Quicken Premier 2008
Manufacturer: Intuit Inc. Part number: 403615
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- Quicken 2008 is a solid finance package and a great choice for novices, but there isn't a compelling reason to upgrade from the 2007 version.
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Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| eBay |  | In stock | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 12/01/2009 |
CNET editors' review
Quicken Premier 2008 price range: $45.99
- Reviewed by: Jeff Bertolucci
- Edited by: Elsa Wenzel
- Reviewed on: 09/05/2007
The good: Quicken 2008 works with more than 5,300 online financial institutions, offers some helpful feature and interface improvements, adds new Bill Minder Gadget for Windows Vista users, TurboTax integration, free chat, and e-mail help.
The bad: Quicken 2008 is a minor upgrade with few new features; installation dumps icons on your Windows desktop.
The bottom line: Quicken 2008 is a solid finance package and a great choice for novices, but there isn't a compelling reason to upgrade from the 2007 version.
Quicken 2008 is a small upgrade of Intuit's popular personal finance program. This well-built money manager is easy enough for novices yet powerful enough for veteran number crunchers, although it feels like a warmed-over version of last year's model with a few helpful enhancements. That said, the 2008 version is a bit better at managing savings and investments, categorizing expenses, and tracking 529 college savings contributions.
Quicken comes in multiple editions, which have been retooled from previous years. The $30 Quicken Starter Edition, previously named Quicken Basic, provides a surprisingly robust set of tools. You can pay bills online, download bank transactions, and track tax deductions. For $60, Quicken Deluxe targets young families trying to save money for a house, college fund, or other big-ticket item. The $90 Quicken Premier--which we tested--is for older families with various investments, including stocks and property, and maybe a kid or two in college. For $100, Quicken Premier Home & Business aims to serve entrepreneurs who want to manage their personal and business finances with one program. Intuit is also working to build an online version of Quicken.
Setup and interface
Setup for Quicken 2008 is mostly unchanged from last year, and the process is largely automated and fast. Luckily, Intuit doesn't demand that you have a brand-new computer, as the application can run on Windows 2000 or more recent, and a recommended 256MB of RAM. Software installation took only 5 minutes in our tests on both Windows XP and Vista machines, and we successfully downloaded transactions from a major bank and a brokerage firm in about 10 minutes. Since Quicken's account registers automatically categorize your transactions, setup doesn't require a lot of manual labor. And tweaking is easy; to rename a transaction, for instance, select it and click the Edit button. Unfortunately, during installation Quicken rudely dumped four icons on our Windows XP desktop, including junk-mail pitches for credit report, credit card, and bill-pay services.
Features
Of course, Quicken 2007 did these things, too. So what's new in 2008? The biggest upgrade is My Savings Plan, a helpful feature for those of us who have trouble socking away money each month. Using My Savings Plan, you enter monthly spending budgets and savings goals--say, $200 per month for next summer's vacation. Quicken then charts your actual versus allocated spending. It also adopts the "rollover" concept popularized by cell phone plans by adding extra savings to next month's target.
Windows Vista users will like the nifty Quicken Bill Minder Gadget, a Desktop window that reminds you of upcoming and overdue bills, as well as other transactions. In addition, Quicken now connects to more than 5,300 financial institutions, including PayPal. That's 1,000 more than what Quicken 2007 supported--so the odds are good that your bank is covered.
Early users of Quicken 2007 complained of frequent crashes, although Intuit later released patches to address those problems. Thus far Quicken 2008 appears reasonably stable. We did, however, experience one particularly ugly crash that required us to reboot Windows Vista.
Other useful changes include the new navigation bar, which makes it easier to jump between Quicken's main sections, such as Cash Flow and Investing. The register now has better categorization and tagging features, which may prove helpful come tax time. You can select a transaction and either choose from a drop-down list of user-created tags, or enter a new tag. You also can view of list of expenses for a particular project, such as a kitchen remodel. In addition, tax-related transactions are now marked with a TurboTax checkmark icon in the register.
The new Quicken Bill Minder Gadget, which works only with Windows Vista, is an info box that appears in the Windows Sidebar along the right edge of the desktop. The widget pulls in critical information from the program, such as the number of overdue bills and upcoming transactions, and displays it where you can't miss it. There are two views to choose from: List or the tiny and therefore less-helpful Calendar.
Quicken 2008 can track a college savings account, known as a 529 plan. However, if you download your 529 plan information from a brokerage site, you'll most likely have to manually mark the account as tax-deferred, which is a minor annoyance.
