Good database software

[angel-54]

My husband is an auto salesman and has quite a large customer base. We want to computerize him!

I would like a very easy software that I can put in the customers names, birthdates, addresess so that I can print him up labels and send newsletters, reminders, cards etc.

I use to use ACT for him but he is not very good with the computer to look up a customer.

Would anyone know of any software that would do this? I myself do not know Excell or Access.

[slumlordfrank]

ACT is absolutely the best customer data base going. I was really terrible with computers when I got my first one in '95. The first software (other than MS Office which came on the computer) that I bought was FirstACT and a year later I upgraded.

One thing that I did was ask a few other people about how they had set it up, particularly the "user defined" fields. I also took a 6 hour class on ACT at a local company, cost me about $40 IIRC.

10 years later when I sold my company I was still using the version of ACT that I had bought in '96, although I had refined some of the fields. I could almost look up someone by eye color, LOL.

Go back and look at ACT with fresh eyes. I was a manufacturer's rep and when I polled my competitors, ALL OF THEM were using it!

frank

[Gmaxx]

Originally Posted by angel-54

My husband is an auto salesman and has quite a large customer base. We want to computerize him!

I would like a very easy software that I can put in the customers names, birthdates, addresess so that I can print him up labels and send newsletters, reminders, cards etc.

I use to use ACT for him but he is not very good with the computer to look up a customer.

Would anyone know of any software that would do this? I myself do not know Excell or Access.

Check into Alpha 5, its much better than Access

[trevorjones]

amphis customer is easy to use and does labels, mail merge etc

trevor

[dcrobinson77]

Most PC's come with a copy of MS Works pre-installed. I don't know how well it would work for your situation, but it's free and worth a look. Good luck

[Largine]

MYSQL is a good one to use, you can even download for free.

[tldoug]

I agree with SLFrank that ACT! is hard to beat for a Contact Management program. However, if you don't have or want to spend the $$, do a Google search for Free Contact Management Software. There are numerous choices available.

As for some of the other suggestions made here, MSWorks uses its spreadsheet application for databases, and is no more suitable for this type of use than is MSExcel. Pure relational database applications like MSAccess, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Alpha5 are superb if you are into creating databases from the ground up. It doesn't sound as if you are. There is also the OpenOffice.org office suite and its Base application. OpenOffice.org (which is fully compatible with Microsoft Office), MySQL, and PostgreSQL are all open source products that are freely available to download and use for any purpose. I have been using these three products for many years in a variety of environments and I am very satisfied with them.

To reiterate, go with Act! You won't be disappointed because it has everything you could want in a good Contact Manager along with good customer support and a wide and deep user base. But, if you are feeling a little adventurous and want to keep those $$ for a couple of lattes at Starbucks, then use the Google search. You may find a real gem. If you do, let us know.

Good luck
Dougbert

[think2nite]

I am mostly just using Office right now...
I am running Win XP SP3, and I was wondering if I should upgrade to Windows Vista, or wait till Windows 7 comes out?

[Beachboy]

Well, you're opening up a Pandora's Box by asking if you should upgrade to Vista or keep XP! Everyone has their opinions and I'm sure you'll hear them. Before even considering an upgrade, is your computer powerful enough to run Vista? XP is still being sold and supported by Microsoft, so its not obsolete softwear yet. If its running OK for you and you have no trouble finding software still XP compatible, I'd leave it alone for now. Besides, when Windows 7 comes out, it will have its usual share of new-release bugs like most all new Windows operating systems do. Maybe by then, Vista will be de-bugged to the level XP is now. You would also need a Vista-compatible version of Office if you upgrade to Vista.

I have XP at work, and Vista at home, and I don't see that much difference. I saw more difference between 98SE and XP. Much of the agony of adapting to Vista came from people upgrading existing computers to Vista. New computers designed for Vista seem to generally operate just fine....my two haven't given me any grief -- yet.

[BobF]

I'm still running Windows 2000 Professional. It works well. The only reason I'll upgrade is that world will eventually stop producing software and pdf files that my computer can read and use.

No need to upgrade if it all works!