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Chinese e-dict vs Android phone + Pleco? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Crush Tetraglot Senior Member ChinaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5675 days ago 1622 posts - 2299 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Esperanto Studies: Basque | Message 1 of 7 18 November 2013 at 8:26pm | IP Logged |
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I really like being able to draw in characters at sites like mdbg.net and nciku.com, but i'm not always around a computer. Not being able to look things up away from the computer makes it difficult to read books on the bus and things like that.
I was looking online and saw that Chinese e-dictionaries with handwriting support were super expensive ($300+!) and i was wondering if it wouldn't just be cheaper to buy an Android phone just to use it with Pleco (ie, no contract). I don't know much about phones or dictionaries, so i'm not sure which'd be cheaper/a better deal in the long run. I'd really rather not spend more than $150-$200 as i just bought a new eReader, and besides i'd only be using it for Chinese study (perhaps other languages, if possible, but still just for study). I'd appreciate any advice/suggestions, thanks! Edited by Crush on 18 November 2013 at 8:27pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Medulin Tetraglot Senior Member Croatia Joined 4478 days ago 1199 posts - 2192 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Hindi, Nepali | Message 2 of 7 19 November 2013 at 6:40am | IP Logged |
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While Pleco is free, most add-on dictionaries and pronunciation files (word and sentence pronunciation is paid, while only syllable pronunciation of headwords is free of charge) in it are not (I've spent 350 USD over the past 3 months on Pleco). But it's a good investment.
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| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6392 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 3 of 7 19 November 2013 at 6:52am | IP Logged |
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The Pleco dictionaries are costly (in that they cost as much as peper dictionaries), but Pleco is quite simply the best dictionary app I've ever come across. It was recently released in a new version with new design, new features and new dictionaries, amongst others a Cantonese dictionary and a Literary Sinitic to Mandarin dictionary. Hell, with a fully upgraded Pleco you don't even need to write the characters. You can snap a picture of a character and Pleco will OCR it for you. It even works with entire pages of text. You can also load texts into Pleco and use it to read. It then becomes a pop-up dictionary where tapping a word will reveal its definition. There's also a flashcard add-on where you can save a word ot character to a flashcard with a simple tap.
But again, the dictionaries and add-ons are not free. If you do invest in a couple of dictionaries and the add-ons, however, I have no doubt that Pleco is vastly superior to any dedicated electronic dictionary. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Flarioca Heptaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5692 days ago 635 posts - 816 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Esperanto, French, EnglishC2, Spanish, German, Italian Studies: Catalan, Mandarin | Message 4 of 7 19 November 2013 at 1:41pm | IP Logged |
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I'd like to add that in this new version the OCR is greatly improved. I've been OCRing all lessons from the same book (Méthode 90) using the same equipment (iPhone 4) and I was getting about 5-10% erros in the previous version, but now it's close to zero.
It must be said that I take a picture from the book using another app, because either the native Pleco's camera software isn't good enough for larger texts or I don't know how to use it properly. Most likely a combination of both. Unfortunately, this new version hasn't come with improvement in the flashcard system, but Pleco's owner claim that it's coming soon. Indeed, there's a Pleco forum and Pleco's owner is an amazingly helpful person. 他人很好. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Crush Tetraglot Senior Member ChinaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5675 days ago 1622 posts - 2299 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Esperanto Studies: Basque | Message 5 of 7 19 November 2013 at 6:06pm | IP Logged |
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I think it'd be worthwhile investing in Pleco then. Do you have any suggestions for relatively cheap Android phones? I was thinking of a Samsung Galaxy Ring, which is about $100 on Amazon. Someone also mentioned Android tablets, but most smaller tablets (<7 inches) have all seemed pretty cheap to me.
EDIT: Also, are there any good language apps (dictionaries)? Edited by Crush on 21 November 2013 at 4:30pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| charlie_ihsan Newbie United States Joined 5320 days ago 3 posts - 5 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin, Arabic (classical) | Message 6 of 7 13 January 2014 at 2:19am | IP Logged |
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I love Pleco - it's a lot easier than carrying around a chunky dictionary.
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| FadedStardust Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5417 days ago 19 posts - 30 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: German, Dutch | Message 7 of 7 13 January 2014 at 5:49am | IP Logged |
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I would also add that Pleco dictionaries are often more comprehensive than those on dedicated e-dictionary
machines. There may be things you can't find on a $300+ machine that you probably could find if you invest $50- 100 into Pleco dictionaries. That plus optional OCR, Flashcards, and text reader add ons that you wouldn't even have the option to get on e-dictionaries. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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