bit-tech Shopping: Intuit Quicken 2008 Premier (Full Product)

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
• Microsoft Windows Vista
• Microsoft Windows XP

Rating: 10

Time with product: 90 Days

Strengths: Huge improvement over Quicken 2004

Weaknesses: Slower, forced to upgrade

Summary: Quicken forces you to upgrade after a certain time, as certain functions "stop working". So I was annoyed when I purchased this, and tried to find it for the lowest possible price. AsenaShop sold it for a wonderful price.Plus, it is a huge upgrade. The stock tracking system actually works now, and understands options MUCH better than before. It does a better job of handling mortgages and other loans, and many other "business-esqe" transactions.

Rating: 2

Time with product: 3 Months

Strengths: its okay was forced to upgrade with new computer not much diffrence than 2007

Weaknesses: does not print checks or anything woth vista 64bit ..hours with tech support no help if u read the forums on quickens website this issue has w been around for a year and no fix from them

Summary: i will be trying microsoft money i need to print and intuit(quicken) will not solve the problem...also if it says windows vista compadible on the box ...it is not

Rating: 6

Time with product: 5 Weeks

Strengths: fairly easy to upgrade from previous quicken versions, automated account updates

Weaknesses: account setup not streamlined, very difficult for people used to the older version to adjust to new version

Summary: I purchased this to update an extremely out-dated version of Quicken for someone else, mainly for the ability to automate account updates. However, unless you're a younger person, you'll probably have a hard time adjusting to all the changes... I personally use Microsoft Money, which I can immediately say is better than Quicken. Money is easier to setup, easier to use, and easier to maintain. There is a bias here because I have a lot more experience with Money, but I still think that if you're stuck between Quicken and Money, choose Money over Quicken. If you are used to Quicken, then of course stick with Quicken...no sense in completely changing what you are used to. Quicken does all the same basic stuff that Money does, it just does it in a slightly different way. There are pros and cons for each. And remember, not all financial institutions support automatic updates for Quicken or Money (some even charge you like Wachovia does!--horrible!). So you'll still have to manually download information from the financial website in order to keep everything up-to-date in Quicken/Money (and/or avoid paying fees).

Rating: 10

Time with product: 1 Months

Strengths: It is very user friendly.

Weaknesses: The first time I was able to download from one of my banks, but the next time I couldn't make it work. I think this is a bank issue and not a Quicken issue.

Summary: I have used many versions of Quicken so I have used some version of it for years. With other versions I have never downloaded from bbank and credit card sites, but I started doing this with 2008.After learning how to download from each site, I really like the ease and convenience of it. Some of my sites I can download from within Quicken without going on the sites at all. (some pages do not give you that capability), and it is really easy and quick to do. Once you tell Qucken what category you want for each transaction, then it remembers them the next time you download.I highly recommend this product!

Rating: 8

Time with product: 3

Strengths: download capabilities

Weaknesses: none

Summary: I've used Quicken since 1994, owning versions 94, 97, 04 (all deluxe versions) and now 08. The jump from 04 to 08 was the biggest improvement, mainly in the ability to track investments. Between 401ks, IRA's, employee stock plans and others, we've got 9 investment accounts to track. It was easy to schedule a daily automatic download of prices and transactions from every account. You can even download 5 years of historical stock prices and months of past transactions.