Thinking of buying a CAT tool. Good buy?
Thread poster: Sofia Aldazabal Wood
Sofia Aldazabal Wood
Sofia Aldazabal Wood
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:12
English to Spanish
+ ...
Jun 14, 2018

Hello,

I am thinking of buying a CAT tool but the prices are quite high. So I want to get it right. I also saw that Cafetrans is cheaper.
Anyone knows why?
Are they all similar?
Are they in accordance with GDPR?
I know here (and everywhere) Trados is the "most recommended" but I am not sure about that. I know is very good, but what about the others?

Thank you very much.

[Subject edited by staff or moderator 2018-06-14 19:55 GMT]


 
Jean Dimitriadis
Jean Dimitriadis  Identity Verified
English to French
+ ...
CafeTran Espresso Jun 14, 2018

Hello Sofia,

CafeTran Espresso is a feature-rich CAT tool that is fun to use, built from the ground up by a person who is both a developer and a translator himself, which shows in many ways. I guess its pricing is competitive because it also has lower development, marketing and maintenance costs than other tools. Ultimately, each software editor determines their own pricing model.

Yes, CafeTran can be used in accordance with the GDPR. It is an offline tool, and any web
... See more
Hello Sofia,

CafeTran Espresso is a feature-rich CAT tool that is fun to use, built from the ground up by a person who is both a developer and a translator himself, which shows in many ways. I guess its pricing is competitive because it also has lower development, marketing and maintenance costs than other tools. Ultimately, each software editor determines their own pricing model.

Yes, CafeTran can be used in accordance with the GDPR. It is an offline tool, and any web and MT services connections are entirely optional and can be disabled if needed. If you want to use third party services, it is up to you to check that such services are compliant with the intended use. Each has a different privacy policy that you'll need to review.

All paid CAT tools (including CafeTran) offer a demo or a trial version, why don't you give them a try to see for yourself?

Each tool has its own merits. Many programs (including CafeTran) offer good compatibility with SDL Trados files, although they can have some limitations.

Jean
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Hans Lenting
Mario Cerutti
 
DZiW (X)
DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
@Sofia Jun 14, 2018

1) Whatever the reason, there're both paid and free computer-aided translation (CAT) tools, why?

2) Yes, considering the idea behind CAT, all the tools are very similar--just fuzzy matching.

3) Tools are tools only, it's parties (translators, clients, and agencies) who organize the workflow and either comply with some formalities, or not.

4) See #2. Although some consider Trados to be a 'popularized' hallmark, many translators use several tools and prefer
... See more
1) Whatever the reason, there're both paid and free computer-aided translation (CAT) tools, why?

2) Yes, considering the idea behind CAT, all the tools are very similar--just fuzzy matching.

3) Tools are tools only, it's parties (translators, clients, and agencies) who organize the workflow and either comply with some formalities, or not.

4) See #2. Although some consider Trados to be a 'popularized' hallmark, many translators use several tools and prefer MemoQ, DejaVu, WordFast Pro/Classic, a free WordFisher or free cross-platform OmegaT, not to mention a free online WF Anywhere and others.

Who knows better than you what is better for you? Everything is comparative--check youtube and other sources, try it, and come to your own well-founded conclusion.

Cheers
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Hans Lenting
 
Hans Lenting
Hans Lenting
Netherlands
Member (2006)
German to Dutch
Rock-solid software made out of one piece – and hey, it's fun to use too Jun 14, 2018

Sofia Aldazabal Wood wrote:

I also saw that Cafetrans is cheaper.
Anyone knows why?


Apart from some minor portions (PDF viewer, SQL driver etc.), CafeTran Espresso 2018 has been written by a single developer. The whole software is made out of one piece and rock-solid.

It doesn't suffer from Windows quirks (new updates that can ruin the tool in which you've invested so much time to learn – AKA the Déjà Vu scenario) nor from 'refactoring' (the memoQ scenario) and besides this, it can be run on the computer that you prefer: Linux (for safety, low-price, fun, configurability etc.), Windows (just to be mainstream), Mac (to be worry-free or just to be fancy).

Because CafeTran Espresso 2018 has been written by the same person, everything integrates beautifully. This person, the developer, also offers superb support.

But there is more: CT focusses on the needs of the translator. It boosts useful features that really save a lot of mouse clicks, key strokes and time. There are so many smart features in this tool. Not to speak of the very smart and productive way machine translation systems are integrated: you can get suggestion from 5 different systems at the same time and if you like them, just press a keyboard shortcut or simply drag over the part that you want to use.

CT can handle Studio packages perfectly and it does a much better job at these. Try to open a Studio package with 30 files and 60,000 words. CT opens them in a few seconds (depending on your hardware). Studio will open them too, eventually ... (with the same hardware). And opening is one thing, saving after changing a segment or doing Find/Replace actions is another thing. CT is fast, Studio is slow – and dumb. CT can do a much better and smarter job here too: the case of the replacement string is automatically adapted and if you like to replace in the translation memory at the same time, just go ahead (this is a unique feature of CT).

I really dislike to open Studio packages in Studio. The only time I do this, is when I need to have a look at Tracked changes, a feature that CT doesn't support .



[Edited at 2018-06-15 04:51 GMT]


Mario Cerutti
 


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