How to get a trial version of SDL Trados Thread poster: Anne-Laure Schneider
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Hello, I have seen that a lot of job offers require some experience of SDL Trados. I have also seen its price, and before I consider buying it, I would appreciate if I could use it to see how it works and if it would really be a good investment. I have been on translationzone.com, but I have only found a demo that explains the functionalities of the software, but you cannot use it yourself. Do you know if there is a demo version (for example of 30 days) I could downloa... See more Hello, I have seen that a lot of job offers require some experience of SDL Trados. I have also seen its price, and before I consider buying it, I would appreciate if I could use it to see how it works and if it would really be a good investment. I have been on translationzone.com, but I have only found a demo that explains the functionalities of the software, but you cannot use it yourself. Do you know if there is a demo version (for example of 30 days) I could download, even if it is an older version of SDL Trados ? Thank you very much for your help. ▲ Collapse | | | Maya Gorgoshidze Georgia Local time: 05:44 Member (2004) English to Georgian + ... Moderator of this forum | Only found demos, not trials | Jan 16, 2010 |
I am sorry, but the only things I have found on this page are presentations of the functions of SDL Trados, which is interesting, but I would like to be able to use it for a while, on a real text. I am looking for a free trial of at least a part of the software. Maybe I haven't looked enough, but I don't find it on the website. | | |
False. Oficially, the Trados trial version don't exist starting from 2007. Cheers GG
[Edited at 2010-01-16 22:56 GMT] | |
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Jerzy Czopik Germany Local time: 02:44 Member (2003) Polish to German + ... Contact the reseller | Jan 16, 2010 |
and ask for a demo - AFAIK only they can provide you such. From what I know there is no trial version of SDL software available now. | | | What are they afraid of? | Jan 16, 2010 |
For some time now, SDL Trados has been strictly "buy before you try" whereas any significant alternatives that I am aware of openly offer real trial versions with full (or at least decent limited) functionality. I've wondered about the reasons for this, and despite the slightly "mean" suggestion in the title of this post, I have no idea what the people there are thinking. If the idea is that the product is too complex to simply turn users loose on it for testing without extensive t... See more For some time now, SDL Trados has been strictly "buy before you try" whereas any significant alternatives that I am aware of openly offer real trial versions with full (or at least decent limited) functionality. I've wondered about the reasons for this, and despite the slightly "mean" suggestion in the title of this post, I have no idea what the people there are thinking. If the idea is that the product is too complex to simply turn users loose on it for testing without extensive training, etc. then that alone would make me wonder about whether it is a good choice for most people. Despite all the fiascos of summer 2009 and the Studio 2009 release, I think there probably has been progress, and I think this policy ought to be reconsidered. In the coming months I hope to take a much closer look at the current product and test its interoperability with other tools and well as general usability. I'll approach it with an open mind. Or try at least. There are advantages in certain segments which I do not believe SDL can overcome, and I would not be surprised if some insiders agree with that assessment. In the end, though, all I really care about is users being able to choose the tool that fits their needs best - no matter the source - and LSPs being freed from feeling that they have to dictate platforms. ▲ Collapse | | | Maya Gorgoshidze Georgia Local time: 05:44 Member (2004) English to Georgian + ... Moderator of this forum | Katarina Delic Local time: 02:44 Member (2008) English to Serbian + ... Why such a high price? | Jan 17, 2010 |
I'd like to know what justifies such a high price of Trados? As far I'm concerned, Trados is the only CAT tool for which I had to thoroughly read the tutorial before being able to use it. With Wordfast and Dejavu for example, if you are generally good at using computers and have at least some knowledge of CAT tools and how they work, you can use it straight away. Trados is too complicated to begin with, IMO. I guess that's why there are so many webinars and stuff offered for Trados ... See more I'd like to know what justifies such a high price of Trados? As far I'm concerned, Trados is the only CAT tool for which I had to thoroughly read the tutorial before being able to use it. With Wordfast and Dejavu for example, if you are generally good at using computers and have at least some knowledge of CAT tools and how they work, you can use it straight away. Trados is too complicated to begin with, IMO. I guess that's why there are so many webinars and stuff offered for Trados training. And there's definitely no excuse for not offering a trial version!!!