Service and support
Quicken support is unchanged from last year. E-mail support is free, and Intuit promises to respond within a day. Chat help is also free and is available 24-7. Phone assistance is $24.95 per call. However, some support calls are free, such as if you're having problems installing the program or converting data from earlier Quicken versions.
We found Quicken support to be fast, polite, but not always accurate. Our simple e-mail query that inquired whether we could upgrade from Quicken 2007 Deluxe to Quicken 2008 Starter Edition (you can't), was answered accurately within an hour. During our chat session, however, the Intuit tech representative insisted that we needed to reinstall Quicken 2008 in a new folder to view the Bill Minder Gadget, which wouldn't appear when Vista launched. To fix the problem, however, we simply had to change a setting in Windows Sidebar.
Conclusion
Quicken 2008 is a fine choice if you're dissatisfied with the wimpy money-management tools found at most bank Web sites. Indeed, Quicken Premier offers far more features than most of us will ever use. However, if you're already using Quicken 2007, there's not enough new stuff here to warrant an upgrade. And if you're currently using Microsoft Money, another great personal finance application, there's no compelling reason to switch to Quicken 2008.
User reviews
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Quicken 2008 a downgrade
by ehsggs on January 23, 2008
Pros: Runs on Vista
Cons: important features dropped
Summary: My wife (an accountant) and I have used Quicken for years for our personal accts and our church's accounting. It worked great UNTIL Q-2008.
With Q2005 and 2006 deluxe ...Summary: My wife (an accountant) and I have used Quicken for years for our personal accts and our church's accounting. It worked great UNTIL Q-2008.
With Q2005 and 2006 deluxe we had all the needed acct functions including P & L and cash flow.
Q-2008 DROPPED P&L and cash flow making the program undiserable for church (or small business ) use.
We can't even transfer the data back to Q-2006 on an older computer.
So, we bought a more expnsive "upgrade" that turns out to be a downgrade.
If there was an accounting software package that could "read" the Q-2008 files we would go for it in a flash
Quicken has really bombed on this "upgrade"
Ed S7 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Same Old Annual Upgrade
by jim154 on January 11, 2008
Pros: Installs easily. Converts prior files accurately. Same comfortable interface.
Cons: Silly changes
Summary: Quicken is easily the best on the market and 2008 Deluxe carries on that tradition. However, why a major new version every year? Is it just the money? Why force ...
Summary: Quicken is easily the best on the market and 2008 Deluxe carries on that tradition. However, why a major new version every year? Is it just the money? Why force long time users to upgrade to Deluxe when the basic version will satisfy many users' needs? Converting "Class" to "Tag" is just confusing. Especially, when it's touted as a major enhancement.
6 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Terrible product design and they forgot who the customer is.
by goldenbolt on December 25, 2007
Pros: Only took 10 minutes to install including all the junk icons.
Cons: Forced Schemes / Limited user control.
Summary: Had an older version 05 wanted to update to a current model. However, it is a piece of garbage. They 'Intuit' assume how you want it setup, discard your previous ...
Summary: Had an older version 05 wanted to update to a current model. However, it is a piece of garbage. They 'Intuit' assume how you want it setup, discard your previous chosen presentation and force God Awful color schemes on the user. From a developers approach the colors (all four junklets) are readable. Trash icons placed on desktop without option to choose? Nice going, I'm off to buy the MSFT Product where at least I CAN CHOOSE how I want it set up. Too bad, know a CFO nice person have dropped e-mail to let them know about the demise of a once wonderful product,
6 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
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If you are a looking to tracks stocks and mutual funds, don't buy this.
by E Reagan on January 21, 2008
Pros: All my data from previous versions is still here.
Cons: Basic functionality does not work.
Summary: If you are a looking to tracks stocks and mutual funds, don't buy this.
I have used Quicken since the mid 1990s, and this is the last version I ...Summary: If you are a looking to tracks stocks and mutual funds, don't buy this.
I have used Quicken since the mid 1990s, and this is the last version I will ever buy.
I manage a large investment portfolio for myself in Quicken.
The servers that Intuit runs for delivering stock and mutual fund pricing have had consistant problems for the last year, not downloading prices, downloading the wrong prices, not responding, etc. This issue seems to get worse with time not better.
As of right now, the quote servers are currently down and have been down for 3+ days with no work around (other than entering prices by hand). I have called technical support and they have no estimated recovery time frame. All they can tell me is the quote server is down, and they do not know when it will be back up.
Should there not be more than one server? (I am going to assume there is) Should they not have the servers replicated into mulitple, geographically disbursed data centers for redundancy and latency?
