Is it possible to use TRADOS successfully without buying support package? Thread poster: Joanna Drzewieniecki
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I would like your opinions about whether it is possible to learn TRADOS 7.1 using only the some 600 pages of manuals that come with the program. Until I purchased this expensive program I thought I was quite good at computer programs. I love my AskSam freeform database program and I can handle SPSS for social science statistics easily. But every time I sit down for a day to learn TRADOS, I seem to run into problems that I cannot solve by myself.
I finally concluded that I would have... See more I would like your opinions about whether it is possible to learn TRADOS 7.1 using only the some 600 pages of manuals that come with the program. Until I purchased this expensive program I thought I was quite good at computer programs. I love my AskSam freeform database program and I can handle SPSS for social science statistics easily. But every time I sit down for a day to learn TRADOS, I seem to run into problems that I cannot solve by myself.
I finally concluded that I would have to buy the "customer support" package but could not find a way to buy it on the internet nor could I find a human being to talk to in their California office. I filled out and sent a query on the TRADOS website earlier in the day and received a response from England (?) saying that I would have to contact my "regional office," presumably the one in California where I can't find a human.
And then I thought….. Is it fair advertising to sell a program which is so problematical that users have to purchase a support agreement without first telling them that in order to use the program successfully they have to pay an extra $100+? (I purchased TRADOS through a proz.com group buy, making this question all the more relevant for this forum).
So what do you all think – is it me or have any of you had the same problem? Also, any advice on finding a TRADOS human in California would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your help,
Joanna ▲ Collapse
| | | | Richard Hall 
United States
Local time: 17:55
Italian to English
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| It is possible with diligence. | Jan 31, 2006 |
I think the experience you had trying to contact Trados is indicative of what the level of service you would get for your $100. I have not purchased the support. The reason is that any information I have obtained from Trados without the support and prior to the sale of the support service was always very difficult, similar to your own recent experience, and usually wrong.
Having said that, I now find the program indispensable. Learning to use it, however, is a challenge. The best wa... See more I think the experience you had trying to contact Trados is indicative of what the level of service you would get for your $100. I have not purchased the support. The reason is that any information I have obtained from Trados without the support and prior to the sale of the support service was always very difficult, similar to your own recent experience, and usually wrong.
Having said that, I now find the program indispensable. Learning to use it, however, is a challenge. The best way to use it is to walk through the tutorials that are supplied with the program; ask a friend who uses Trados to help; search this site for a ten page manual that was prepared by a user and posted, I think, in the ProZ.com knowledge base and which is very good.
You're right, it's not fair, the internet sites are confusing, the manual abysmal and the software expensive. It's a jungle out there.
[Edited at 2006-01-31 05:13] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Richard Hall
United States
Local time: 17:55
Italian to English
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| In short: No | Jan 31, 2006 |
I think the experience you had trying to contact Trados is indicative of what the level of service you would get for your $100. I have not purchased the support. The reason is that any information I have obtained from Trados without the support and prior to the sale of the support service was always very difficult, similar to your own recent experience, and usually wrong.
Having said that, I now find the program indispensable. Learning to use it, however, is a challenge. The best wa... See more I think the experience you had trying to contact Trados is indicative of what the level of service you would get for your $100. I have not purchased the support. The reason is that any information I have obtained from Trados without the support and prior to the sale of the support service was always very difficult, similar to your own recent experience, and usually wrong.
Having said that, I now find the program indispensable. Learning to use it, however, is a challenge. The best way to use it is to walk through the tutorials that are supplied with the program; ask a friend who uses Trados to help; search this site for a ten page manual that was prepared by a user and posted, I think, in the ProZ.com knowledge base and which is very good.
You're right, it's not fair, the internet sites are confusing, the manual abysmal and the software expensive. It's a jungle out there. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Pilar T. Bayle (X)
Local time: 23:55
English to Spanish
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Ralf Lemster
Germany
Local time: 23:55
English to German
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| Use the Tutorials | Jan 31, 2006 |
Hi Joanna,
I believe you're mixing two issues here (both of which are relevant, of course): support and training.
A good way to start getting acquainted is to go through the tutorials which are installed alongside the software. The only manual I would recommend going through at the outset is the File Formats Reference Guide.
I have had a support agreement for several years, and just upgraded it - no problems whatsoever (in fact, most of the is... See more Hi Joanna,
I believe you're mixing two issues here (both of which are relevant, of course): support and training.
