ANON BUD  Well, after all the negative reviews--and my personal distaste for Filemaker's business model (i.e. charge as much as the market will bear, even for incremental upgrades)--I decided I really could not go without having a useful, editable database app on my iPod Touch, so I purchased both the Mac and iPhone version of Bento. I must say that I am pleased so far. True, there are some drawbacks with exporting and the lack of html support, but this is a robust app and allows me to create many useful databases for use in my work and personal life.

I do not really have to have true integration with Address Book or iCal, so what Bento does with them is fine for my usage.  
(Version 2.0v4)

ANAPAT   I bought Bento a year ago, because I needed a program to build a very very flexible database for my artwork. Just to know which piece is where and keep track during exhibitions, sort price listings for insurance companies, beautiful interface, no headaches learning the program and so on... I had no complaint about Bento except for its very sluggish behaviour ! Meanwhile I loaded three updates since version 1 and I asked myself if it would happen one day. And it happened with version 2.0v4. The program is much more reactive now ! Even commercial software can get better performance-wise. Thank you Filemaker ! Now it would be nice to have some sort of html-support... Please, please, make it happen ! Don't want to buy Filemaker Pro for this... please, please...  
(Version 2.0v4)

MACSWEEP  Filemaker marketing says Bento integrates with Address Book. It does not.

Address Fields in bento cannot access data stored in Apple's Address Book nor vise-versa. The only way to access Address Book data is through the bento side bar and then it can only be accessed manually.

Since I don't use iCal a can't comment on the integration between them, but based on my experience with Address Book, I would guess it is severely limited or non-existent.

•Can't print mailing labels directly.

•No encryption of data.

•All phone number fields and address fields default to "work" - cannot make a "custom" the default.

•Poor value.

•Developers do not respond to feature requests or bug fixes.

Otherwise it is pretty and most other features are easy to use.

I give it two stars because of the false claims Filemaker makes about the integration of Address Book.  
(Version 2.0v3)

IMHO  I started with the first version of Bento. Needed it for a.o. passwords. How strange: a database program without encryption or password protection! Many users asked for any form of security on the Bento forum. There is a new release - without any protection of your valuable data. As far as I see here Bento 2 offers correction of errors in version 1.x. Pay again the price of the complete package for that? Nowhere. I changed to Data Guardian, that offers more for less, only about US$ 20,00.  
(Version 2.0v3)

NESSUNO  The only language these guys understand is $$$$$$$$.

Do not buy it, you will be ripped off with the next "upgrade" that does not deserve this name.  
(Version 2.0v3)

D9  Good heavens, Bento @ $50 is not in the same league as iLife or iWork for $80!!!

iWork = Best presentation software available for Macs, a good layout program that doubles as a word processor, and an average spreadsheet program that's an excellent solution for novice or limited requirement users.

iLife = Some of the best, if not the best, software out there for creating home movies, DVDs, music as well as managing personal photos. Include at least an easy web creation program and this is a great bargain of software for $80.

Bento = easy, simple database that offers limited features & customization, no security, no integrated syncing for Family Pack, and slow launches.

This is by far the most disappointing offering that FileMaker has provided. As earlier posts mentioned, it has become harder and harder to justify FileMaker Pro's upgrade costs; in fact, I'm still at version 7. Bento2, however, is barely worth the $50 it asks and an insult for those considering to upgrade from v1.

/   
(Version 2.0v3)

RADDLE  Yes, dream on, FileMaker. I don't mind paying each year for an iLife upgrade, because it's a mature and (for the most part) rock solid group of very useful applications that gets significant new features each time. But I'm *not* shelling out again to help FileMaker shove a ropey product towards something barely meriting a 1.0 release.

To echo what someone else below said, all this 'new version' has inspired me to do is stop trying to work with Bento and throw it off my hard disk altogether.   
(Version 2.0v2)

COCOANUT  There are many reasons to like this product. It has a great concept, it's easy to use and it fills a great void on the mac for entry-level database software. Unfortunately, the negatives far outweigh the positives. It's expensive when you consider there are no upgrades offered and the single upgrade in the past year offered few meaningful features.

The company is arrogant and seemingly driven entirely by it's marketing department not customer requests. Check their boards and you will find dozens of requests for basic password protection....but that feature didn't make it into this "major" yearly upgrade. Nor did many other user requested features such as label printing, template customization and many others.

I WAS going to use Bento and have now decided to dust off my old copy of Filemaker and use that instead, at least it will protect my data.

This company (yes, I know it a subsidiary of Apple) is known for useless (and expensive) upgrades and I'm frankly tired of sending them my money.  
(Version 2.0v2)

BRETT JOLLY  I purchased Bento 2 (family pack 5 licences) as an afterthought whilst on holiday in the Uk, I work on a very international basis and therefore have many contacts in my address book; so I loaded the app. on my powerbook pro and spent 2 day tidying up my contacts after importing them from address book to Bento. Upon getting back home put into my new iMac 24" (using another licence key). Then my world fell apart. I had paid £58.00 for an application that came with another 4 days of trying to get Address book and iCal to sync over Mobileme. My iPhone, my iMac and my Powerbook all THOUGHT they were syncing and went through the motions as they normally do, BUT empty address books everywhere, and nothing on the cloud. BUT I did solve it, here's what you do....

Export your address book as a group vcard onto your desktop, delete all contacts in your address book, Delete Bento completely, go to spotlight and remove every file that uses the word Bento, then delete:

library/application support/address book/ addressbook-v22.abcddb

library/preferences/com.apple.addressbook.plist

then re-import the group vcard into address book.

the take the Bento CD a tin of lighter fuel and a match..... well you get the idea.  
(Version 2.0v2)

ERCROSS  Bento is a great concept - poorly implemented. I bought v.1 for it's integration with Address Book because it extend it's functionality as a database while still allowed the core AB data to be shared amongst other Mac apps. However, integration has some bugs. Some of these are fixed with v.2, but Filemaker wants owners of their defective product to re-purchase another buggy second edition at full price. V.1 users have been unable to get Filemaker to commit to at least fixing the bugs in v.1.

Sadly because of their poor implementation Filemaker has left the market wide open for a software developer to offer a true database with Address Book integration. They have a user base who are hungering for such who would abandon Bento in a heartbeat. Bento lacks the basic database functionality that any one who has ever used a database looks for such as the ability to create reports with calculations and subtotals, to be able to customize form fonts and backgrounds, etc. One would have thought that the makers of Filemaker would have known what people expect in a database.

Can some people find it useful, yes just like some still use a pencil and paper. If you are willing to implement a bunch of work-arounds, which really should have been the products name, (iWork-Around) and can be the eternal optimist waiting that some day you'll get the functionality you were expecting after paying for numerous upgrades as there are no guarantees of bug fixes, then this may be the product for you.   
(Version 2.0v2)