Why has it been down since some time late Thursday night or early Friday morning and not yet resolved? (It is now noon on Monday). Could you imaging if the NYSE, NASDAQ, Chicago Wercantile Exchange, Bloomberg or Dow Jones could not get their quote systems up for more than 3 days?
Have the IT staff at Intuit ever heard of disaster recovery planning? (Sure they know about it, since they want to sell me an online backup solution for my Quicken data, but they can't seem to practice what they preach).
THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!!!4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Worthless Junk
by MsDoright on January 21, 2008
Pros: None that I could find.
Cons: No support to speak of
Summary: I've been a Quicken user for 14 years. Normally, I upgrade every 2 years, waiting until right before the next version comes out. Unfortunately, this year, I forgot.
Now ...Summary: I've been a Quicken user for 14 years. Normally, I upgrade every 2 years, waiting until right before the next version comes out. Unfortunately, this year, I forgot.
Now I'm trying to install it from a promotional CD they sent me and I can't even get it to display the installation wizard correctly.
Of course, Quicken support is absolutely no help. If it doesn't fit into their "support documents", they simply quit responding.
Phone support is non-existent. All they have are sales people telling you to "Go ahead, buy it and then we'll give you the support!" Yeah.... right... and there's a bridge in San Francisco they'll sell me next!
It's really sad to see a company that used to have a stellar product and adequate support devolve into an inefficient 'customer-no-service' kind of operation.
Here's the CEO's pertinent information:
Stephen M. Bennett
President & CEO
Intuit Corporation
2700 Coast Avenue
Mountain View, CA
94043
(650) 944-6000
I'm sending him a FedEx tomorrow.
I'm happy for you guys who could make it work, but, be forewarned... pretty soon it will be "Bend over, Bubba!" and you'll be in the sinking ship with the rest of us.3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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WHAT A LEMON!
by homer2002 on May 18, 2008
Pros: None - program does not work
Cons: Program does not work, lousy customer support, wasted time and money on stupid upgrade
Summary: After being forced to upgrade from Quicken Premier 2005 because Intuit was no longer supporting that version, I purchased, downloaded and installed Quicken Premier 2008. Everything was fine until I ...
Summary: After being forced to upgrade from Quicken Premier 2005 because Intuit was no longer supporting that version, I purchased, downloaded and installed Quicken Premier 2008. Everything was fine until I attempted to setup my banking accounts only to discover that Quicken 2008 would not connect to my bank (the prior version did). I spent several days dealing with Intuit customer service, which is only available through chat, email, and a "call back" service. After being told to reinstall, adjust firewall settings, and ultimately being told the issue was with my bank and not their software.
I also contacted also contacted my bank regarding the connectivity issue: they said there were a number of complaints regarding Quicken 2008, and that the error was most likely with Quicken itself as the bank did not change their download protocols.
Ultimately I demanded a refund for the $78 upgrade.
BOTTOM LINE: don't waste your time and money Quicken 2008, it's a LEMON!1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Usable Less Than 3 Years
by genska on April 18, 2008
Pros: Generally good product
Cons: Usable for less than 3 years
Summary: I am using Quicken 2005 and am getting alerts from Quicken that online services for Quicken 2005 will expire on 4/30/08. I will no longer be able to ...
Summary: I am using Quicken 2005 and am getting alerts from Quicken that online services for Quicken 2005 will expire on 4/30/08. I will no longer be able to download "financial data from my bank, credit union, credit card, brokerage, 401(K), or mutual fund accounts" after that date. There does not appear to be a compelling reason to upgrade to 2008 other than the loss of this service, and the product cycle of less than three years (I purchased Quicken in June 2005) strikes me as way too short. I'm not sure what Money's similar policy is, but I'm actively looking for alternatives. No doubt, Quicken 2008 will have a similar or shorter supported period than Quicken 2005.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Forcing upgrades from Quicken Basic
by LynnE216 on November 28, 2007
Pros: It's still an easy-to-use, full featured program
Cons: Doubling the price to remain a Quicken user
Summary: While the c|net reviewer accurately notes that you can't move from Quicken Premier 2007 down to Quicken Starter Edition 2008 (a new offering this year), it's also ...
Summary: While the c|net reviewer accurately notes that you can't move from Quicken Premier 2007 down to Quicken Starter Edition 2008 (a new offering this year), it's also true that users of Quicken Basic 2007 can't move to the Starter Edition either, which is at the same price point as the Basic Edition has been in past years. And the Basic Edition is no longer offered. In other words, users of Basic now MUST upgrade to at least the Deluxe Edition, which is roughly double the price of Basic.
