Thanks for your interest in Pleco.
arc892 said:
If I want to be able to:
--Use decent dictionaries
Depends on what you mean by "decent" - you mention nciku, our free app includes the same dictionary as nciku's paid app (licensed from the same publisher, though we've enhanced it a bit with new vocabulary / corrections / etc) along with the ever-popular CC-CEDICT. The next step up would probably be the ABC Chinese-English dictionary, which runs $30 or $20 with an educational discount.
arc892 said:
That one's a $15 add-on ($12 with discount).
arc892 said:
--(possibly) Use handwriting input (why is that an add-on, since iphone already supports chinese input?)
Our is better, basically - fullscreen, more accurate and cursive-friendly, lets you mix simplified and traditional (you have to pick one or the other with the built-in one), and a bit easier to switch into.
arc892 said:
Can traditional Chinese be searched in the dictionary? Equal support for both simp. and trad.?
Yes, though the dictionaries themselves are mostly licensed from the mainland we've gone in and added traditional support to the ones that lacked it.
arc892 said:
Would be great if someone could compare this app to nciku's app which says it offers handwriting input at no extra cost.
I probably shouldn't be me commenting on nciku's app in a more general way, but on that question specifically, IIRC their handwriting system requires a connection to their server to use, so it's not quite in the same category as our system. And if you're satisfied with the built-in iOS handwriting then there's not really much of a need to purchase ours.