Casio 2012 Japanese Electronic Dictionary Lineup Part 1
Feb 8th, 2012 by Q
Casio has released their 2012 lineup of electronic dictionaries. The other three makers of electronic dictionaries in Japan- Canon, Sharp, and Seiko, are now primarily using lithium ion batteries in their dictionaries making them basically impossible to ship out of Japan because of the ban on lithium ion batteries on cargo planes here. So it’s a good thing that the Casio models are consistently better than the others – as they’re about all that are available internationally.
The across-the-board innovations in the Casio 2012 dictionaries are the new smooth scroll pad and the double microSD slots (allowing more add-on dictionaries to be used simultaneously). The smooth scroll pad allows you to scroll down pages with your finger by touching the right-hand side of the screen. Regarding the two microSD slots- the additional slot is for reading only- the first slot can both read and write to microSD cards.
The flagship model is of course the XD-D10000 “Professional.” There were a number of dictionaries added to the XD-D10000 that weren’t present in the XD-B10000. The most significant of these are:
Basically, the XD-D10000 is now the best dictionary tool now available for Japanese language professionals and scholars. All of the reasons that the XD-B10000 were so popular are present in the XD-D10000 with additional texts and enhancements. Casio did not disappoint.
The XD-D9800 takes off where the XD-B9800 of 2011 left off. It contains the same improvements in dictionaries as the XD-D10000: the new Kenkyusha English to Japanese Dictionary, the updated Kanji dictionary and newer Meikyo, an English to Japanese dictionary of natural science with 207,000 entries, and even adds the pair of Olex Japanese to English and English to Japanese dictionaries, which weren’t included in the XD-B9800. So the XD-D9800 is looking really nice as a cheaper option than the XD-D10000 with everything you would want.
XD-D7100: The 2012 German Dictionary contains the same Shogakkan German to Japanese Dictionary as the XD-B7100 as well as the Oxford German Dictionary, but replaces the Crown and Concise dictionaries with a pair of Access Dictionaries. These appear to be superior. The Access German to Japanese Dictionary has 16,000 more words than the Crown did and the Access Japanese to German Dictionary has 20,000 more words than the Concise does. The only other change of note in the texts is that the Kangorin Kanji dictionary has been upgraded to the 2nd Edition.
XD-D7200: The 2012 French Dictionary is nearly identical to last year’s XD-B7200. The Royal French to Japanese dictionary was actually downgraded to the New Petit Royal French to Japanese dictionary, which has half the number of words, unfortunately.
XD-D7300: The 2012 Chinese Dictionary has no significant additions compared to last year.
XD-D7400: The 2012 Italian Dictionary has no significant additions compared to last year.
XD-D7500: The 2012 Spanish Dictionary has added the Shogakkan Spanish to Japanese Dictionary with 80,000 words in addition to all the texts included in last year’s model.
XD-D7600: The 2012 Korean Dictionary has no significant additions compared to last year.
XD-D7700: The 2012 Russian Dictionary has no significant additions compared to last year.
XD-D7800: The 2012 Portuguese Dictionary has no significant additions compared to last year.
I’m seriously considering purchasing one of these dictionaries.
They seem to come with hundreds of literary texts in both Japanese and English. If I’m reading a Japanese novel and encounter a kanji or compound I don’t recognize, can I highlight the relevant characters with the stylus and then jump into one of the dictionaries to get a translation?
Also, what kind of content can be put onto the SD card(s) and be displayed by the dictionary? Can it display the contents of simple .txt files?
Finally, you might be addressing this in a later post, but how do the contents of the XD-D10000 and the XD-D9800 compare to the XD-D4800?
Hi Q
Thanks for reviewing these new electronic dictionaries.
Hi Jason
My previous Casio models required either ASCII or Shift-JIS files.
In other words, any English text file is ok,
since all computers nowadays use ASCII coding with English.
For Japanese text you were limited in the past to Shift-JIS.
If you have the Japanese text in a Microsoft word document,
then you have to save by selecting special coding specifying Shift-JIS.
In Word 2003 you use the following steps:
1. In the [File] drop down menu select [Save As…]
2. In the File name box, type a file name.
You are limited to 8 (eight) characters only! (i. e. the old DOS standard)
3. In the [Save as type:] box, select Plain Text.
and click [Save].
4. In the [File Conversion – Filename.txt] window,
Select [Other Encoding:] near the top in the centre.
5. Lastly to the right of this, select [Japanese (Shift-JIS)]
and click [OK]!
Cheers
Heinz
Thank you for that info Heinz, it was very helpful!
Hi,
I am really interested to invest in an electronic dictionary. I was wondering if XD-D9800 is suitable for a beginner Japanese learner like myself? Or is there any other model you can recommend?
Regards,
Jolene
Well, The XD-D9800 has everything you would ever dream of wanting, but I wouldn’t say it’s necessary for a beginner. You could probably get buy with a XD-B6500, XD-D4800, or a model like that just as well. Of course if you wanted all the English dictionaries, the XD-D9800 might be a great option right from the starts…
Hi,
thanks for the nice review! I’m considering to buy the XD-D9800, however, I noticed that it’s missing the Kojien and uses the Kangorin Kanji dictionary instead. Would it be advisable to buy the Kojien in addition? And another question (which might be stupid): Is there a way to convert the dictionaries on the Denshi Jisho to EPWING format and use them with EPWING readers? Thanks.
Best regards,
Matthias
Hi,
I just moved to Japan and am 99% illiterate so the complete lack of romaji is very intimidating. What dictionary would you recommend as I teach English and need to communicate with my fellow teachers. I guess my only requirement is that it has audio output so I can hear a word. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I thank you for your time and expertise.
Yours,
Han
Welcome to Japan!
I’m sorry but the dictionaries that I’m familiar with aren’t really good for this purpose. I think you might be better off with a smartphone application geared for phrases and oral communication. There are tons of them out there now. I’m sure you have a phone or are about to get one if you just moved here, so that’s probably the best way for you to go!
And hit the books and memorize hiragana as quickly as you can!
Thanks,
Q
*snigger* I have zero plans to get a phone (I am a complete miser). I am working on my kana as fast as I can. Is it true you can buy a SD card loaded with more English user friendly dictionaries? I guess I will just wander Akihabara after I get a few paychecks and find one ^_^;; I do intend to learn Japanese seriously, I am just very bad at learning new alphabets and very good at picking up audio.
Thanks!
Han
Thank you for reviews, were very useful! I wanted to buy a Canon Wordtank G70 (I have the G55 model), but I found SR-E10000 at a very attractive price, so I bought it, but I consider selling it and get a Casio XD-D10000.
In the post where you compared G70 with SE-E10000, you wrote
“G70 has many more word variations that can be found in the normal word search as top entries, that the SR-E10000 has as subentries. For example, in the Japanese to English dictionary, looking up 手を合わせる would yield results in the G70, but draw a blank in the SR-E10000. To find variations of 手 in the Seiko model, you would have to click enter on the entry of 手 and scroll down”. How about Casio, do you know if it has word variations, as 手を上げる etc, can be found in normal word search as top entries?
Thank you