Does anybody use Pleco? ( a Dictionary)

yueshuya
December 05, 2008, 05:46 PM posted in General Discussion

Hey guys, I wanted to know if anybody here uses this program called Pleco? http://www.pleco.com

It's a very extensive dictionary, has the ability to write a character in and it will recognize it and lead you to it's entry in multiple dictionaries. I just got the demo, will only let you look at A's, and I was delighted also to see that the dictionary I'm working with right now (being a new learner), the Tuttle Learner's Dictionary, is on there, on top of a few other ones.

So Before I purchase, does anybody else use this? Is it worth it? Something better out there, or what?

Thanks and p.s. this is my first post on ChinesePod so woo!

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kimiik
December 05, 2008, 05:53 PM

Yes I do !  ;o)

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vb39
May 24, 2009, 07:07 PM

Hello,

glad to hear that Pleco is so well-received, as I consider buying it, too.

My question is this: I am an elementary learner, so I wonder if the Pleco Basic bundle (only containing the Oxford Concise dictionary) will be the best bundle for me. Would the ABC and NWP dictionaries be useful to me at all?

Thanks for your help.

Best wishes, Viktor

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hwangd01
December 05, 2008, 07:05 PM

Yes, I bought it, and it's awesome. It is very versatile. I think the best features are:

- the handwriting recognition which is quite lenient in terms of allowing for mistakes in your strokes. You can also use this to practice your characters without wasting paper.

- you can look up the proper stroke order for any character.

- annotation software, so that you can read whatevs in Chinese. You can easily convert anything to be read by the annotator. I recently cut and paste Mao's Red Book and The Little Prince, both in Chinese, and I'm going through them slowly.

It's really worth it, but it's only available for some of the older hardward, and not yet for iTouch or iPhone. Hopefully, they will let us update later without paying too much!

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azerdocmom
December 05, 2008, 07:07 PM

I don't use this, but there's been lots of posts/threads on this topic; look for posts by "calkins" or "henning" or search for it in the community archives.

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qingwa1
December 05, 2008, 08:48 PM

Awesome software! Best character recognition with great dictionaries on an affordable mobile device!

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calkins
December 06, 2008, 01:17 AM

As azerdocmom (hi!) mentioned, I highly recommend it, especially now that Version 2.0 has been released.  I thought it was powerful before, now it is just ridiculously amazing (the new flash card features alone are worth the cost).  If you can get it, don't even think twice about it...you will not regret it.

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bababardwan
December 06, 2008, 01:34 AM

Sorry,I know this has been discussed before,but could you remind me what handheld pleco is best used on?

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calkins
December 06, 2008, 01:48 AM

bababardwan, I think it depends on your preference of OS (Palm or Windows).  I use a Palm TX and love it (it has a bigger screen than most and the cost was fairly low in comparison to other devices).

Here is a good list of suggested models from Pleco, with details and average prices.

Get it ;)

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yueshuya
December 06, 2008, 02:15 AM

Cool, thanks everybody for replying.

Because of the overwhelming "yes it's awesome" that practically everybody had to say, I just got it, and I would have to agree, it's great. Definitely a big help.

Great help along with ChinesePod of course ;)

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goulnik
December 06, 2008, 07:18 AM

no hesitation, the main reason for me to buy a PDA, then a smartphone. I posted a reply on Pleco 2 recently, I also suggest if you got a Windows Mobile device that you install A4 手机输入法 , a neat input method for PPC that works well with Pleco and is apparently freeware. You would also need to install the sunglobe font.

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sebastian
December 05, 2008, 06:45 PM

Yes, definitely worth it. And no, there is nothing better out there for handhelds.

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ajonard
February 17, 2009, 05:49 PM

Hi, just to share my experience of Pleco 2.0.

This this the best ever time-killer for the transport in the metro. Much better and usefull than a sodoku or cross-word.

I use a palm TX as the device has always be releible and faithfull. But from the web site of Pleco you will learn that the next release will not be compatible with palm OS. So if you buy a new device take this information into consideration.

Alexandre

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chanelle77
April 04, 2009, 12:12 AM

Hi guys I was wondering what Pleco dictionaries you suggest / use for  for an intermediate poddie. I might get a new phone this week (which can run pleco) and thought it was time to buy Pleco after reading so many positive comments. Any thoughts or suggestions?

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calkins
April 04, 2009, 01:06 AM

Hi Chanelle,

I would recommend the Professional Bundle US$99.95 (Chinese dictionary / flashcard for intermediate students and people living / working in China, which includes the ABC Chinese-English and NWP English-Chinese dictionaries).

This is what I have and it's perfect.  I also downloaded the following free dictionaries offered on Pleco's website:

  • CC-CEDICT
  • Adsotrans

I think you've mentioned speaking German - Pleco also has another free dictionary that might be useful for you:

  • HanDeDict - Free Chinese-to-German dictionary based on CEDICT

If you end up purchasing it, feel free to PM me with any questions.  There's a bit of a learning curve, but once you've figured it out it's pretty easy.

The new flashcards (v. 2.0) are by far the best tool I use for learning vocabulary.  $100 is the best money I've spent on any Chinese-learning tool.

Good luck!

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Tal
April 04, 2009, 01:15 AM

Hi chanelle

I'm an intermediate poddie, and I would say that the dictionaries that already come bundled with Pleco (the ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary and the Oxford Concise English & Chinese Dictionary) are more than sufficient for our level, but like our friend above I also paid a little extra to get the Tuttle Learner's Chinese-English dictionary because I was already using the paper version and I think it's really useful, (lots of example sentences!)

I bought a Palm TX solely so I could use Pleco, and even though Palm OS looks like its on the way out I don't regret it in the slightest. If I do change platforms in the future (I might not even bother, I really have no time for iThis and iThat or trying to pick the 'perfect' mobile) I know that the Pleco company will make it easy for me. The support they give users of the software is firstrate.

Already mentioned but another totally wonderful feature of Pleco is that you can make your own text files (even mixing Chinese and English characters if you want) to view in the built-in document reader. You can do this with any Chinese text, (eg. News reports on the web, ChinesePod lessons, Panlogic even has some of the great Chinese Novels, Lu Xun essays and so on available for download.)

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chanelle77
April 04, 2009, 01:18 AM

Hey Calkins, Thanks a lot for all the info & your enthusiasm! I read yours & other's posts on Pleco and they were part of the reason I decided to buy the software. Seems like it is REALLY good. So, I will follow you advice.

Actually I speak Dutch, but since I have other Chinese learning materials in German (to make things even more complicated hahaha) your suggestion is very useful ;-).

Thx again and wish you a 周末快乐!

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calkins
April 04, 2009, 01:41 AM

不客气Chanelle!  I also agree with all that Reigau said...Pleco is a firstrate product created by a firstrate company with firstrate customer service.

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chanelle77
April 10, 2009, 10:18 AM

Reigau+Calkins, I have been using pleco now for a few days and GOD I LOVE it! Takes a while to get to know al the functions but it is fantastic software. I am practising for the HSK and had difficulties getting through texts and was a about to burn the book. Now with pleco I am motivated again and notice progress already after a few days. So again thank you and the others for your help, suggestions & posts on this topic. Best 100$ ever spend (Cpod, shoes and other accessories excluded) ;-)

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Tal
April 10, 2009, 01:01 PM

太好了!;-D

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bababardwan
December 06, 2008, 12:28 PM

Thanks Calkins for jogging my memory.It sounds great :)