Denshi Jisho

Banana Hammock · June 22nd, 2009, 08:25

you can always save 12,000yen and get the sharp sf6200. All the basic dictionaries are the same (you'll prob only use the japanese to english one). With the more expensive models you get more 'frills', like colour screens and images.
Amazon.co.jp： CASIO Ex-word 電子辞書 XD-SF6200BK ブラック 音声対応 100コンテンツ 多辞書総合モデ&#x3

Happyscrappy · June 22nd, 2009, 09:14

I need to find some kind of comparison between these, and see what sorts of downloadable content is available. On the amazon (jp) site, the Sharp Brain is only 23,000 yen in silver. It only ships within Japan, though.

Something in English that lists features between a few different models would really help out. Does anyone know of some sort of a review site or anything like it?

SarahJ27 · June 22nd, 2009, 17:03

�d�q��Brain��p�T�C�g�w�u��[��C�u��[�x�̂��ē�
That's the official downloadable content. There's bound to be more stuff coming out, I would imagine.

You can also put your own images, mp3s and text files on it though.

As for info in English... I don't know of anything.

Happyscrappy · June 24th, 2009, 10:23

Ok, yet another dimension to consider: size. For some reason, I was under the impression that denshi jisho were generally small enough to fit in one's pocket. Korean (yea, we had a couple hundred K students but maybe 25 Japanese ppl at my uni) kids were toting these reasonably small dictionaries - but I'm looking up specs and a lot of these ones are almost an inch thick, and wide as all heck. If I get one of these nicer ones, will I want to carry it around with me? Since I'm not alowed to speak Japanese at work, I'd mostly be using it while out and about with friends I'll hopefully be making. I don't want to lug around some huge Japanese noob machine all the time. At the same time, the Canon c50 (the smallest one I can find) doesn't look like it's all that great, and has no stylus input.

What are your takes on this? I don't think I can afford two denshi jisho's, if that's what you'd suggest.

enigmaneo · June 24th, 2009, 10:47

Mine definitely won't fit in my pocket, but I usually only use it when studying for if I'm traveling and I usually have a bag with me. Why won't you be able to speak Japanese at work? I practice my Japanese all the time at school.

Happyscrappy · June 24th, 2009, 10:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by enigmaneo

Mine definitely won't fit in my pocket, but I usually only use it when studying for if I'm traveling and I usually have a bag with me. Why won't you be able to speak Japanese at work? I practice my Japanese all the time at school.

I'll be working at AEON. They don't allow it.

Maybe I'll just get an iPhone... and a DJ later. iPhone for Japanese and Skype, amongst many other things I want to do with one. Too bad there aren't many good kanji programs on it yet.

enigmaneo · June 24th, 2009, 11:09

For a second I thought you were working at the shopping center and thought. That's odd, how will (He/She) speak to the customers. Yeah I have a dictionary on my phone. I use quite often. I just can't look up Kanji.

13tales · June 24th, 2009, 15:09

There's a 3-way review of Jisho Touch, Kotoba, and Japanese, some of the better and most popular dictionary apps for the ipod touch or iphone, here

SarahJ27 · June 24th, 2009, 23:58

That's why you get a man-purse. All men here have them

(I'm going to assume you're a man because you were talking about putting things in pockets.)

Happyscrappy · June 25th, 2009, 05:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by SarahJ27

That's why you get a man-purse. All men here have them

(I'm going to assume you're a man because you were talking about putting things in pockets.)

Hmm well, I guess a 150-post run of being gender ambiguous was impressive enough. Yup.

Thanks for the link to the review 13tales; very encouraging. I just wish these had the jump feature - but at least "Japanese" has kanji input recognition (not Japanese, but hey, I'm used to typing romaji on my keyboard to turn it into kana anyways).

