REVIEW: Use Quicken Records on the 95LX -- with QuickView!

QuickView 2.0 lets you import Quicken registers to the 95LX and view, modify, or add and delete records from the file. It also lets you export the file back to Quicken on your desktop.

By Jeffrey C. Zorn

I always hated balancing my check book, until I discovered Quicken. This software program for desktop PC's made it easy to keep track of my personal finances. Quicken is not available for the 95LX, but fortunately, a product named QuickView is.

QuickView 2.0 lets you work with Quicken records on your 95LX. It also lets you create Lotus .WK1 files from your Quicken data. With QuickView, you can enter and view personal financial data on the 95LX as it happens. You can then export it back to your desktop and bring the full power of Quicken to bear on the information.

Graphic

QuickView Features

QuickView is one of the most useful programs available for the 95LX. You can use it to track everything from business expenses to investment accounts. The demo version of QuickView (ON DISK ICON) lets the user experience most of the functions of QuickView for a limited time frame (after June 30, 1993 the demo won't let you enter data). The registered version does not have this limitation. In addition to the demo features, the registered version lets the user do the following:

  1. 1. Export information from the 95LX back to Quicken at any time. I do it monthly and am able to balance my check book in minutes.

  2. 2. Print reports directly from the 95LX or desktop.

  3. 3. Open new QuickView files from the 95LX from QuickView.

Many of QuickView's features enhance its portability. For expense reporting you can create a new account in QuickView and enter expense information as it occurs. When you get back to your home base, just print out the QuickView report and attach it to your expense report. You can also create a .WK1 spreadsheet file from QuickView data, and manipulate the data to a format that will best suit your needs.

QuickView lets you enter checks that need to be printed from Quicken. Just put a "P" in the check number field of QuickView. Then export the file to Quicken, enter the check numbers and print the checks.

If you have a large check register in Quicken (from years past) you may want to shorten it before importing it into Quick View on the 95LX. Create a new Quicken (.QIF) file by accessing Quicken's File option, then File Operations and Copy. Type in a date range, say from January 1, 1993 to present, and a filename. Then press OK. A new, smaller file will be created with the filename you specified. This new file will be much smaller when converted to a QuickView (.QKV) file. I have a copy of QuickView on my desktop to make this very simple (it also runs on the desktop, and other DOS Palmtops).

QuickView will also allow the user to search their entries to locate items that match specific characters that you specify. Other useful features that make QuickView user friendly are a memorization feature for entries and a manual and automatic category search feature for faster entry of new information.

Is QuickView a Standalone Product?

You could use QuickView as a stand-alone product. You can open files, enter checks, deposits, credit card charges, cash outlays, investments, etc. You can track current balances and net worth. You can even print out an 80-column-wide report of all your transactions that are new or changed. However, the real value of the program lies in its ability to capture all sorts of information on the fly, and then transfer it to your desktop PC and a more potent financial program like Quicken.

Conclusion

QuickView will run on the HP 95LX, Sharp PC-3000, Poqet, and Zeos PPC and clones (thanks to Marty Mankins for testing on the other machines for me). QuickView may also run with some of the other checkbook/financial programs as well as Quicken, but the testing is not yet complete. (The documentation says you can export files to Managing Your Money, by MECA Software; phone: 203-256-5000.)

QuickView's author, John Haskell, tells me he is committed to this program and will be making constant changes, including adding a reconciliation aid feature (this aid is now in the version available for download) on the 95LX. John, is also looking into making QuickView SWITCHable. Future program updates will include these features and more. All updates will be available to registered users at no charge through versions 2.x, and will be downloadable from CompuServe in the HPHAND forum, as well as the Palmtop Forum and on America On Line in the Palmtop SIG (Keyword Palmtop).

John says he is always open to suggestions and would love to hear from you via CompuServe at [70750, 1243]. For those of you on AOL or other services, he is also available on Internet.

This program gets my vote for program of the year. It's easy to use, the set up is simple, and novice and advanced 95LX users alike can be up and running in minutes.