ShadowzKiller wrote:Paper dictionaries are actually better to use.
Do you mean for learning purposes or for convenience? I paid about £20 for my paper dictionary, and used it about 15 times... If I knew I'd have to use that, I don't think I'd ever find the motivation to read anything. Using my electronic dictionary, I can keep my book held open while I look up a word with one hand, quickly read example sentences and information on the kanji if I need it, and then add the word to a list for making into a flashcard later. I can usually look up words during IM or voice conversations with little to no break in the flow, as well.
It will depend on your level though. If you haven't learnt most or all (standard) kanji yet, you'll have to use a similar stroke-count/radical lookup process. If you know how to write them all, and a decent amount of words that contain them, it's really efficient. I usually do something like type 撤収 and 退院, and delete the unwanted parts to get 撤退 for lookup. It's even possible to write rarer kanji that you don't know a lot of the time, since they mostly use elements you'll already know.