[Edited at 2010-01-17 08:59 GMT] ▲ Collapse | |
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Yes, there is one! | Jan 17, 2010 |
Katarina Delic wrote: And there's definitely no excuse for not offering a trial version!!! I think there IS a reason why they do so. Basically, most new users of Trados buy the tool because either A) their main customers request them to do so, and B) because historically CAT tool = Trados. The market has many other options to offer today, and options whose design and approach has been mimmicked in the making of SDL Studio 2009, if you ask me. If SDL offered a trial version, there is a high chance that users would experience the technical problems and bugs reported here during the last year (still today, very frequently) and would only take a couple of days to decide against purchasing the tool, so it is best not to offer the trial. However, doing so is surely depriving SDL from a lot of sales in a market in which we all try to make informed purchases and other manufacturers offer full-featured no-barriers time-limited trial versions which are almost immediately a pleasure to use. | | | Price aligned with other CAT tools.. | Jan 17, 2010 |
Hello Katarina, compared with another couple of CATs, SDL Trados has more or less the same price or is cheaper Apart from the fact that "cheap" or "costly" is a matter of perception (and ROI), all CATs handling (almost) all file formats aren't available for little money - and one specifically doesn't support InDesign standardly, has to be bought extra. There are other CATs, which have no downloadable demo... See more Hello Katarina, compared with another couple of CATs, SDL Trados has more or less the same price or is cheaper Apart from the fact that "cheap" or "costly" is a matter of perception (and ROI), all CATs handling (almost) all file formats aren't available for little money - and one specifically doesn't support InDesign standardly, has to be bought extra. There are other CATs, which have no downloadable demo version directly from site (the reseller has to be contacted). I have no clue why the demo is no longer available (perhaps because SDL 2007 Suite comes along with Studio 2009?), but I'd follow Jerzy's suggestion and contact the local reseller. Giuliana ▲ Collapse | | |
for all your answers, I can just hope that during the coming months they will change their minds and offer a trial version. | | | Katarina Delic Local time: 02:44 Member (2008) English to Serbian + ... Are they priced the same? | Jan 17, 2010 |
Giuliana Buscaglione wrote: Hello Katarina, compared with another couple of CATs, SDL Trados has more or less the same price or is cheaper Apart from the fact that "cheap" or "costly" is a matter of perception (and ROI), all CATs handling (almost) all file formats aren't available for little money - and one specifically doesn't support InDesign standardly, has to be bought extra. There are other CATs, which have no downloadable demo version directly from site (the reseller has to be contacted). I have no clue why the demo is no longer available (perhaps because SDL 2007 Suite comes along with Studio 2009?), but I'd follow Jerzy's suggestion and contact the local reseller. Giuliana http://www.wordfast.net/index.php?whichpage=buy&lang=engb http://www.translationzone.com/en/shop/shop_main.asp As for DejaVu, their standard version costs 367 EUR and the professional one costs 742 EUR. You can say DejaVu and Trados are priced similarly, but IMO the two programs cannot be compared. DejaVu is so much better in every aspect! | |
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No, that's a personal opinion and perception, no fact | Jan 17, 2010 |
Hello Katarina, Katarina Delic wrote: You can say DejaVu and Trados are priced similarly, but IMO the two programs cannot be compared. DejaVu is so much better in every aspect! That's no fact, but a personal opinion. It's the much better in your opinion. I could say exactly the opposite: it's much worse in handling than SDL Trados. Still, a very personal opinion, that's why I refrained from mentioning any other CAT (and of course, I hadn't WF in mind). No CAT tool is perfect, I use many and each has its best quality, function and option I simply miss in the other ones, but one can't have everything;-). Plus, each translator has his/her favorite tool. I ought to ask you on which *factual* base (no personal opinion) DV is better, but we'd go off-topic, so let's drop it here. The topic is where to find a demo/trial version. Giuliana
[Edited at 2010-01-17 14:10 GMT] | | | Whatever the reasons, it's time to change | Jan 17, 2010 |
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote: If SDL offered a trial version, there is a high chance that users would experience the technical problems and bugs reported here during the last year (still today, very frequently) and would only take a couple of days to decide against purchasing the tool, so it is best not to offer the trial. However, doing so is surely depriving SDL from a lot of sales in a market in which we all try to make informed purchases and other manufacturers offer full-featured no-barriers time-limited trial versions which are almost immediately a pleasure to use. This policy of no demo has been in place for a while Tomás. I don't remember exactly when it started, but the last version of "Trados Classic" (8.3) didn't have a demo available. And I think in the previous version there was some sort of shell game with the URLs. I won't try to second-guess SDL's reason for not offering the demo, but I do consider it bad, user-unfriendly policy. I can certainly believe that with the older version, they were afraid that the product would look bad and confuse users who had not gone through thorough indoctrination, but the current version is similar enough in structure to the good competition that I wouldn't expect it to be received as badly as earlier versions would have been. Perhaps now that many of the technical issues at release time are said to be sorted out it would be a good time to change the policy and offer a demo. I think all the vendors (not just SDL) owe it to interested persons and companies to offer some sort of trial, not just canned demos. | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » How to get a trial version of SDL Trados TM-Town | Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business
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