Which dictionary to buy?

[techiemeka]

Hi,
Moving to China this July. On the advice of a friend I have purchased a Palm Treo 380 in order to download the Pleco system ... question is which dictionary package should I buy? I'll be using it mainly for day-to-day uses (ie no big business stuff).
Thanks!

 

[Shadowdh]

Then I would say get all except the Cheng and tsui... the rest are indispensable...

 

[techiemeka]

Sorry to be so dense, but by all but the Cheng & Tsui, I assume you mean both of the Oxfords, along with the ABC & NWP ... which bundles into the "PlecoComplete" package at $119 ... yes?
Thanks!

Then I would say get all except the Cheng and tsui... the rest are indispensable...

 

[ipsi]

The ABC is fantastic, it's basically essenial. The Oxford isn't as broad, but has a lot of examples. The examples lack Pinyin, however, which is strange for a beginners dictionary.

The ABC and NWP dictionaries have a broad range of words, which is good.

I also recommend the various free dictionaries, as they cover more vocab, but don't tend to explain it.

C&T is great if you need a lot of business terms, otherwise it's fairly useless.

So yeah, I'd recommend the complete package.

 

[Shadowdh]

Sorry to be so dense, but by all but the Cheng & Tsui, I assume you mean both of the Oxfords, along with the ABC & NWP ... which bundles into the "PlecoComplete" package at $119 ... yes?
Thanks!

Then I would say get all except the Cheng and tsui... the rest are indispensable...

Yep, you have it right. its not just the dictionaries that make it so valuable, its also the flashcard system and the support...

 

[mihobu]

I've got to throw my support behind ABC as well. The others are occasionally useful, but ABC is an absolute must-have. I've got a long list of reasons for this, but my favorite is its outstanding coverage of resultative verbs.

 

[sjhuz01]

Hi all -
Quick question from potential buyer after several fruitless searches.

Can I purchase the ABC dictionary individually after purchasing the "Basic" package?
If so, how much is it for JUST the ABC dictionary?

If not, is it because the ABC and NWP are always packaged together? How much are those 2 as an upgrade to the "Basic"?

I assume it's some issue of licensing that the individual prices for dictionaries aren't posted in the website? The few threads I found here just confused me with the math ("No, it's not $20; it's $20 less than the $80 it would be for the $119 package ...")
I'm much better with languages than I am with addition Anybody have a straight answer?

Thanks!

 

[mikelove]

You can buy the ABC after buying Basic, but the cost of that is $59.95 (hidden in a listing at the bottom of the Ordering page), so you're just as well off buying the Complete version - it's $120 either way and with Complete you get the NWP for free.

We don't currently sell an Oxford plus ABC bundle, though we may eventually be offering one for 2.0 - between our recently-signed new licenses and one other one we're still working on the whole lineup is going to get heavily reshuffled over the course of the next year or so.

 

[sjhuz01]

Thanks for the quick reply! Guess I should've kept digging a bit longer and/or paid more attention

Definitely impressed with what I've seen so far. I've used similar (but less full-featured and now outdated) Palm OS dictionary programs for years of Japanese study & work, and am happy to see something this versatile as I dig deeper into Chinese.