For those who've been happily using Basic all these years, having the cost of using Quicken suddenly double will no doubt come as something of a shock. I suspect most will compensate by only upgrading to the "new and improved" (and twice the money) edition when forced to by Intuit's obsoleting of versions more than two or three years old.2 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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save your money - stick with the 2007 version
by Soon2BExQuicken on November 16, 2007
Pros: none i know of.
Cons: can not use webconnect express with Wells Fargo Bank.
Summary: I made the mistake of upgrading. I neven had an issue using 1-step update to download transactions from ALL of my FIs. Now I can not download from Wells Fargo ...
Summary: I made the mistake of upgrading. I neven had an issue using 1-step update to download transactions from ALL of my FIs. Now I can not download from Wells Fargo Bank. I checked the forums and it seems that people are having the same issue with accounts at Bank of America. I have been working with Intuit's support since October. On October 25th, i was told that it would be corrected in 10days. Today, it still doesn't work. I talked to someone at Intuit's support but could not understand his excuse as to why it wasn't fixed and when it would be corrected.
Bottom Line:
If you have 2007 -- save your money and do not upgade.1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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A once great program, thrown to the scrap heap by Inuit
by ChrisW123 on May 31, 2009
Pros: Has features for budgeting and reporting, if you are the type to actually use those features.
Cons: Too many bloated, buggy features. It's obsolete to use a client software to pay bills and record transactions which already exist online at your banks website.
Summary: After 17 years using Quicken and BillPay, I am now done with this software forever. I am switching to my bank's online bill payment system instead. Since I don'...
Summary: After 17 years using Quicken and BillPay, I am now done with this software forever. I am switching to my bank's online bill payment system instead. Since I don't use most of Quicken's features, there is no reason to keep using it, wasting my time typing in transactions that already exist online and wasting $10 a month for the service (BillPay).
I just finished setting up my Wells Fargo payees and it was a snap. My next bill payments will now go through their online payment system instead of Quicken. Hopefully I will never have to use Quicken again.
Part of what pushed me towards this (for which I'm gratefull) is that Quicken is full of aggravating bugs which can make bill payments a real pain, and in some cases scary when payments do not get processed. I receive strange error messages from time to time after sending out payments which cannot be resolved without calling their BillPay tech support. And the people there usually have no idea as to what is wrong 9 times out 10. Sometimes the problems go away, sometimes they don't. You can't delete your online payees without corrupting something in the system, and will have to call and go through HELL to get the situation resolved. I have told Quicken about this problem for years and they have never fixed this. It causes a mess of payees in the system, and if you select a corrupted payee and make a payment by accident, you are screwed. You will have to call to get the situation fixed by talking to someone for 1/2 an hour.
I've heard that the software development team for Quicken is 2 or 3 Chinese offshore programmers so I think that has something to do with its decline. Inuit doesn't care about Quicken (I've heard this from employees of Intuit) so that why it's a piece of garbage. They are not putting dev resources into Quicken, and instead focusing on QuickBooks and TurboTax instead.
My advice: If you have online banking and bill payment, absolutely use that instead of Quicken. You will save yourself and huge about pain and aggravation. It's very easy to use.
-Chris W.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Intuit Inc.
- Part number: 403615
- Description: Get the tools you need for smarter, simpler investment planning and portfolio management. By bringing all of your important financial information together in one place, Quicken Premier helps you more efficiently optimize your investment portfolio, simplify taxes and grow your net worth.
General
- Category Home / entertainment / lifestyle applications
- Subcategory Home / life - personal finance / tax preparation
- Language(s) English
- License pricing Standard
- Localization English
Software
- License Type Complete package
- License Qty 1 user
- License Pricing Standard
- Platform Windows
- Distribution Media CD-ROM
- Package Type Retail
System Requirements
- OS Required Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows 2003, Microsoft Windows Vista
- Min Processor Type 300 MHz
- Peripheral / Interface Devices 2x CD-ROM, SVGA monitor
- System Requirements Details Pentium II - RAM 128 MB - HD 100 MB
Product series
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Manufacturer: Intuit Inc.
Specs: 1 user, Complete package, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows 2003, Microsoft Windows Vista, 300 MHz, 2x CD-ROM, SVGA monitor, Windows
Manufacturer info
- Intuit Inc.
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Intuit Inc. products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.intuit.com/
- Address:
2800 East Commerce Center, Tucson, AZ 85706 - Phone: 1-650-944-6000
