New Z22 - any good for PlecoDic

[Anonymous]

Hi,
I would really like to have the PlecoDic, but as I am student I find the hole set rather expensive. So I wanted to ask if I could use the new Z 22 from Palm? It has 32 MB Memory, with about 20 MB free. Is that enough for all of PlecoDic? I heard, that I should get a Palm Tungsten because of its higher resolution, is a 320 x 320 resolution really necessary or is the 160 x 160 of Z22 enough?

Thank you for your answers!

 

[mikelove]

I'm afraid that's not enough for all of PlecoDict - the best you could do is PleocDict Basic with maybe one or two of the free add-on dictionaries (http://www.pleco.com/dictaddons.html). That should install/run quite happily (the 160x160 screen is certainly enough), but there's simply no way to get the software working reliably with the Professional or Complete bundles on a Palm with so little storage space.

I don't know what possessed Palm to release a device with this little memory - flash is so cheap nowadays that it would have barely cost them anything to boost the storage to 64 MB.

However, it might be worth looking around to see if you can get a good deal on the Zire 31 - it has mostly similar specs to the newer Z22, but it includes a memory expansion slot, and thus if you invest $15 or so in an add-on memory card you should be able to run any version of PlecoDict on it that you want. It originally sold for $150 but you can find them for as little as $110 or so if you shop around. You could also look into a used Tungsten E - that would probably cost around the same as a new Zire 31 but in addition to the expansion slot you'd also get the 320x320 screen.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your quick answer! The missing memory expansion is really a big drawback of the Z22. But I read somewhere else, that it is possible to delete anything else and I get a bit more even on the Z22.
What do you mean with the PlecoDic Basic? The dictionary I would to use the most is the ABC Chinese-English also used by Wenlin. Is it possible to use this?

 

[mikelove]

By Basic I'm referring to the version that only includes the Oxford E&C dictionary. There's not really any way you could get the ABC dictionary working on a Z22 - the ABC database file alone takes up 17 MB, and then you've got to add the PlecoDict program file, the handwriting recognition data flies, and at least one font file. I suppose it *might* be possible if you limited yourself to only the smallest font file (though it borders on unreadable on a low-res screen) and very carefully installed only those exact data files I mentioned, but it would barely be usable (there wouldn't be enough space left to effectively use the flashcard system, for example) and you'd risk being cut off from future updates in the (very likely) event that the program/data files grow larger in a new version. So basically if you want to use the ABC you'll need to pick some other Palm besides the Z22.