[jchen]

I was wondering if anyone could recommend one (as the title states) that allows for multiple languages in one unit, perhaps something like a cartridge switch for different languages. I am currently in 4th year Spanish and 2nd year German at my high school so it would really be convenient to be able to have a portable unit instead of two (as many electronic dictionaries carry simply one language to English) and it's somewhat cumbersome to look up every word and carry two physical dictionaries as well. Thanks.

[Xeo]

Ooo, while we're on the topic, I'd really like a Japanese one. Seems like every Japanese learning English has one, but I need one that is catered to an English native so buying one over there won't work so well.

Preferably I'd like it to use kana rather than romaji, however it DOES need the kana as my kanji sucks.

(I don't mean to hijack, just sharing. )

[edit: oh, if there is good software that does this for a PDA, it might just push me to get one of those instead. Then I can do other stuff with it. Anyone know of decent software?]

[edit2: ok, maybe i'm just getting a palm os based device. linky

The good Japanese<->English e-dictionaries are all pretty much comparable to the cost of a PDA anyway. I'll just spend a bit more and get a much better system.

[wataru]

I have and recommend (for those who need Japanese and Chinese capability) the Seiko SR-T7030.

I've found that PDA-like devices usually don't have nearly as good dictionaries as the dictionary-only ones.

[Cubeoid]

50,000Y. wow.

[wataru]

I got it for less than �30,000 in Akihabara a couple months ago.

[Oisín]

Originally posted by wataru:
I have and recommend (for those who need Japanese and Chinese capability) the Seiko SR-T7030.

Hmm... do you happen to know of a good Chinese-English-Chinese one? I looked for one forever in China, but could never find one that had the few basic abilities I wanted:

1) English -> Chinese, by normal alphabetical input
2) Chinese -> English, by strokes
3) Chinese -> English, by Pinyin

They all had either 1 and 2, or 2 and 3, but never both, and it was driving me nuts!

[wataru]

If you replace "English" in your criteria with "Japanese," the device I mentioned above does exactly what you want. Unfortunately, I've never seen one with English. Sorry.

I was in Beijing recently, and there were plenty of dictionaries for sale in the department stores. One that stood out was the one being hawked by the irritating Mark "大山" Roswell but I can't remember what it's called. And I have no idea whether or not you can find it outside of China.

[Randman]

When I bought my Nokia 6630 smartphone (in Singapore), it came loaded with a Chinese-English dictionary. Gives both the hanyu and traditional versions. Very handy and it doesn't take up much memory on my mmc card.

[Oisín]

Originally posted by Randman:
When I bought my Nokia 6630 smartphone (in Singapore), it came loaded with a Chinese-English dictionary. Gives both the hanyu and traditional versions. Very handy and it doesn't take up much memory on my mmc card.

Now that's cool. That didn't come with the 6630s they sold in Beijing (then again, why should it? In Singapore, people actually use English, not so in China).

And yep, Japanese-Chinese-Japanese are no problem. They're everywhere. I just find it so extremely strange that no one has thought to make one like them for English...

(Oh, and for "that irritating Mark '大山' Roswell" )

[jchen]

Heh...so how about the original question?

[Xeo]

Originally posted by jchen:
Heh...so how about the original question?

I really didn't mean to hijack. Really.

How about a cheap PDA? That's what I'm thinking of doing. You could easily find software for both of those dictionaries and then you just have the one device.

I found out that the PDA phones are a no-go in Japan so I'm really thinking cheapy PDA in the $100 range.

Maybe this free software could work on that PDA