Now I just hope to find Softbank is what's popular in Toyama-shi. I'll be getting a free iPod touch next week with my new macbook pro - but I was planning on selling it and getting an iPhone later. But...I could keep the touch and get a regular Japanese cell if softbank isn't the popular choice. Decisions, decisions.

13tales · June 25th, 2009, 15:36

I don't know that Softbank is really that popular anywhere - regardless, if the signal in your area is anywhere approaching okay (and the staff will show you a coverage map when you go to inquire) it's worth it for the iphone, IMHO. I know the opinion is far from universal, but I *really* hated my japanese phone - enough to pay out the contract early in favour of the iphone. That's me though - your mileage may vary.

Tarquin · June 30th, 2009, 08:45

Canon do a pocketable dictionary but it has no handwriting interface, so if you want that then you're shit outta luck.

Banana Hammock · June 30th, 2009, 15:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happyscrappy

Hmm well, I guess a 150-post run of being gender ambiguous was impressive enough. Yup.

Thanks for the link to the review 13tales; very encouraging. I just wish these had the jump feature - but at least "Japanese" has kanji input recognition (not Japanese, but hey, I'm used to typing romaji on my keyboard to turn it into kana anyways).

Now I just hope to find Softbank is what's popular in Toyama-shi. I'll be getting a free iPod touch next week with my new macbook pro - but I was planning on selling it and getting an iPhone later. But...I could keep the touch and get a regular Japanese cell if softbank isn't the popular choice. Decisions, decisions.

The smaller dictionaries do not have the stylus input. I have a seiko one which is pocket size and really good. The stylus input ones are way big but work with the manpurse option. You'll prob have a messenger bag to carry your stuff around and if you always keep it in there it's useful. I always keep some textbooks on me in case I decide to study.

I live in Toyama-shi and you'll have no problems with softbank in town. If you go in the mountains ie skiing/hiking then softbank sucks. I wouldn't snowboard with an iphone anyways.

oh, and don't worry about looking like a noob with a dj - unless you're asian, you'll be regarded as a noob no matter how long you stay here

Urthona · July 3rd, 2009, 13:21

I went and got a small denshi jisho - XD-ST4100G - ��w��E��Z�� - �d�q��@�G�N�X��[�h - ��i�� - CASIO on sale for about 1.4 man or so and I'm loving it so far but I have a couple quick questions.

Sometimes when I look up a word, I know the first kanji say 広告板 but I don't know how to read it in this case as 広 is usually ひろ but here is こう, is there a way to use the dictionary to change the hiragana to kanji so it limits my results to that kanji alone or do I have to look up the alternate readings first?

Also, is there a way to see what compounds are common for characters like, could I get a list of words that use say 広?

fredbarbarossa · July 3rd, 2009, 14:52

You have a kanji dictionary in there, so use that. You should be able to search for characters by any reading - just stick in ひろ and you should find 広. Not only will it then tell you all the readings for that character, but there should be an option to look at a list of compounds that contain it, and hopefully jump straight to the dictionary entries for those compunds.

Urthona · July 3rd, 2009, 14:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by fredbarbarossa

You have a kanji dictionary in there, so use that. You should be able to search for characters by any reading - just stick in ひろ and you should find 広. Not only will it then tell you all the readings for that character, but there should be an option to look at a list of compounds that contain it, and hopefully jump straight to the dictionary entries for those compunds.

Yeah, I just found that button on the Kanji dictionary. I was hammering at 熟語 in the dictionary hoping to convert the hiragana to kanji but it does work in the kanji dict. Thanks!

Hikari · July 13th, 2009, 08:24

The thing I love about my casio ex-word is that I am constantly learning with it. Not just when I study a certain kanji or use it for translation, but even when I am mucking about with the menus.

It is really straightforward to use so I would recommend even for a beginner. But it is a dictionary that you can grow with - when you get better at Japanese you will constantly be unlocking new dictionaries that you can use. Today I just found out it has an encylopaedia of famous people, places etc. I just love that it is always surprising me like that.

