Appletell reviews Bento 3 for Mac OS X

Provides: Template based database creation and management
Format: Digital download or CD
Developer: FileMaker, Inc.
Minimum System Requirements: Mac OS X v10.5.7, 867MHz PowerPC G4/G5 or Intel processor, 512MB RAM, CD drive
Processor Compatibility: Universal
Price: $49.00 single user, $99.00 family pack
Availability: Out now
Version Reviewed: 3.0.2

I’m the target audience for Bento 3, and that makes this a fairly easy review to write. I love having database functionality at my disposal, but I’ve never wanted to bother with learning FileMaker just to keep track of my CD collection, family recipes or the Appletell writing staff. More importantly, I didn’t want to pay for the functionality of FileMaker when I knew I wouldn’t use it beyond 20% of its capabilities.

So, I’d end up buying multiple proprietary database programs. One for tracking movies and CDs. One for books. One for recipes. This was more expensive than it needed to be, but it did the job…until the iPhone came along. Suddenly, I was lamenting the fact that I couldn’t take my database programs with me, so I had to buy more for the iPhone, few of which synched with my desktop apps.

Now, there’s Bento 3. It’s to database programs what RapidWeaver and iWeb are to web development. There are more powerful, more functional, more expensive database programs out there, but through a simple interface and a wealth of pre-made templates, Bento 3 offers all the tools that many of us need. What’s more, it’s made by the same company that makes FileMaker Pro, likely the best database program available on the Mac, and arguably on all platforms.

Oh, and it has an iPhone app to which it can easily sync.

Bento comes with 35 pre-designed templates that’ll help you get started with the program. Track and organize your digital media, car maintenance schedule, diet plan, classroom, expenses, health records, and plenty more straight out of the box. The templates are all attractively designed, which makes the program a bit more fun to work with. You never feel like you’re working on an Excel spreadsheet, for example, but rather playing with a family scrapbook. Yet, the results are professional enough to share with clients and such.

In addition, each template can have multiple themes, so you’re likely to find something that pleases you without having to tinker around on your own. Although additional user and professionally designed templates are available, I don’t see that you can download additional themes to apply to your databases.

But okay, so it’s pretty. Is it functional? Yes. Renaming, adding/deleting, and changing the placement of fields is as simple as selecting the field and altering it as you see fit. Any changes you make to a field are carried across all of the entries in that database, but don’t affect new databases created using that same template. Also, if you are syncing up Bento 3 with your iPhone, template field changes are not automatically pushed through. More on that relationship in a bit.

Perhaps the greatest strength in Bento 3, however, is its ability to communicate with programs you’re already using. Content can be imported from spreadsheets such as Microsoft Excel and Numbers by simply copying the information you want and pasting it into Bento’s list view. It can then be displayed and organized in methods much more attractive and accessible than you’ll be able to achieve in their source programs (especially Excel). Understand, though, that changes made to the data in Bento 3 aren’t pushed back to the source programs. And considering that Bento 3 isn’t as powerful as those programs when it comes to number crunching, you’ll only want to do this when you’re ready to display them or when you’re ready to abandon them for good.

But it’s not all business with Bento 3. It can be used to view your iCal, Address Book, and even iPhoto databases as well (that’s really all those programs are, after all: databases). Updates to these programs are automatically reflected in Bento 3, but as with Excel and Numbers, changes made in Bento aren’t pushed back.

This shouldn’t stop you from using Bento, however, to handle your photos and videos. The list view makes it much easier to find what you’re looking for, especially if sorting by date. There’s an iPhoto-like thumbnail view that also displays any special information you’ve entered, but it’s too small to read on my 13″ MacBook, and therefore quite useless to me. The photo detail mode, however, does a fantastic job of displaying appropriate information, provided you’ve entered it.

And that’s the major catch to Bento 3. One of its greatest strengths is its ability to find and sort information based on the details you’ve provided. Want to see all of your concert photos or of a particular person in one quick step? Just do a search for that in Bento, and you’ll get what you need, provided you’ve taken the time to properly tag everything. Although Bento does pull in photos from iPhoto, for example, it doesn’t pull in any tags you’ve assigned, including Faces and Places. And when you add them in Bento, as mentioned, they aren’t pushed back to iPhoto. So, you’re essentially managing two databases, albeit for different purposes.

“But hold on here, Hiner,” I hear you saying, “didn’t you tell us that Bento 3 eliminates the need for managing information in multiple databases?” Yes, I did say that, and it’s true. But if you take advantage of all of Bento 3′s tools, there’s going to be some overlap with the programs it needs to provide certain capabilities.

Plus, there’s that iPhone compatibility I told you about. My Bento for iPhone review covers that functionality in greater detail, but I’ll reiterate here how great it is to have the ability to sync my recipe database with the iPhone via Bluetooth at the press of a single button. I’m not taking my MacBook with me to the grocery store, after all, but my iPhone will be there. Same goes for books, contacts, etc. I can easily enter the information on a by-God keyboard, importing photos and screenshots and such, then sync it up so I can call upon the information whenever I need it (and where I’m more likely to need it than when I’m sitting at a computer desk). The syncing isn’t perfect, as certain fields don’t hook up properly and changes to the templates aren’t carried through, but the basics of it are fine if you know the limitations going into it.

Bento 3, therefore, fills that gap between those who manage huge, complex databases or know how to create their and those of us who need database functionality but aren’t interested in learning how to build them from scratch. The template system is great out of the box, and more are uploaded to the library regularly. If you do need to tweak a template, you can, and it’s not too difficult to pull information in from your current programs, although you won’t be able to push it back.

Of all the features, though, my favorite is the ability to sync with the iPhone app. There’s some room to grow there and some bugs to work out, but I’m pleased thus far. I imagine my wish list for features in Bento 4 for Mac and Bento 2 for iPhone will grow the more I use them, but I also imagine that FileMaker is working on these without me having to tell them to. They’re handy like that.

Appletell Rating:

Buy Bento 3