Customer Reviews

Quicken 2003 Premier

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I have been a Quicken user since the very early DOS versions. I have upgraded with each new version, many times disapppointed in the new features or interface. The upgrade from 2001 to 2002 was particularly disappointing. The interface did not change much and where it did it took a step backwards.

Enter Quicken 2003 Premier. The upgrade to the interface is the best in years. The only criticism that I have is that Intuit does have to work on allowing the user to have more control over the features on the screen. For example, there is a wonderful account bar that you can move to the left or right of the screen, but there is no way to hide it. In certain screens, such as the register screen, it would be nice to have a clean interface.

If you have a reasonable investment portfolio you will really appreciate the added tools that Premier brings to the party.

Overall, I highly recommend this upgrade for current users and this software for new users.

I'm a long time (more than 10 years) Quicken user. My only beef has been that the interface has always veered away from the Windows standards. But it never lets me down. I recently took a mistaken journey and converted to MS Money. What a let down. Money is sexier than Quicken but is missing basic functionality and can't hold my 10 years of quicken data...slow as a snail unless i purged years of transactions. The final straw...the portfolio tracking does not allow for the most basic asset allocations. Doesn't show International asset category.

If you only do simple checkbook tracking either product works fine...but if you want to track your whole financial picture...run to Quicken!

I ran back to quicken and life is good again!

I should have bought Money 2003 in the first place. This "redesign" is a joke. The interface is pretty but doing almost anything takes twice the number of mouse clicks as did Quicken 2002. The "improvement" the customer will notice right away is that large Ads have been placed within some of the windows. And there is no way to turn the Ads off in the options menu. I was so disgusted with paying money to get a product that spammed me that I went out and bought Money 2003 Deluxe. Big improvement!! Money 2003 also has spamming ads but they can be turned off in the options menu. The program does everything Quicken 2003 does and has a more attractive interface.

After being an avid Quicken Deluxe and TurboTax user and annually upgrading since 1995, I have decided to switch to Microsoft Money Deluxe. Although I dreaded the possible work involved in importing and massaging my data to work with Microsoft Money Deluxe 2003, it took less than an hour to set up all my online accounts and portfolio. My only regret is that I didn't switch to Microsoft Money and Taxcut years earlier.

My decision to switch was based on a number of reasons.

1.) I found it increasingly difficult to manage my portfolio over the last several editions of Quicken Deluxe. Namely, I found that my 401(k) and investment accounts did not accurately track my cost basis when I sold a fund and bought a new one. Every month my broker's monthly return and my Quicken returns did not match. I bought books on Quicken 2002 and never found any information in them or on your website to address these problems. My father, whom I introduced to Quicken in 1997, found the same frustrations.

2.) TurboTax, Which Quicken Deluxe imports into (somewhat), is overpriced compared to other tax software, such as TaxCut and since my wife was working in another state, I always resented the fact of having to buy 2 separate State tax software packages on top of the already expensive Federal TurboTax. I believe that this past year it would have actually been cheaper to have an accountant prepare my taxes than what I spent on your tax software.

3.) Because of some other deficiencies I found in Quicken, specifically the lack of printable Monthly status reports, report formatting during printing, and others, I registered 3 times for Beta Testing between August, 2001 and August 2002 in order to provide Intuit with feedback to help them improve their product since I use it on a daily basis and am quite familiar with it. I was never contacted to join the beta team or even to provide any feedback!

4.) There was not a trial version of Quicken 2003 available, or even a screen shot on their website! I never got any advanced mailings that gave a list of new features. When it was finally released earlier this month there still was no trial version. Microsoft however provides not only a 60 day Money Deluxe trial version, but much more product information on their website. After I downloaded the MS trial version I knew I was going to switch to MS Money and I went out and bought Money Deluxe 2003 the same day. I plan on canceling my Quicken Visa card and registering for a MSN card.

5.) Quicken Premier seems like a ploy to strip out tax features available in Quicken Deluxe 2002 and sell them for yet another premium price.

If I were a betting man, I would put my money on many other loyal Quicken users making the jump to MS Money this year.

The porfolio analyzer tool uses 'asset class' data that Quicken downloads. However, in my case, I found that the it was downloading inaccurate. I called tech support, who was able to recreate the problem exactly, and confirmed my findings.

We compared the 'asset class' data downloaded into Quicken Premiere, with the 'asset class' data found on quicken.com and found them to be miles apart. The tech support individual told me that Quicken does not download the data from quicken.com, but from another source (he didn't say which, but take that statement as you will). What he did say is 'what you see is what you get.'

I asked when it would be fixed, and he said there would be no way to ever find out (except to repeatedly try the function until I see that it works properly).

I have no idea how long this problem has existed, but it is frightening to think that people could be making signficant financial decisions based on Quicken's 'portfolio analyzer' which is using some inaccurate data.

The upgrade (database update) went smoothly for me when installing this new version. It took a week or so to get used to the new screen layout, but now I like it better than the old one. I like how all of the account windows stay open now and you just select the account names to move between accounts in the Account Bar. Current balance is displayed at the bottom of screen by default which I changed to Ending Balance by selecting customize at the lower left of the account bar and then clicking options in the tool bar. The Online window now closes when restarting the program, but it is just a matter of using an Online Center button in the menu bar to get there instead. Another difference for me is that I now need to click on Investment Center to view what I would have seen before in the Portfolio view. But for me, having gotton use to these differences, I like this new interface better.

I read that Quicken recently removed their ads from the product - I just bought the 2003 version and it's true, the ads are no longer there! They replaced them with financial tips and links to features - some of which I didn't even realize were in the product. I upgrade almost every year and this is a welcome change - those ads were a little distracting.

I have been a Quicken user for many years, and have never seen a product as unstable as Quicken 2003. Bank accounts that were solidly in balance somehow becomes "out-of-balance" and Quicken forces me to put an adjustment entry that is not needed. This then forces it out of balance, although Quicken says it is balanced. Huh? Also, the Backup utility somehow stopped working and stopped allowing me to create a backup file. I get all sorts of errors now. Maybe the other reviewers are right. I probably should switch to MS Money. Arrrgh!

I have used Quicken for years and dutifully upgraded each time one came out. Premier 2003 is so horrible I cannot believe I'm stuck with it. It will not let you pay bills online using two checking accounts and the payee list. Instead you can either pay bills strictly from one account or use the payee line to try to fish up the right payee so a PacBell bill could go to the right place if you only have one phone number but if you have more than one then you're just hoping you got the account number right. There online help is a joke, there isn't any no matter what they say. When I finally got through to the company after a lengthy telephone tree they told me they knew there was a problem but that is why I had to use the "get around method" which I described above. They had no idea if or when it would be fixed. And you cannot revert back to your previous version because the software won't let you. Then a couple of months later my payments stopped showing up where my register said they went and had cleared my bank. Today after writing several letter to the online site with no response, I again got through the telephone tree only to be told that I could either use the "get around method" or pay them a dollar ninety a minute to open me a "case" even though they again said it is a problem with their software. I give. Now I'm going to see if I can get MicroSoft Money to import my data and never buy another product from Intuit in this lifetime or the next.

If you REALLY want to upgrade to this version, you might want to wait until the on-line reviews calm down. I upgraded awhile ago and have to agree with the complaints that:
1. It hogs memory and theefore crashes or freezes lots (and I have LOTS of memory).
2. It is buggy.
3. It has this wierd registration thing.
4. You WILL spend quite a bit of time trying to figure it out.
I am not impressed. If you still want to upgrade, at least think about waiting awhile until it gets a few fixes in it.