New to Logos (basic free)

Hello. I am brand new to Logos. I've been an e-sword user for about 8 years. Now that there is a free version of Logos I thought I'd give it a try.

My first impression is Logos is VERY busy. So I needed to "hide" lots of stuff.

Secondly, I'm trying to use Logos to define/research words of the Bible. When I use e-sword, I'm using the NASB w/ STRONG's and i do lots of research with that and the NAS Concordance. Lining them up with the KJV w/ STRONGS and GRVii+, ESV and NIV. I'm researching words and parts of words and how their used and so forth.

In Logos Basic Free, I feel lost and I just don't "get it".

Also, I see the KJV that comes with the software comes with an "interlinear" pane, but I can't for the life of me find that in the NASB for $10?

Also, based on what I said above in regards to what I used e-sword for, what would you recommend I download for Logos Basic Free?

Thank you all!

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Dan Francis

Faithlife study bible group

lexham English Bible

Is a very good study bible and dictionary there. LEB is a pretty good translation And it will interlinear too.

-Dan

PetahChristian

Welcome to the forum, Judson!

In Logos Basic Free, I feel lost and I just don't "get it".

The program does have a lot of features and tools, and can seem overwhelming at first. Here are two options to help you get up to speed:

I would recommend watching the QuickStart videos, which can be found in the left pane on the Home Page. They will introduce you to many different facets of the program.
A more immersive option is to take the 30-day challenge. The course is called LT271 Study the Bible with Logos: Jonah 1, and you will find it in your library or in by opening the Courses tool.

The free version of Logos only comes with two interlinear bibles: KJV and LEB. The $10 NASB bible doesn't include the interlinear feature. To get access to other interlinears besides the two you freely have access to, you'd have to either purchase the Starter Feature Set or a Logos Now subscription.

One final suggestion. Before you purchase different resources separately, see if they are included in a base package. You may find that the Starter or Bronze base package offers much of what you want at a better price.

FYI, the NASB is included in the Starter package, so you could ask for a refund of the $10 NASB purchase before purchasing Starter to save a few dollars.

mab

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/895850#Comment_895850

Hang in there. I remember when I first bought a Logos package. I didn't "get it" for quite some time.

Dave Hooton

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/895850#Comment_895850

FYI, the NASB is included in the Starter package, so you could ask for a refund of the $10 NASB purchase before purchasing Starter to save a few dollars.

The Starter package offers the Starter Library (resources) and comes with the option to purchase the Starter Feature Set. Dynamic pricing** will reduce the price because you already own the NASB bible, but it is possible you will get a better saving by returning the NASB before purchasing Starter (check how much you will pay for Starter vs. its full price).

** Dynamic Pricing will give you a discount for titles/features you already own so that you will pay only for titles/features that are “New to you”. Note that you don't own any of the titles/features that you got for free with Logos 7 Basic.

Dan Francis

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/895891#Comment_895891

Note that you don't own any of the titles/features that you got for free with Logos 7 Basic.

I believe you may be wrong... most of the items are PD items and are full capable of being downloaded to a mobile device. There is no message you cannot download this because you do not have a licence. In fact you have to go through the purchasing engine to get the basic titles stating you have purchased them. The email from my test account (an account i have to demonstrate the free stuff you can get from FL, till this spring it was mostly FLSB suite items and a couple free lectionaries, and the connect the testaments devotional). Now I will agree with you we own no books from Logos in that they are licences for use of resources. But from what I can tell the Logos 7 Basic books are as much yours as any logos book you purchase.

I do see now:

*The features, datasets, and books provided in Logos 7 Basic are “access-only”, which means you have access to them, but do not own them permanently.

I find this very odd as all are public domain or Logos owned. Thankfully they allow these items to be downloaded on a mobile device or even desktop program.

-dan

DMB

Judson, answering your specific questions:

- eSword is comparatively easy, and for the most part free (though contributions and specific books need money). Logos is only free for very limited use ... eSword is far more useful in the free-area.

- To do what you're used to in eSword, you'd need the NASB interlinear which is not cheap. There used to be an NASB w/Strongs. Then you'd need a Strongs dictionary (Logos has 3-4, not too expensive).

- Logos is largely oriented toward the original languages as written ... what you enjoy. But the costs quickly mount (lexicons, interlinears, grammars, etc).

- The Strongs approach (numbered words) is far cheaper, and worth exploring in Logos. But you'll eventually be spending serious moola, if you want to make any decent use of Logos.

Ezra Miller

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/895892#Comment_895892

Yes, this bugs me to no end when Logos charges for public domain products. I do realize that Faithlife is a for-profit corporation so this is a catch-22--we get a much better product, but we also have to pay for it.