A good way to start getting acquainted is to go through the tutorials which are installed alongside the software. The only manual I would recommend going through at the outset is the File Formats Reference Guide.
I have had a support agreement for several years, and just upgraded it - no problems whatsoever (in fact, most of the issues I have had were related to problems with Word files rather than with Trados itself).
HTH, Ralf ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Trados Support? Hello? | Jan 31, 2006 |
I sent Trados Support a problem report on 24 January, and today, 31 January, I'm still awaiting their response.
No, I don't have any support agreement - I'm just a naive customer who bought Trados at full-price and expected that even customers who don't pay maintenance fees get to get an answer at some point. Well, a week is a long time, even for someone who is not on any support agreement.
Yahoo, whom I pay monthly for a website (with no special maintenance agreements... See more I sent Trados Support a problem report on 24 January, and today, 31 January, I'm still awaiting their response.
No, I don't have any support agreement - I'm just a naive customer who bought Trados at full-price and expected that even customers who don't pay maintenance fees get to get an answer at some point. Well, a week is a long time, even for someone who is not on any support agreement.
Yahoo, whom I pay monthly for a website (with no special maintenance agreements), sorted a problem within 3 days; Microsoft, from whom I bought Office 2003, sorted a Word problem on the phone (no maintenance agreement).
The questions then are: will I be better off with a maintenance agreement?; is it fair to pay a company who won't reply to non-service-paying customers? am I simply too impatient?...
In the meantime, I downgraded back to v.6.5 and the problem is gone (which of course raises another question - out of this thread's jurisdiction...).
Sorry for using this to vent my frustration, but I hope there's a lesson there somewhere...
Doron ▲ Collapse
| | | | | However, their documentation is quite good | Jan 31, 2006 |
Notwithstanding my earlier notes, I find their documentation really superb, and I say this as an ex-training manager.
My other advice to you will then be: don't be thrown off because there are 600 pages or so of it. Most of those pages are for specialized usage, which one doesn't need to start with. Just get yourself familiar with the basic commands/operation - the rest will come as and when you need it.
Doron
| | | | Jerzy Czopik
Germany
Local time: 23:55
Member (2003)
Polish to German
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| In my opinion: yes | Jan 31, 2006 |
I´m "surviving" using Trados since more than five years without a support agreement.
Nevertheless, the distinctin made by Ralf is very important. While you do not need a support agreement for learning how to use the program, you may need training. Consider the usage of tutorials from Trados, which are really good.
As for support without a support agreement: before the merge with SDL the support was far better, in fact I... See more I´m "surviving" using Trados since more than five years without a support agreement.
Nevertheless, the distinctin made by Ralf is very important. While you do not need a support agreement for learning how to use the program, you may need training. Consider the usage of tutorials from Trados, which are really good.
As for support without a support agreement: before the merge with SDL the support was far better, in fact I only once desperately needed help and could then purchase a support agreement for a very short period of time - and that was enough. Now the reaction time on support questions via their website has increased badly. This should be improved at least for such cases, when there are bugs in their own software - I do not see, why should I pay for support, which should be covered by manufacturers liability. I would revise my opinion, if the support wouldn´t be that expensive. In my case I would have spent several hundred Euros on support and used it only two or three times. I think the soultion offered for example by Symantec, where you can pay by case, would be what the most freelancers need.
Regards
Jerzy ▲ Collapse
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shule
Local time: 00:55
English to Turkish
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| TRY "Trados for idiots by an idiot" | Jan 31, 2006 |
There are some other guides on the Internet related to Trados. I recommend you to have a look at them before giving up. It is not really that difficult to learn to use Trados. I had learned it by myself with the help of an article called "Trados for Idiots by an Idiot" which you can find on many places on the web, one link is:
http://life.bizland.com/trados.htm
Or you can sav... See more There are some other guides on the Internet related to Trados. I recommend you to have a look at them before giving up. It is not really that difficult to learn to use Trados. I had learned it by myself with the help of an article called "Trados for Idiots by an Idiot" which you can find on many places on the web, one link is:
http://life.bizland.com/trados.htm
Or you can save it in zipped .doc format at:
http://kalaus-kalaus.narod.ru/Trados_for_idiots.zip
When things become more clear for you, then user manuals will also become more understandable. Good luck! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | In short: Yes | Jan 31, 2006 |
Hello,
of course you can use it.
