Please tell me about the "bidirectional dictionary"

[horsewishr]

I'm studying Spanish, and I'd love to be able to read eBooks in Spanish, with a searchable Spanish-English dictionary. It looks like I'd be able to do that with the Jetbook--but I want to be sure before I spend the money. Can anyone explain to me how the dictionary function works? (I assume it's the same with the Jetbook Lite.)

Thanks a ton!

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by horsewishr

I'm studying Spanish, and I'd love to be able to read eBooks in Spanish, with a searchable Spanish-English dictionary. It looks like I'd be able to do that with the Jetbook--but I want to be sure before I spend the money. Can anyone explain to me how the dictionary function works? (I assume it's the same with the Jetbook Lite.)

Thanks a ton!

yes, you can use Spanish->English and English->Spanish dictionaries on both units: jetBook and jetBook-Lite. Just hilight the word and get translation and synonims in the pop-up window. This is very helpful feature and I used it many times to get translation. All dictionaries comes preloaded so you don't need install it.

[horsewishr]

Thank you Kris. I can't wait to buy one now!

Maybe my perspective is too colored by personal circumstances, but it seems to me that the multi-language functions of the jetBook really set it apart from other eReaders. (If I'm not mistaken, neither the Kindle nor the Nook have translation features.) What an AWESOME way to study another language. It beats the heck out of juggling with a paperback and a monster dictionary! Why doesn't jetBook more actively promote this function?

[horsewishr]

Kris--Sorry to keep bothering you, but I have another question before I order. I just found this table at Ectaco's website:

http://www.ectaco.com/main.jsp?do=pr...ain_features=1

According to the table the jetBook has only Russian, Polish, and English bi-directional dictionaries. And NO dictionaries are listed under the jetBook Lite. Please tell me this is an oversight/error! I REALLY want to buy the jetBook lite, but only if I can use it to study Spanish--so I need the Spanish-English dictionary.

[Kralik]

I can vouch at least for the normal jetBook as having English-->Spanish. You can also type in words using T9 and use it standalone.

[horsewishr]

Thank you Kralik! But I'm still confused

I'm guessing that if it has English-Spanish, it also has Spanish-English? But who knows? (The website is really awful!)

Again, forgive me, but I have no idea how the T9 function works. Can I type in a word (in Spanish) and find a translation? Do I have to exit the book I'm reading to do so?

[macminer]

Jetbook (the one I have) has both En-Sp and Sp-En dictionaries. Both are based on Ectaco dictionaries, which means they have excellent vocabulary range (counted in hundreds of thousands of dictionary entries), but are otherwise basic (no grammar examples, collocations etc.).

The number of dictionaries depends on firmware. Current firmware (0.33g) has more dictionaries than the previous ones, including Sp/En.

As for typing words, the most obvious method is just to highlight a word in the book you're reading, press "1" key and there's your word, translated. You need to input words only if you want to find words that are not in the text (or perhaps have slightly different spelling). And, obviously, your book stays open all the time. The dictionary entry is shown in a smaller window within the book. You can also switch dictionaries on the fly. Actually, you can imagine that you are scrolling through dictionaries - horizontal scroll means next word while vertical scroll means next dictionary.

The only thing that is not very comfortable is the lack of a touch screen, so to highlight the word you must click the buttons several times till you reach it.

[Kralik]

Originally Posted by horsewishr

Again, forgive me, but I have no idea how the T9 function works. Can I type in a word (in Spanish) and find a translation? Do I have to exit the book I'm reading to do so?

Sorry for the confusion -- I just pulled it up on my jetBook and discovered that I was confusing the T9 entry for word searches with the dictionary. As far as I can tell, you can't enter in words directly, only look up words that are in the text and scroll through the dictionary one word at a time. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here?

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by horsewishr

Kris--Sorry to keep bothering you, but I have another question before I order. I just found this table at Ectaco's website:

http://www.ectaco.com/main.jsp?do=pr...ain_features=1

According to the table the jetBook has only Russian, Polish, and English bi-directional dictionaries. And NO dictionaries are listed under the jetBook Lite. Please tell me this is an oversight/error! I REALLY want to buy the jetBook lite, but only if I can use it to study Spanish--so I need the Spanish-English dictionary.

I have both models - JetBook and JetBook-Lite and both models have
preloaded English->Spanish and Spanish->English dictionaries. You can highlight any words in eBook and get translation. You can also highligh English word and choose English-English dictionary to get the window with the meaning and examples how to use seclected word in sentences.

[horsewishr]

Thank you everyone!! I'm ordering the jetBook FOR SURE. How awesome is this feature!!! I can't wait to get it

[Ea]

Originally Posted by horsewishr

Thank you Kris. I can't wait to buy one now!

Maybe my perspective is too colored by personal circumstances, but it seems to me that the multi-language functions of the jetBook really set it apart from other eReaders. (If I'm not mistaken, neither the Kindle nor the Nook have translation features.) What an AWESOME way to study another language. It beats the heck out of juggling with a paperback and a monster dictionary! Why doesn't jetBook more actively promote this function?

The Kindle actually do have translation features, but it's limited how many dictionaries work out of the box. Here's one that do:
http://www.amazon.com/Merriam-Webste...8295011&sr=1-3

It's only possible to use one dictionary at a time.

[Kralik]

Originally Posted by horsewishr

Thank you everyone!! I'm ordering the jetBook FOR SURE. How awesome is this feature!!! I can't wait to get it

Are you getting the original or Lite?

[horsewishr]

I ordered the Lite--because I read somewhere that you can't use the regular one while it's charging. But after I ordered it, I talked to someone from Ectaco, and he told me that it DOES function while it's charging.

So maybe I'll have to order one of each!!

(Can anyone confirm that the newer "regular" model does function while it's plugged into the charer?)

[Kralik]

Originally Posted by horsewishr

I ordered the Lite--because I read somewhere that you can't use the regular one while it's charging. But after I ordered it, I talked to someone from Ectaco, and he told me that it DOES function while it's charging.

So maybe I'll have to order one of each!!

(Can anyone confirm that the newer "regular" model does function while it's plugged into the charer?)

Yes, it does just fine, IF you use the AC Adapter.

What you CAN'T do is use it when it's hooked up to your computer. So if you are using the computer to charge it (and the computer is on and accessing it), you can't use the jetBook. My laptop can charge while it is in sleep mode, so that works for me as well.

[thenitch]

Originally Posted by Kralik

Yes, it does just fine, IF you use the AC Adapter.

What you CAN'T do is use it when it's hooked up to your computer. So if you are using the computer to charge it (and the computer is on and accessing it), you can't use the jetBook. My laptop can charge while it is in sleep mode, so that works for me as well.

I'm able to use mine (regular jetbook with v0.33g firmware) when charging from either method, the wall plug or the computer. I don't use windows on my computer (I use OpenBSD), so maybe that's why I can use my jetbook when plugged into the computer.

Lance