Jan Krohn

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/895918#Comment_895918

You don't pay for the public domain texts. You pay for tagging, proof reading etc. You can always create personal books from the public domain texts for free.

Of course you only have the plain texts in Logos then, unless you spend the extra effort to create your own tagging...

Dan Francis

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/895920#Comment_895920

I don't remember the book but I tried reading a public domain book that FL charges a mint for, only to discover so many errors as to be unreadable. I do report them to FL but what are you payed no a premium for when the scans were done so poorly to be useless. I have noticed many other glaring mistakes in PD works Logos has released. Tagging and such can all be great but when have a sentence is replace with garbage charters several times in a short period of space, or numerous words are obviously wrong from the scan. It gets frustrating.

-dan

Jan Krohn

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/895923#Comment_895923

Are you sure that was a Logos resource and not Vyrso?

Dan Francis

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/895926#Comment_895926

The church fathers or Underhill's works. Please don't get me wrong most PD resources have only occasional errors this is understandable. But when trying to use a couple works I had to go to the internet to find out what was suppose to be there. And the errors were somewhat undestandable like clear had be changed to dear but I got so frustrated with the standard version of the fathers error that I switched to a newer translation. These things do happen and I realize that I was too broad in my labeling. But other companies tag PD works and often provide them far more inexpensive than Logos does.

-dan

Brandyn Whittington

Hey Judson! For using Strong's numbers in Logos, here's a simple solution for you, similar to what you do with e-Sword:

After opening the NASB

Click the Interlinear button on the NASB.
Click the Strong’s number for the word you want.
Your prioritized lexicon will automatically open to the correct definition.

An image to help you navigate this can be found below:

Please note the Dictionary of Biblical Languages in this image is used for examples sake, and may need to be purchased if you'd like your results identical to this image.

Doc B

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/895920#Comment_895920

You don't pay for the public domain texts. You pay for tagging, proof reading etc

This is a false dichotomy. It's like saying the lunch is free, but you have to pay ten bucks to use the plate it is on.

Doc B

based on what I said above in regards to what I used e-sword for, what would you recommend I download for Logos Basic Free

Drop the 'Free' and you'll be fine.

There is nothing free about Logos. You'll either do very little with it, or you'll spend a lot of money. There isn't another option. It is great software (for the most part), but it is also a money pit. If you ask around, the average forum member who responds to questions about it spends ten- to twenty-thousand dollars on their Logos system. Some go North of forty thousand dollars, so they've said.

That's not to say you can't make a workable tool for a few hundred to a thousand dollars or so. You can. But keep both eyes wide open.

Kristine Lewis

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/896194#Comment_896194

I believe that Judson only has Logos 7 Basic, and bought the NASB separately. That NASB is not the interlinear NASB, for that he would have to purchase a Starter package. He could open his NASB in one panel, and open his Logos 7 Basic KJV and/or Lexham English Bible, both interlinear, in another panel, and set all bibles to the same linkset so they scroll together. Then he could utilize original language lexical capabilities of those interlinear resources alongside his NASB. A Hebrew and Greek lexicon are included in that Basic package. I am grateful Logos makes these interlinear and lexical resources available for free.

I notice there are a few new Nelson or eBible (Libronix) software packages on eBay that include Strong's resources. You don't want to purchase these used, you want one that does not have the license yet registered with Logos. Some old unused packages include a code you can email to Logos to request that they sync the resources to your account. If the code is not on the packaging you may need access to an old PC operating system like XP to install Libronix, and from it generate a license file to email to Logos to request that they sync the resources.

BillW

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/896214#Comment_896214

Just thought I'd add my .02...

To be fair, I think it's reasonable for them to charge for adopting public domain works to their library system for all the links, tags, notes abilities, etc., although I agree they charge more than others for this kind of resource - which is why my 'Early Church Fathers' and others aren't in Logos. As noted earlier, we do have the ability to add any of our own documents as we wish. I have to say, I think it's the best Bible software available (at least for my needs) and the best isn't usually the cheapest. Integration with their system is what we're really paying for.

As for the overall price, I don't know about average (highest cost package is $10k, next highest is under $5k), I know many have spent thousands, but not me. I purchased their software for around $300 many years ago (when it was on the old Libronix engine). They did charge $60 to update from that, but have kept it updated for free ever since - that's pretty remarkable, I have lots of software but NOTHING that has kept me updated for free, for that long.

Last year, I finally upgraded my whole system for around $500. Ok, so a total of maybe $860 for over 20 years of use, with (hopefully) many more to come. I feel I have a really GREAT library system and very serious Bible Study tool for that price, not just something that's 'workable'. I'm very happy with it.