You should read the documentation. This will be enough for all normal translation jobs. Difficulties will come with special file formats )like WinWord), with some language combinations, with ....
Only in this cases you need the support.
With kind regards
Hans
| | | | Nesrin
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:55
English to Arabic
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| agree agree agree | Mar 26, 2006 |
Doron Greenspan wrote:
No, I don't have any support agreement - I'm just a naive customer who bought Trados at full-price and expected that even customers who don't pay maintenance fees get to get an answer at some point. Well, a week is a long time, even for someone who is not on any support agreement.
Yahoo, whom I pay monthly for a website (with no special maintenance agreements), sorted a problem within 3 days; Microsoft, from whom I bought Office 2003, sorted a Word problem on the phone (no maintenance agreement).
The questions then are: will I be better off with a maintenance agreement?; is it fair to pay a company who won't reply to non-service-paying customers? am I simply too impatient?...
I'm just relieved to find that there are other people who share my frustration. As a newcomer to Trados, I find it outrageous and shocking that a product can be advertised at a certain price, then, as you're about to pay, you find out that you have to pay a substantial amount extra get any kind of support service . Not only that, but they completely ignore your queries regarding apparent errors in their software. I just find this beyond belief.
| | | | Ralf Lemster
Germany
Local time: 23:55
English to German
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| Established business model | Mar 26, 2006 |
Hi Nesrin,
You might not agree with this business model (which is established in numerous business sectors), but TBH I don't quite understand your surprise...
I'm just relieved to find that there are other people who share my frustration. As a newcomer to Trados, I find it outrageous and shocking that a product can be advertised at a certain price, then, as you're about to pay, you find out that you have to pay a substantial amount extra get any kind of support service .
Are you using Microsoft Office?
What about your IT hardware?
Most come with very limited support services, which can be extended against a charge.
Personally, I consider both the SDL Trados Support package (particularly when combined with upgrades, as Maintenance and Support) and the IT support agreement I have with my local computer dealer sensible investments in business continuity - IOW a disruption of operations would be significantly more expensive.
Best regards,
Ralf
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Jerzy Czopik
Germany
Local time: 23:55
Member (2003)
Polish to German
+ ...
| To bring this to a very easy point | Mar 26, 2006 |
When you buy a hardware (DVD-player or a car), it comes with a limited warranty, which coves repairs of material and manufacturer faults. But you do not buy a trainig in how to use it. IOW you can buy a car, but you cannot blame the manufacturer, when you cannot use it.
And the fact is, that the most cases discussed here as so called "issues of a certain software" are user errors or inability to use the software. At least this is how I see it.
I haven´t have a support ... See more When you buy a hardware (DVD-player or a car), it comes with a limited warranty, which coves repairs of material and manufacturer faults. But you do not buy a trainig in how to use it. IOW you can buy a car, but you cannot blame the manufacturer, when you cannot use it.
And the fact is, that the most cases discussed here as so called "issues of a certain software" are user errors or inability to use the software. At least this is how I see it.
I haven´t have a support agreement with Trados previously, but now when upgrading to the latest version I did purchase one. And I don´t regret this step. As Ralf said, you can either maintain you software and hardware yourself, if you consider yourself fit enough to do that, or you make support agreements. Without either the one or the another you may find yourself one day unable to do your business.
Regards
Jerezy ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Proz.com Questions have a really, really long life! | Mar 26, 2006 |
Hi. I posted my question quite a long time ago and have resolved my issues for TRADOS without purchasing support. Part of the problem is that the TRADOS manual does not address some small details that can sometimes make all the difference in being able to use a program successfully.
I was particularly surprised by the problems I encountered because they resembled those we used to have with computer programs 15-20 years ago. These days programs are usually much more user friendly. ... See more Hi. I posted my question quite a long time ago and have resolved my issues for TRADOS without purchasing support. Part of the problem is that the TRADOS manual does not address some small details that can sometimes make all the difference in being able to use a program successfully.
I was particularly surprised by the problems I encountered because they resembled those we used to have with computer programs 15-20 years ago. These days programs are usually much more user friendly.
We are all aware that businesses want to maximize their profits. Selling support and training is one way to do this. As "consumers" of TRADOS who have experience with other programs, we can certainly encourage TRADOS to improve their program and manuals. However, our power as consumers is limited in this case because of a lack of competitors.
Best,
Joanna ▲ Collapse
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