Also if any of you have/get one, I would REALLY recommend download/buying a cd with the kanji learner's dictionary on it too. It's great for learning the proper stroke order, readings and various radicals of a lot of the common JLPT kanji.

edesuyo · July 16th, 2009, 04:15

I have a Canon Wordtank V90 that I got dirt cheap with free shipping from a sale on Amazon-Japan that was targetting foreigners. Needed to be able to verify non-Japanese citizenship and it was like half price. Had it for 2 years and the thing is absolutely wonderful.

Features I love most include:
- touch screen w/ stylus for writing kanji
- stroke order trainer
- trilingual (Japanese, English, Chinese)
- audio output for Chinese pronunciation
- Full English<>English dictionary and thesaurus (this alone almost makes it worth getting)
- Easy cross-referencing into the other dictionaries on the system
- You can drag your finger or stylus across a character or word, then hit enter to view that word in the various dictionaries. Hitting back then takes you to the original definition, making comprehension of difficult definitions more feasible.

Only Downside:
- The dictionary is clearly designed for Japanese learning English, so there is a steep learning curve when you first get it figuring out how to navigate definitions and menus.

June 22nd, 2009, 17:03	#83 (permalink)
SarahJ27 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Kobe Posts: 507	�d�q��Brain��p�T�C�g�w�u��[��C�u��[�x�̂��ē� That's the official downloadable content. There's bound to be more stuff coming out, I would imagine. You can also put your own images, mp3s and text files on it though. As for info in English... I don't know of anything. __________________ Gov'ment came and took my baby!

June 24th, 2009, 10:23	#84 (permalink)
Happyscrappy Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Indiana Posts: 169	Ok, yet another dimension to consider: size. For some reason, I was under the impression that denshi jisho were generally small enough to fit in one's pocket. Korean (yea, we had a couple hundred K students but maybe 25 Japanese ppl at my uni) kids were toting these reasonably small dictionaries - but I'm looking up specs and a lot of these ones are almost an inch thick, and wide as all heck. If I get one of these nicer ones, will I want to carry it around with me? Since I'm not alowed to speak Japanese at work, I'd mostly be using it while out and about with friends I'll hopefully be making. I don't want to lug around some huge Japanese noob machine all the time. At the same time, the Canon c50 (the smallest one I can find) doesn't look like it's all that great, and has no stylus input. What are your takes on this? I don't think I can afford two denshi jisho's, if that's what you'd suggest. Last edited by Happyscrappy; June 24th, 2009 at 10:24.

June 24th, 2009, 23:58	#89 (permalink)
SarahJ27 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Kobe Posts: 507	That's why you get a man-purse. All men here have them (I'm going to assume you're a man because you were talking about putting things in pockets.) __________________ Gov'ment came and took my baby!

July 13th, 2009, 08:24	#97 (permalink)
Hikari ITIL Spokesperson Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 2,549	The thing I love about my casio ex-word is that I am constantly learning with it. Not just when I study a certain kanji or use it for translation, but even when I am mucking about with the menus. It is really straightforward to use so I would recommend even for a beginner. But it is a dictionary that you can grow with - when you get better at Japanese you will constantly be unlocking new dictionaries that you can use. Today I just found out it has an encylopaedia of famous people, places etc. I just love that it is always surprising me like that. Also if any of you have/get one, I would REALLY recommend download/buying a cd with the kanji learner's dictionary on it too. It's great for learning the proper stroke order, readings and various radicals of a lot of the common JLPT kanji. __________________ Shortlisted Last edited by Hikari; July 13th, 2009 at 08:26.

