PalmOS j-e dictionary programs

[Crispy]

Someone suggested in some unrelated thread that I forget about getting a new electronic j-e dictionary and get a PalmOS platform and some software instead. Well, now that I am considering that, what software should I look into? And how would I test it to see that it doesn't suck before buying a PDA to run it?

[cstaylor]

I have a Japanese Palm m500... I paid 24000JPY for it. There are several Japanese dictionary applications for it:
http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=4780&db=palm
http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=5141&db=palm
http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=4122&db=palm

[Crispy]

Are Japanese and US Palm hardware platforms different? Can I load Japanese PalmOS on a US PDA or vice versa?

[cstaylor]

A very good question. According to a friend of mine who works at Palm, yes, it's all in the flash... however, if you look at the writing area on the Japanese Palm, you'll notice a primitive IME area that doesn't exist on the english version... so you'd have to learn where those missing areas are on your english palm in order to bring up the Kanji selection menu and for switching between hiragana and katakana.

[Crispy]

With these programs, can you enter kanji into the writing area and have it recognise it somehow? I primarily need it to quickly identify kanji that I don't know how to pronounce (my current one can do it, but it's slow as hell).

[cstaylor]

With these programs, can you enter kanji into the writing area and have it recognise it somehow? I primarily need it to quickly identify kanji that I don't know how to pronounce (my current one can do it, but it's slow as hell).

You would need a separate program for that... the input method of the Palm is romanji with Kanji selection. If you read Greggman's site you'll see that he recommends one of the Windows CE devices because it does Kanji input recognition without any additional software... but it costs twice as much, so if you have the cash (and a very big coat pocket to carry the brick-sized device) you should probably look there.

[Crispy]

Bah, I'm not buying a WinCE device. They are too heavy and expensive.