Considering buying...how much will it cost?

[arc892]

If I want to be able to:

--Use decent dictionaries
--Make flashcards
--(possibly) Use handwriting input (why is that an add-on, since iphone already supports chinese input?)

Can traditional Chinese be searched in the dictionary? Equal support for both simp. and trad.?

Would be great if someone could compare this app to nciku's app which says it offers handwriting input at no extra cost.

 

[yoose]

i mainly use the free dictionaries and it has been enough for me so far. i do heavily use the flashcards though so that add on was worth it for me. you can use the iOS input system, the add-on is a fullscreen writing option that gives you a bigger area to write on and i think it uses a different recognition system from the built-in one. In my opinion the pleco add-on is better because it is less sensitive to stroke order and can handle some cursive input. The prices can be found here, http://www.pleco.com/ippricing.html
you can search in both traditional and simplified.
I have never used nciku so i cant compare for you. you can try the pleco for free, there is a demo for the add-ons as well, but I have also never tried the demos.

 

[mikelove]

Thanks for your interest in Pleco.

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.

--Make flashcards

That one's a $15 add-on ($12 with discount).

--(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.

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.

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.

 

[scykei]

--(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.

Yeah, the handwriting input in Pleco is amazing. It's is accurate to the point where I don't need look at the results before I confirm my input because the first result is almost always correct, and it appears instantly with no delay. The speed makes the default keyboard extremely sluggish and hard to use after I got comfortable with Pleco's.

Oh, and Mike, the built in iOS keyboard allows you to get both traditional and simplified characters as well as the Japanese variations in the results too. Selecting the Simplified version of the keyboard, for example will only give preference to the simplified characters, but traditional ones will still show up.

 

[arc892]

Thanks for the great replies all. Will definitely try this out and demo full screen handwriting.

 

[Vzzzbx]

Mike and scykei are right, Pleco's HWR is head and shoulders above the one built into iOS. Faster, larger and more accurate. No contest.

 

[mikelove]

Oh, and Mike, the built in iOS keyboard allows you to get both traditional and simplified characters as well as the Japanese variations in the results too. Selecting the Simplified version of the keyboard, for example will only give preference to the simplified characters, but traditional ones will still show up.

Didn't realize that they'd changed that - thanks for the correction.

 

[derFlo]

Hi everyone,

my question is almost the same question than the thread opener's: if I only want to use the flashcard functionality (with downloaded pre-edited ones and self-edited ones), do I have to pay only for the flashcard add-on (that would be fine) or are there any "basic" tools, I have to pay for?

Thanks!

 

[mikelove]

my question is almost the same question than the thread opener's: if I only want to use the flashcard functionality (with downloaded pre-edited ones and self-edited ones), do I have to pay only for the flashcard add-on (that would be fine) or are there any "basic" tools, I have to pay for?

Basically yes, with three minor exceptions:

1) Audio flashcards require one of the Audio Pronunciation add-ons;
2) Stroke order flashcards require the Stroke Order Diagrams add-on; and
3) Fill-in-the-blanks character flashcards work best with the Handwriting Recognizer add-on; they can be done without it using the built-in iPhone recognizer, but it's not fullscreen and it can sometimes help you "cheat" by showing you the most common second character after a given character.

 

[goldyn chyld]

@OP: I bought the Complete Bundle over a year ago with a educational discount (since I'm a student) and don't regret not even a cent of it... I've been using it very frequently and it's certainly awesome to have various dictionaries at one's fingertips anywhere you go.