So I have the unenviable task of picking a Christmas gift for myself. So I am looking into an electronic dictionary. I am by no means any good yet, but hope to see very positive steps taken in the next 6 months, as in august I am going to study in Osaka for a year on exchange.

Budget isn't a huge problem, its a gift from my parents (they got both my little brothers laptops, so the ballpark is fairly big) but I don't want to take the piss obviously.

It's likely to see heavy usage, both at home as I learn and while I'm in Japan.
There's a couple of the new Casio's that look good, and I like the look of the sharp LT300, but they all are built for Japanese natives.. which I am clearly nowhere near approaching (as of yet)

Basically I've no idea which to go for, Kanji recognition is a must IMO, but otherwise I don't know what I'm looking for.

For my own reasons, I do not want an ipod touch / iphone.. Infact the only way I'll ever touch an apple product again is if I'm picking up the pieces after I hit it repeatedly with a cricket bat.

Any suggestions or Info would be greatly appreciated.

You'll find that every electronic dictionary is designed for Japanese speakers; the market for second language learners of Japanese is just too small to cater for. This is irritating but livable with. The main effect is that because some features which are very important for a learner of Japanese (kanji handwriting recognition, a really good J-E dictionary) are not so important for native Japanese, they tend to only be found on the higher end models.

My personal opinion is that there are three key features you want:
* kanji handwriting recognition
* a good J-E dictionary: this in my opinion means you're looking for the New Kenkyusha 5th edition (popularly known as the 'green goddess')
* a couple of good J-J dictionaries
http://www.gally.net/translation/kokugo.htm has some opinions on the different dictionaries available. Also I believe magamo has recommended the Meikyo dictionary a couple of times on this forum, for its grammar explanations.

I suspect that if you get an electronic dictionary with all of those you'll find it has all the bells and whistles you might have had on your wishlist anyway (eg can play audio of some words, has a dictionary of counters, etc).

One point to note is that if you think you're going to want to roll your own dictionary files (eg if you want to install ENAMDICT on it) you should check what the dictionary file format is. I think the Casios use a proprietary format so you can't really put the free dictionaries on them.)

I ended up buying the Casio XD-GP9700 (from White Rabbit) and I've been very happy with it.

I don't know if the dictionaries are any good, but an android phone perhaps?

Think I'm going to go with the Casio XD-GF9800, a little pricey, but should last me a long time.

Gingerninja Wrote:Think I'm going to go with the Casio XD-GF9800, a little pricey, but should last me a long time.

I just picked this up a few weeks ago & don't regret the purchase one bit. Spent about a day getting used to the controls & some of the more nuanced functions (I even figured out how to calibrate the touch screens), but now reading manga is a much more enjoyable experience due to its speed, convenience, & exhaustive dictionaries (compared to my old DS-based dictionary). Enjoy!

Personally, I think you're good as long as you avoid wordtanks. Seriously, mine pisses me off.

I have two electronic dictionaries (kind of), that I really wouldn't trade for the world.

1) DS lite with 漢字そのまま楽引辞典 cartridge. It allows me to draw in kanji, in addition to typing in kana or the English meaning, and has some good definitions for idiomatic phrases. Writing in the kanji saves a lot of time, rather than having to go through the radical dictionary. I really like the layout and how to navigate in it. This is actually the only "game" I have for my DS, and the only reason I bought the DS. Totally worth it, though. (And actually cheaper than the Canon Wordtank I just bought).

2) A regular 電子辞書, with full keyboard. It's much easier to put things in quickly than the DS, which is important for conversation (or just in class, listening to the teacher). I've got a soft spot for my cheap eDictionary by Sharpe. After years of abuse it finally stopped working. I've upgraded to a Canon Wordtank G55, which does what I need it to do.

I know on some of the fancier models of 電子辞書, you can get the same writing-out kanji functionality. Those didn't work for me, due to the fact that I am left handed, but I've never had a problem with 漢字そのまま.

Look into a touchscreen PDA instead. Seems vastly better than any electronic dictionary. http://www.japaneselanguagetools.com/

I used to use PDAs; I find I actually prefer the special purpose electronic dictionary just for the appliance-like "just works, does exactly what it needs to without any messing around" nature of it. If you were going to have a PDA anyway then it's certainly worth seeing whether you can use it for your word-lookup needs; but if the only thing you want to do with it is use it as a dictionary, there's a lot to be said for just buying something designed to be a dictionary...

I saw those.. but i already have an english language PDA/Phone with windows on it. (how bummed am i that it can't display japanese characters)