which electronic dictionary?

Hello I am looking for an elctronic dictionary but am baffled by the choice available.I want something that is aimed at english speakers and is suitable for inmtermediate to advanced learners of Japanese.My budget is around £300(50,000yen?).Can someone enlighten me please?

Hey there.

You really looking for an electronic dictionary aimed for native english speakers? Why do you do this in Japan?? Try this in the States/the UK. But as far as I know there isn't any electronic dictionary this way round.

The dictionaries here are - of course - for Japanese speakers learning english. But despite that I can recommand the ones from CASIO, named "Ex-Word". Their translations are really good (most times).
You should look for some with a field where you can write kanji in, it's easier to look words up then.
Usually they cost around 30.000 Yen, less if you wait till around February and buy an "old" model from 2009 then. (English ones can be 18.000 Yen then!) Head for small streets with some lonesome dicital "stores". not the big ones like Yodobashi camera!

Sorry, forgot WHERE the small shops are located...
Of course in Akihabara, if you are in Japan/Toyko.

If not, try ebay... but buying these dictionaries out from Euroupe is really REALLY expensive...

Thankyou for your reply. Would you have any idea about Canon G70? I am not able to decide between CanonG70 and Casio GF10000. Which one would you rate better. I am going to wait till the end of feb 2010 as suggested by you before I buy any. And unfortunately I don't live in Japan so I will have to buy it from sites like www.smartimports.com or www.goodsfrom japan.com.

I would go for the Casio GF10000. I'm not familiar with the CanonG70, but from a quick Google search, it doesn't seem to have a feature where you can look up a word by writing in the kanji. That means for kanji you've never seen before, you'll have to look it up by counting the strokes which is a PAIN. The Casio GF10000 though, allows you to write the kanji on the writing pad.

If you're going to get this in Japan though, you might want to consider getting one of the older models (like Casio GP-9600). They're a lot cheaper. Casio releases a new model every year, so getting a model from 1-2 years back isn't going to be that different in terms of the features that you get, but it'll save you a lot of $$.

I think there were several threads on this topic before. Useful info in them, too.