitations.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars FileMaker/Bento people still need to get it right, February 28, 2010

By 

R. Nadel "Opinion Above Knowledge!" (Boulder, CO, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bento 3 [Old Version] (CD-ROM)

I had great hopes for Bento V3, but it still misses the mark. It is easy to use, but that is because there is VERY LITTLE to it. Bento's big brother, FileMaker, has more functionality and price, but too much of both for me. Can't they get it just right?

Bento offers you very little functionality. This means you can set up a very simple database in a few minutes, but you cannot do much analysis of your data. It is also very limiting in how you can represent your data. You cannot create reports or summaries beyond the most simplistic views. Bento is just what the name implies - a snack not a meal. And it leaves you wanting more. FileMaker's more sophisticated offering has more functionality, takes longer to set up, and costs a LOT more, and I do not need most of what it can do.

Bento is inexpensive, but it's still not money well spent. FileMaker is expensive, and for most people it is NOT money well spent since it contains way more than an average user needs. I was hoping V3 would be a lot better than V2. Put simply, it is not.

In Bento, it is not easy to set up relations between data base fields, you cannot create repeating reports, the automatic formatting prevents you from being creative with images if you want to use pictures in your forms, you cannot sort drop down list items, and you are restricted to Bento's field definitions.

Bento is priced very reasonably, which is the one thing in its favor, but I won't be buying it. It should sell for $19.99 tops. I need something that is in between Bento's simplistic restrictive capability and FileMakers bloated capability.

Come on FileMaker, stop giving us short shrift.