PlecoDict questions - 1) freeware alternatives? 2) flash card feature good?

[ablaze]

Hey guys!

I'm thinking about purchasing a Palm/PocketPC and the Plecodict software, but I have two questions:

1. Is there a good freeware alternative to PlecoDict?

2. How is the flash card feature of PlecoDict?

I've already read the general description on their website, but I'd like to know if anyone here could comment on their experience with learning characters and vocabulary using the PlecoDict flash card system. Is it good?

[Sarevok]

1. You can have a look on MDict, it is free, but Windows Mobile only. A good one to have, but can't compete with Plecodict imho - the searches are not as fast, since it doesn't support pinyin search (in speed nothing beats Pleco combined with full size hardware keyboard ). I use it as a supplement to Pleco, because there are some pretty darn good dictionary and other databases (namely Wikipedia) available on the net. You can have chengyu dictionary, technical terms dictionary, medical dictionary and plenty of others all-in-one, but the user interface is nowhere as good as Pleco's and the searches could be kind of slow sometimes (but still a lot faster than a paper dictionary). It's a freeware after all...

2. Personally, I find the flashcard system to be very good. It is highly customizable, I especially like the add-the-current-word-to-the-wordlist-with-one-tap-of-your-stylus feature, creating flashcards can be very fast with that (if you are satisfied with the definition provided by the ABC or other dictionary... if not, you can create your own of course). The repetition spacing system (something in the lines of SuperMemo and such) is effective if you have large wordlists like me. There is certainly room for improvement - namely, editing wordlists can be painful sometimes, but nothing is flawless (i hope for some improvement on this part in the coming 2.0 version)

Now, I only wish there was some similar software for Japanese out there...

[ablaze]

Thanks for your detailed response, Sarevok!

I'll probably get a Pocket PC then, most mobile language learning programs only work on Windows Mobile/CE.

As for mobile Japanese language programs, have you tried JWPce (freeware)? A lot of people seem to recommend it to me and it is another reason I'm probably getting a Pocket PC.

[Sarevok]

I know about JWPce and I am using it quite often on desktop, got used to it over the years. The PDA version is just the standard version with executable replaced, so it can run on different platform... and it doesn't look as good on the smaller screen. Well, it's free though...

I tried a number of commercial software (namely those from Declan and Gakusoft) but nothing really satisfied me. They all seem to be based on the free dictionary EDICT... well, that's fine with me, I would be willing to pay for that IF they gave me a good user interface allowing fast searches (possibly with some handwriting recognition... who wants to use the radical method these days?). Compared with Pleco, all these programs seem kind of unwieldy and user-unfriendly. Not to mention that I need a separate program for flashcards...

Well, all I can hope for is that Pleco will license some good Japanese dictionaries at some point, but it seems a bit unlikely according to the forum discussions...

Oh, getting a bit off-topic here, sorry...

[novemberfog]

1) I have not found anything out there to match PlecoDict. I have played with some other packages but the pen input was unreliable quite often. The licensing for PlecoDict is really quite reasonable and you can't beat it.

2) The flash card system is good in my opinion. It is not like supermemo or some of the other methods, but it works like regular flashcards. When I encounter new words from my Chinese readers I create flashcard lists in my PC and then copy them to my palm device. It is nice to be able to keep all of the sets on the palm device rather than carrying around physical flashcards.

[gato]

You can try Zdic available below. I haven't tried it myself yet since I have Pleco.

http://pdabase.com/download/Index.asp?CateID=13&SubCateID=98

Zdic 字库 英汉双解专业词典

[ipsi()]

You won't find many good freeware alternatives to Pleco, especially not on Palm. Part of the reason is that Pleco licenses commercial dictionaries, and you're not going to find people just giving away dictionaries that are of a similar quality...

Especially when version 2.0 comes out, it will have stroke-order diagrams, and pronunciation sound files as well. I'd be very surprised if any freeware tool was able to even come close to the list of features Pleco has. Well, on a handheld device anyway. More likely to find some on a desktop where programming is just easier.

[adrianlondon]

The only issue with Pleco is that it doesn't run on Symbian phones. Apart from that, I love it and it's one of the few apps I've been very willing to pay for. So I have my Palm TX which is primarily used for Pleco (palm probably get many sales just due to this!) and a mobile as well (I don't like the Treo).

[muyongshi]

(I don't like the Treo)

Out of curiosity why? Is it just with the product it self or because of pleco and how it runs on it?

[adrianlondon]

Just the product. The screen is smaller than the TX and most of the real-estate of the device is wasted by having a querty keyboard which I don't need.

Obviously, everyone has differnt requriements.

[roddy]

This is as close as you'll get on here to anything even resembling criticism of the product - Plecodict is one of those products which doesn't have users, it has fans.

As above, there's nothing out there for free which can compare. You could maybe get a CEDICT-based alternative, but that's only an alternative in the sense of a zoo having kittens in the lion enclosure.

Flashcard feature - some seem to prefer Supermemo, but if you haven't used a PDA-based flashcard set up before I think you'll find Pleco's arrangement pretty good.

It can look like a lot of money to outlay at first, especially if you're paying for a device to run it on as well, but I think if you added in the cost of the software and the three devices I've bought to use it with (mental note, check pockets before doing laundry) then it would still work out at a fraction of a cent per dictionary look-up / flashcard session.