BOOKMAN FOR POCKET QUICKEN BANKS ON CONVENIENCE

Users of Quicken, a highly popular personal finance program from Intuit Inc., can now take it with them at a reasonable price.

Pocket Quicken, one of the leading mobile financial tracking programs, has been available on several personal digital assistants (PDAs), such as the Sony Magic Link and the Apple Newton. Unfortunately, these devices cost many hundreds of dollars and are out of reach for many people who just want to balance their checkbooks.

Now Franklin Electronic Publishers has introduced the first dedicated electronic device for Quicken. The small device, which opens clamshell fashion to reveal a keyboard and a three-line liquid crystal display, is part of Franklin's Bookman line. The Bookman for Pocket Quicken has two slots that accept all Bookman cartridges, which include various references and the Bible, and is designed for on-the-road use.

Users can track any type of transaction for accounts such as checking, savings, credit cards and cash. Business expenses can be categorized by trip, project or client.

The most important feature is that you can connect Bookman directly to an IBM-compatible or Macintosh computer via a serial cable. Information can then be instantly transferred to the desktop Quicken and automatically merged into its software, thus avoiding multiple data entries.

Once downloaded into the desktop computer, the information is compatible with other popular Intuit titles, such as TurboTax, MacInTax, QuickBooks and QuickPay.