Default dictionary

[Kumabjorn]

One of the books I'm reading right now is Marian Keyes' "Sushi for Beginners" and I've come across a few words that I wanted to check out, unfortunately about half of them aren't included in the Kindle's built in dictionary. I don't think they are specific Irish words (but I could be wrong) so I'm contemplating replacing the dictionary with a more comprehensive edition.

Hence, I'm curious to know if anyone else have found a need for a better dictionary and if so, what you have decided to purchase?

[DiapDealer]

Irish Sushi??

[Kumabjorn]

The country is surrounded by sea, just like Japan.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Hence, I'm curious to know if anyone else have found a need for a better dictionary and if so, what you have decided to purchase?

I have found the Chambers to be the best (even better than my old standby, the Concise Oxford), but the current 11th edition doesn't seem to be available as a Mobipocket ebook. The 10th (which I have) is still available and will work as a Kindle dictionary when 'liberated'

[Ebenist]

The info provided by "mbovenka" sounds exactly what I've been looking for.
However, I don't understand what he means by "liberated"
I will be grateful if he will advise.
In a similar vein, I'm looking for a French to English replacement dictionary.
The Merriam-Webster, that came with the Kindle, is not bad. However I find I need to resort to my hardback Collins-Robert more frequently than I would wish.

[Kumabjorn]

My uneducated guess is that liberation in our gadget realm refers to freedom from DRM.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

My uneducated guess is that liberation in our gadget realm refers to freedom from DRM.

Yep

[Ebenist]

Thanks Kumabjorn,
Now I know it's worth making the investment!

[Papi]

Don't want to hijack the thread, but i didn't even know you could replace Kindle's dictionary with another one :
- can you use more than one dictionary at a time ? For exemple, i'm reading a novel written in English, and i want the definition of the word in English, and it's translation in French, is that possible ?
- how do you know a dictionary is "eligible" to replace kindle's original one ?
- how do you use the dictionary ? by selecting a word when reading a book, or you have to open the dictionary itself and search for the word ?

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by Papi

Don't want to hijack the thread, but i didn't even know you could replace Kindle's dictionary with another one :
- can you use more than one dictionary at a time ? For exemple, i'm reading a novel written in English, and i want the definition of the word in English, and it's translation in French, is that possible ?
- how do you know a dictionary is "eligible" to replace kindle's original one ?
- how do you use the dictionary ? by selecting a word when reading a book, or you have to open the dictionary itself and search for the word ?

- No, you can't use more than 1 dictionary at a time.
- As far as I have found, any Mobipocket format dictionary readable by your Kindle works (i.e. not DRM-locked to another device). I have tried the Concise Oxford, the WordNet and the Chambers (the three Mobi dictionaries I have), and they all worked on my DXG.
- You move the cursor in front of the word you want to look up with the 5-way controller and after about half a second the dictionary entry pops up at the bottom of your screen.

Note, it doesn't work in PDFs.

[Papi]

Nice ! The kindle looks more and more appealing to me...One last question : how do you select the dicitionary you want to use ? Is it identified by the name of the file ? The underlying question is : if i have 3 different dictionaries on the kindle, do i have to connect the kindle to a computer to define which one it will use ?

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by Papi

Nice ! The kindle looks more and more appealing to me...One last question : how do you select the dicitionary you want to use ? Is it identified by the name of the file ? The underlying question is : if i have 3 different dictionaries on the kindle, do i have to connect the kindle to a computer to define which one it will use ?

No, you can pick one on the Kindle itself: Home -> Menu -> Settings -> Menu -> Change Primary Dictionary. It will then let you pick from any Mobi format dictionaries on your device. Mobi dictionaries have a specific format, so it can recognize them and not show the rest of your books.

[Papi]

Well, that's just what i was looking for then...Guess i'll wait for the next kindle, and in the meantime, i'll look for dictionaries in Mobipocket format !
Thanks a lot for the help !

[Ebenist]

On the subject of dictionaries. in my opinion companies such as Chambers & Colins-Robert are missing out on a big market. All the E-book format translating dictionaries, I have come accross, fall short of what a serious language student needs.
One would have thought, they having done all the hard work of compiling a comprehensive dictionary data base destined for publication in hardback, that it would not be too much more work to issue it in E-book format. Is it perhaps that they do not want to release that sort of data in a form that can be plagiarized?
Anyone any thoughts?

[Kumabjorn]

Aren't they already available on the PC and Mac platform? Meaning they exist in digital form. Maybe there is someone here that could make a conversion so I could get my OED (but then there would be no space available for books) on my Kindle?