Ordering

How to Order

Palm OS Version:

1. Download and install the demo version of PlecoDict - see the manual for detailed installation instructions.
2. Obtain your Palm's "HotSync Username" - it's listed on the "Ordering" screen in PlecoDict, and is also printed in the upper right corner of the "HotSync" application. (click here if you need more detailed help with this)
3. Visit our online store and click on the name of the PlecoDict bundle you wish to purchase.
4. Fill in your HotSync Username in the appropriate box on that page. Make sure to type it exactly - usernames are case-sensitive.
5. Click "Add to cart" and proceed with checkout.
6. When you finish checking out, you'll be given a link to download your PlecoDict "keyfile" - the same file will also be sent to you by e-mail. Save that file to your computer's desktop and double-click on it to queue it up to copy to your handheld.
7. HotSync your Palm with your desktop.
8. Tap the "PDUnlock" icon in your Palm's application launcher to unlock your PlecoDict software.

Pocket PC Version:

1. Download and install the demo version of PlecoDict, or our PlecoCheck utility - see the manual for detailed installation instructions.
2. Obtain your Pocket PC's "Device ID" - PlecoCheck will give it to you automatically, or if you choose "Ordering" from the "Help" menu in the demo version the Device ID will be printed on that screen. (click here if you need more detailed help with this)
3. Visit our online store and click on the name of the PlecoDict bundle you wish to purchase.
4. Fill in your Device ID in the appropriate box on that page.
5. Click "Add to cart" and proceed with checkout.
6. When you finish checking out, you'll be given a link to download your PlecoDict "keyfile" - the same file will also be sent to you by e-mail. Save that file to your computer's desktop.
7. If you haven't yet installed the demo version, do so now - see the manual for detailed installation instructions.
8. Connect your Pocket PC to your desktop, open up "My Computer" and "Mobile Device," and drag your PlecoDict keyfile to that "Mobile Device" folder.
9. Run PlecoDict on your Pocket PC; it should unlock itself and thank you for your purchase.

Lost Software / New Handheld

If you ever lose your software due to a hard drive crash or other mishap, you can download it again by logging on to My Orders - we don't place any limit on the number of times you can re-download. If you replace your handheld / smartphone with a new model that uses the same OS (Palm or Pocket PC), in nearly all cases you can move your software over to that new system free of charge. The only exception to this is if the new model is incompatible with the software; when that happens, whenever possible we'll release a free update to correct the problem, but if that's not possible (due to extra royalties or license fees we have to pay) we'll make an upgrade available as cheaply as we can afford to.

You can be confident that any product you buy from us will be supported for years to come; we've been in business since 2000 and our sales have grown every year since then, so we won't be going away anytime soon.

Upgrades

Our official upgrade policy is that all software updates within the current major version (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc) are offered free of charge, and that major version upgrades (2.0, 3.0, 4.0) may or may not be free. To date, we've never charged for an upgrade; we have customers who bought our software back in 2001 and are still using the latest version in 2006 without ever having had to pay an upgrade fee. What we prefer to do instead is to release the basic upgrade for free but charge extra for any new features that require us to pay royalties or license fees; for example, when we released PlecoDict 1.0, we offered a free upgrade to PlecoDict Basic for customers who'd purchased our older Oxford Dict software, but we charged extra to upgrade to the new and expanded dictionaries in PlecoDict or to the new and more accurate handwriting recognizer (all of which we'd licensed from other companies).

Tech Support

We offer lifetime free e-mail technical support with all purchases; contact us at support@pleco.com and we'll be delighted to help you.

We do not currently offer telephone support; we're not big enough to have a dedicated 24-hour line, and if we offered telephone support during business hours it wouldn't do much good for the plurality of our customers who live outside the US, so we've decided it's best to forego telephone support altogether at present. (we generally answer e-mails very quickly, though :-)

Add-on Dictionaries

If you've already purchased one of the above PlecoDict bundles but would like to add an additional dictionary, visit your "My Orders" page and click on the appropriate link to add the new dictionary to your shopping cart.

Add-on Dictionary Price List:

• Oxford Concise English-Chinese/Chinese-English Dictionary: $29.95
• NWP English-Chinese Pinyin Dictionary: $29.95
• ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary: $59.95
• ABC Chinese-English + NWP English-Chinese dictionary bundle: $79.95
• Cheng & Tsui English-Chinese Lexicon of Business Terms: $29.95

Switching from Palm to Pocket PC

If you've already purchased the Palm OS version of PlecoDict and would like to switch to the Pocket PC one, just send an e-mail to support@pleco.com and we'll be glad to help. In most cases you can change platforms free of charge; however, if you purchased our old Oxford Dict software for Palm and haven't bought any other upgrades since then, you'll need to pay $10 to upgrade your handwriting recognizer to work on Pocket PC.

And please note that by switching to Pocket PC, you'll lose your license to continue using PlecoDict (or Oxford Dict) on Palm OS - if you want to keep using the Palm OS version along with the Pocket PC one, you'll have to purchase a new copy of the Pocket PC version at full price.

US Government Purchasers

Our products are offered to the US government under GSA contract number GS-35F-0215T; contact us at sales@pleco.com if you'd like to discuss placing an order with us.