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June 22nd, 2009, 08:25	#81 (permalink)
Banana Hammock Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 134	you can always save 12,000yen and get the sharp sf6200. All the basic dictionaries are the same (you'll prob only use the japanese to english one). With the more expensive models you get more 'frills', like colour screens and images. Amazon.co.jp： CASIO Ex-word 電子辞書 XD-SF6200BK ブラック音声対応 100コンテンツ多辞書総合モデ&#x3

June 22nd, 2009, 09:14	#82 (permalink)
Happyscrappy Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Indiana Posts: 169	I need to find some kind of comparison between these, and see what sorts of downloadable content is available. On the amazon (jp) site, the Sharp Brain is only 23,000 yen in silver. It only ships within Japan, though. Something in English that lists features between a few different models would really help out. Does anyone know of some sort of a review site or anything like it?

June 24th, 2009, 10:47	#85 (permalink)
enigmaneo Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: United States Posts: 466	Mine definitely won't fit in my pocket, but I usually only use it when studying for if I'm traveling and I usually have a bag with me. Why won't you be able to speak Japanese at work? I practice my Japanese all the time at school.

June 24th, 2009, 11:09	#87 (permalink)
enigmaneo Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: United States Posts: 466	For a second I thought you were working at the shopping center and thought. That's odd, how will (He/She) speak to the customers. Yeah I have a dictionary on my phone. I use quite often. I just can't look up Kanji.

June 24th, 2009, 15:09	#88 (permalink)
13tales Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Shimabara, Nagasaki-ken Posts: 70	There's a 3-way review of Jisho Touch, Kotoba, and Japanese, some of the better and most popular dictionary apps for the ipod touch or iphone, here

June 25th, 2009, 15:36	#91 (permalink)
13tales Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Shimabara, Nagasaki-ken Posts: 70	I don't know that Softbank is really that popular anywhere - regardless, if the signal in your area is anywhere approaching okay (and the staff will show you a coverage map when you go to inquire) it's worth it for the iphone, IMHO. I know the opinion is far from universal, but I really hated my japanese phone - enough to pay out the contract early in favour of the iphone. That's me though - your mileage may vary.

July 3rd, 2009, 13:21	#94 (permalink)
Urthona Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Ishikawa Posts: 1,309	I went and got a small denshi jisho - XD-ST4100G - ��w��E��Z�� - �d�q��@�G�N�X��[�h - ��i�� - CASIO on sale for about 1.4 man or so and I'm loving it so far but I have a couple quick questions. Sometimes when I look up a word, I know the first kanji say 広告板 but I don't know how to read it in this case as 広 is usually ひろ but here is こう, is there a way to use the dictionary to change the hiragana to kanji so it limits my results to that kanji alone or do I have to look up the alternate readings first? Also, is there a way to see what compounds are common for characters like, could I get a list of words that use say 広?

July 3rd, 2009, 14:52	#95 (permalink)
fredbarbarossa Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Australia -> Kochi Posts: 134	You have a kanji dictionary in there, so use that. You should be able to search for characters by any reading - just stick in ひろ and you should find 広. Not only will it then tell you all the readings for that character, but there should be an option to look at a list of compounds that contain it, and hopefully jump straight to the dictionary entries for those compunds.

July 16th, 2009, 04:15	#98 (permalink)
edesuyo Biowarfare Hedgehog Join Date: May 2009 Location: PA, USA Posts: 256	I have a Canon Wordtank V90 that I got dirt cheap with free shipping from a sale on Amazon-Japan that was targetting foreigners. Needed to be able to verify non-Japanese citizenship and it was like half price. Had it for 2 years and the thing is absolutely wonderful. Features I love most include: - touch screen w/ stylus for writing kanji - stroke order trainer - trilingual (Japanese, English, Chinese) - audio output for Chinese pronunciation - Full English<>English dictionary and thesaurus (this alone almost makes it worth getting) - Easy cross-referencing into the other dictionaries on the system - You can drag your finger or stylus across a character or word, then hit enter to view that word in the various dictionaries. Hitting back then takes you to the original definition, making comprehension of difficult definitions more feasible. Only Downside: - The dictionary is clearly designed for Japanese learning English, so there is a steep learning curve when you first get it figuring out how to navigate definitions and menus.