Need memoQ feedback Thread poster: Mariel Grimoldi
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One of my clients told me agencies are currently using memoQ. Excuse my resistence to change... I am barely becoming friends with trados, and now they change it all!
Question 1: Is it good?
Question 2: Is it friendly to new users?
Thank you!
| | | | Kevin Fulton 
United States
Local time: 17:26
German to English
Mariel Grimoldi wrote:
One of my clients told me agencies are currently using memoQ. Excuse my resistence to change... I am barely becoming friends with trados, and now they change it all!
Question 1: Is it good?
Question 2: Is it friendly to new users?
Thank you!
I currently use Trados/SDL 2007, DVX and MemoQ 4.2.x. Since DVX has been my tool of choice since 1997, it's been hard to admit that it has been surpassed by MemoQ. If you already use a CAT tool, then you understand the basic concepts of translation memory and term base. MemoQ provides you with the ability to assemble translations from existing segments which is useful if you have repeated phrases/terms that exist in larger segments. When using Trados, I have to use a separate utility that stores short phrases that recur in the document (e.g. "Removing and installing").
Terminology management is less sophisticated than with MultiTerm, a program that is great for corporate, multilingual terminology management. For the average user, it's difficult to master and clumsy to use. In MemoQ, terminology management is seamlessly integrated into the translation tool. Importing glossaries is much easier with MemoQ than MultiTerm which requires multiple non-intuitive steps to set up.
The quality control features of MemoQ are genuinely superior to what is available in TagEditor or DVX. Fixing inconsistent translations, numbering etc. is easy and intuitive. Using the Verifier function in Trados TagEditor results in a lot of useless information that hides genuine errors in a translation.
Kilgray offers a 45-day trial period. About halfway through the free trial I decided to buy the product.
Technical support is quite good. There is a Yahoo group providing help from both the developers and users. Direct support from the company is quick (during European business hours. I haven't submitted any "after hours" support requests, so I can't comment).
Kilgray also offers free of charge webinars that are useful to novices and advanced users alike.
I use Trados TagEditor only when specified by the client; otherwise I generally use MemoQ. I haven't upgraded to the latest release of MemoQ because I generally avoid initial releases of any significant upgrade.
Each CAT tool has its own strengths and advantages. Give the MemoQ trial version a chance, and you might become a convert. But you'll still find Trados useful!
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We are a team of 4 in-house people and were using Trados (2008) for our projects in the past.
When faced with the prospect of switching to Studio 2009, and given the very long list of issues reported by translators not just about the poor quality of the product at that moment (I reckon it has improved a bit) but also with the very poor service offered by SDL, we analysed the situation and decided that it was time to give another vendor a chance.
After a trial period wi... See more We are a team of 4 in-house people and were using Trados (2008) for our projects in the past.
When faced with the prospect of switching to Studio 2009, and given the very long list of issues reported by translators not just about the poor quality of the product at that moment (I reckon it has improved a bit) but also with the very poor service offered by SDL, we analysed the situation and decided that it was time to give another vendor a chance.
After a trial period with MemoQ (in the server version), which we got extended to try to push it a bit more with bigger and more complex tasks, we decided to purchase the server version with what they call "Online documents", a module allowing you to work as a team, with up to three people working on the same document at the same time (I mean a translator, a reviewer and a proofreader).
Our experience is tremendously positive. MemoQ is a side-by-side environment (first big difference with Trados) and a project-based system (second big difference), and this took us about a day or so to grasp completely.
We haven't received any training on MemoQ but are working beautifully and with a great productivity. The product is sufficiently intuitive once you grasp the basics about creating memories, termbases, settings, and projects. Now in version 4.5 you even have smashing features like the "corpora", i.e. sets of documents you can add to your resources and which will be queried just like a memory. When they launched this a couple of weeks ago they even said "Throw away your memories!" as, indeed, maintaining memories could be unnecessary with this feature and some kinds of projects.
As for support, it is simply fantastic. I usually get a reply about bugs or difficulties within 24 hours (very often in the same working day), and bugs get corrected in a few days as they publish very frequent updates (MemoQ checks for updates itself and lets you install them automatically when you close the software).
All in all, I completely recommend the product.
Now, indeed many agencies are turning to MemoQ (no surprise, as they can have a server version with more features than Trados' server and at a fraction of the price; licenses are cheaper too), but very many (especially medium-to-large agencies) still stick to a Trados workflow, so you need to make sure you are compatible with Trados. MemoQ allows you to translate Trados 2008's TTX files (although you need to pre-segment them, i.e. pretranslate them with Trados or ask your customer to do it), and SDLXLIFF files (although the filter is not yet perfect at the moment).
I hope this helps! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | An additional suggestion | Nov 12, 2010 |
Why don't you have a look at Kilgray's training videos about MemoQ? You can find them here. This way you can have a look at the product and learn the basics.
And of course, if you do a trial of the product or buy it and run into difficulties, do not hesitat... See more Why don't you have a look at Kilgray's training videos about MemoQ? You can find them here. This way you can have a look at the product and learn the basics.
And of course, if you do a trial of the product or buy it and run into difficulties, do not hesitate to:
1. Email their support team at [email protected].
2. Post a forum in the Proz.com technical forum for MemoQ. Many colleagues answer questions there.
3. Email me via Proz if you can't find the solution. I'll be happy to help if I can
Good luck! ▲ Collapse
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| Happy with MemoQ4Free | Nov 12, 2010 |
Hello Mariel,
to add to Tomás's explanatory post, I can live with MemoQ4Free as long as the agencies can provide me with a temporary license to work on-line with a remote server.
And yes, the tool is a good one. I'm an advanced and happy user of Trados Studio Pro, but I like MemoQ too.
[Upraveno: 2010-11-12 08:17 GMT]
| | | | Mariel Grimoldi
Argentina
Local time: 18:26
English to Spanish
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TOPIC STARTER | Thank you all! | Nov 12, 2010 |
It has been very enlightening!
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