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I have a question. Is it better to get a portable electronic translator, or just get a smart phone and install a translator app in it?

Which is better? What do you think?

The portable electronic translators I see in Taiwan start at $150 and above. The good ones start at $200. With prices like that, you might as well just get a Smart Phone. But I hate the size of the smart phone and it's so tedious to type on it cause I keep hitting the wrong keys since they are so small.

Is there a website or Ebay that sells cheaper electronic translators? I'm looking for an English-Chinese one that does both Traditional and Simplified Chinese.

In Russia, I got a good English-Russian translator that worked really well for only $30, so I don't understand why they cost $200 here.

I think you better off buying a smartphone Winston. There's tons of translation apps on Android and iOS phones. Even the wordlens app made it to android yesterday and doesn't require data. Only thing. The app is $4.99 and I think you have to pay extra for the language dictionaries. But all in all it's worth it. Even Google translate is free in the android platform but not sure how accurate it is. If you buy an Android phone one thing I would recommend to you is to get a high end phone cause the mid range and cheap android devices never get software updates. But since you are in asia you should check out the huawei phones especially the ascend P1 cause it's stock android and I think the price in Asia will be cheaper. Oh and that particular model phone I mentioned to you is a pentaband phone so you can pretty much use it anywhere around the world with 3G or HSPA+ signal.

I thought it over, and although a Smart Phone is the most logical solution since it combines two in one - a phone and translator, there is a slight problem. The touch screen keypad on smart phones is hard to use. The buttons are small and it is too easy to push the wrong button and it takes too long.

So I think I prefer to use a portable electronic translator like I had in Russia.

Plus I did some searching on Amazon.com and Ebay and found some amazing ones that translate multiple languages for cheap. This one translates between 10 languages, even spells out the sounds in English, has 80,000 words, and is only $23! Wow. What a steal. That's far cheaper than the $100 - $200 ones I see in Taiwan.



But this one isn't a speaking translator. A speaking translator would cost over $100, but I don't think it's necessary because the translated words are spelled out in English pronounciation. I think a multi-language translator is much more useful than just getting one that only works between English and Chinese, as you can use it in many countries. The one above translates between the following languages:

Translates to and from any of the following 10 Languages: >English >French >Portuguese >Chinese Alphabet >Chinese (English) >Korean Alphabet >Korean (English) >German >spanish >Italian >Russian Alphabet >Russian (English) >Japanese Alphabet >Japanese (English)

It's very useful and can be used in many different countries. It especially helps when you meet people or go out on dates.

As to Smart Phones, I saw one today at the mall, a Samsung Galaxy Duo Y (dual SIM card) for only $200. Is that a good deal?

Here are the specs of the phone:

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_ ... 2-4385.php

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***JP*** wrote:.... the wordlens app made it to android yesterday and doesn't require data.

***JP*** wrote: .....check out the huawei phones especially the ascend P1 cause it's stock android and I think the price in Asia will be cheaper. Oh and that particular model phone I mentioned to you is a pentaband phone so you can pretty much use it anywhere around the world with 3G or HSPA+ signal.

Good stuff, thanks.