Any recommendations on electronic kanji dictionaries ?

[enkyotmp]

I'm thinking of getting one, if only to replace my existing good ol' printed-on-paper kanji
dictionary which is now a rich shade of brown-orange ( a Kodansha Pocket Kanji dictionary
if you must know, 1st edition. ) and is missing quite a few entries.

Now for those who have used an e-dictionary before, just how much of an improvement
would it be ? Are the screens lit ?

I've done some searches and the popular choice seems to be a Canon Wordtank, but I'd
like to hear from people who have used the models from Sharp or Sony.

So any recommendations here ?

[Warakia]

I have the canon wordtank V80. (quite expensive)

forget looking up kanji - you just write them on the screen! It is bliss, makes everything so much easier.

Seriously denshi is the way to go, I could not live without mine. And paying extra for the touch screen makes finding kanji no problem at all. Even if you don't know any radicals or reading.

The screen is not lit, but it talks to you and knows chinese and english to boot!

[enkyotmp]

Does that mean I just have to scribble down the kanji I need and the thing just finds
it for me ? ( or at least a decent match of my scribbling ) Cool :icon_bigg !

I think you can still look up a kanji by the usual method right ? That is by radical, stroke
count, or .. gasp .. on/kun readings. Y'know, just in case the wordtank can't comprehend
what the heck I'll be writing on it.

The sites I've seen seem to prefer the G70 model, if only because its incredibly expensive.
Doesn't seem to have handwriting recognition, though it comes with a stylus. There's also
the Seiko SR-E10000 and it has a backlit screen ! But its also more expensive than the G70
and I hear the Seiko ones aren't too flexible with their searches and not too english user
friendly either . . .

Thanks for your recommendation though ! Would have been nice if it also comes with a
backlit screen but I guess you can't have everything. The touchscreen sure is a nice
thing to have in an dictionary though.

[Warakia]

Hmm not having a backlit screen makes it actually easier on your eyes imho, especially when you are using it for long lengths of time. You can adjust the screen dependent on the light and I have never had any issues reading what is on the screen.

Of course you can search with all the usual methods and as for the touch screen - it uses both your strokes, image and radicals to find your kanji. It then comes up with a list of 20-ish possible kanji and you just select from there. You can also look up compounds in the same way.

If you have the money - I would grab it. My japanese translation is speeded up many hundreds of times by it. I have it at my side whenever I play an rpg.

[GaijinPunch]

I never bought one of those "take it w/ you" things. The best dictionary I've got is the Japanese version of Microsoft Bookshelf. It's basically an electro-fied Kodansha dictionary.

[enkyotmp]

Hmm, after some more searches I found the Canon models has the most recommendations.
Found nothing bout the ones from Sharp, Seiko, Sony and the rest of them.

Methinks I'll wait for a while before I decide to go ahead with the purchase. A lit screen
would have been a really nice bonus for me, as it is I can imagine it would be kinda like
using the old Game Boys where you have to be almost directly below some sort of lamp
or at least a ceiling light to see anything clearly but thats just my hunch.

Anyways, I'll be taking a more serious look at the Canon V series. Warakia's got a good
point, the touchscreen is going to be a major time saver. Thats something the other
dictionaries don't have ( at the moment at least . . . ). But if I don't see anything with a
lit screen from Canon anytime soon, then its a V80 I'll go :icon_bigg.

[Hortinstein]

anyone ever hear of the PSP translator thing?
http://psp.ign.com/articles/529/529693p1.html
sounds pretty cool, give it a looksie.

[babu]

anyone ever hear of the PSP translator thing?
http://psp.ign.com/articles/529/529693p1.html
sounds pretty cool, give it a looksie.


speaking of that.. wasn't nintendo going to release something like this for the DS?

[enkyotmp]

Thats the Talkman right ? I've seen the trailers of this um... "game" and its pretty neat.
Not a substitute for a kanji dictionary by any strech, but I suppose you'll learn quite a few
Japanese/Chinese/Korean words or phrases with this. I just can't stand that talking bird
mascot thing they're using though, dunno why exactly . . .