Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 69
 Solid Upgrade over the DBE 1440, satisfied. November 22, 2006
Daniel Fong (Michigan)
33 out of 33 found this review helpful
I am a previous owner of a DBE 1440 Merriam Webster Translator. I am an advanced, almost completely fluent spanish speaker that has spent one month in the Dominican Republic, six in Spain, and two in Mexico. However, I have and am spent countless hours speaking with native spanish speakers; its also my major in college.
The DBE 1490 is exactly the same as the esteemed and celebrated DBE 1440 (discontinued product) but with a larger screen and larger (easier to use) buttons. The DBE 1490 is slightly larger but still fits comfortably in a normal-sized jeans pocket; the dictionary/vocabulary is EXACTLY the same as that of the DBE 1440 (I tested around 30 words and they were verbatim in the two devices), the keys tend to jam less and there are subtle improvements over the DBE 1440.
1. The battery cover is kept closed with a screw; thus eliminating the chance of dust, dirt, etc to enter the battery pack, as was the case in the DBE 1440.
2. When adding a word to a list, (one can store up to 40 words and their definitions in the DBE 1440, I am assuming at LEAST as many in the DBE 1490) one does not have to type the word over again. (saves a lot of time!)
3. There is a N (tilde on top) button saving time.
4. EXACTLY THE SAME vocabulary/dictionary used by the two.
In response to a previous review of the vocabulary lacking; this dictionary is an excellent resource for me; it gives many expressions when you type in a word and it tells you where the slang words come from. (colombia, Mexico, Spain, etc) As an advanced spanish speaker, almost fully fluent, I attest that this device is still helping me; as there are countless words and synonyms in the Spanish language--I can't know them all!
Sincerely,
Daniel Fong
(Para los que sepan espanol, se lo recomiendo este diccionario electronico a ustedes ya que no solo basta sino que tiene muy buen rendimiento, es comprehensivo, y es bien vale la pena. Esta bien chido y duradero...No dejen de comprar este producto, puede que les salve cuando esten en otros paises...el comentario no era en castellano ya que no me creo mucho y no voy a lucirme como el que lo sabe todo)
 better than I thought November 20, 2006
Margaret A. Bristol (USA)
22 out of 24 found this review helpful
My initial review of this was negative in regards to the verb conjugation this unit provides, but now it appears that the fault was in me, not in the unit. Now that I have been using it for awhile I have discovered that it does indeed conjugate verbs in most tenses, including the present and imperfect subjunctive. It is compact and faster to use than a book-style dictionary and has at least as many words as my paperback diccionario, although not as many as my big (huge) Oxford Spanish Dictionary. All in all, I am liking it better than I did at first. I'd like to go for five stars on it, but I can't figure out how to change my original star rating.
Useful, but not very well designed November 1, 2003
S. Guo
21 out of 22 found this review helpful
I am currently a 3rd year Spanish student and bought this item to help me in my more advanced studies. I think the main reason I bought it was because of its ease of use and ability to look up verb conjugations. However I was disappointed because it was slow and it takes many, many slow page flips to find the correct form of a verb in the correct tense. The easiest way to to it is to guess what you think the word is spelled and let the spell checker correct you.PROS:
*Good for looking up words fairly quickly
*Large number of words and definitions
*Gives example sentences in the definitions
*Has calculator, measurement conversions, games, and money converter
*Many other features
*Ability to add expansion cards
*Small size
*Good as a spell checker
*Games can be fun/educational CONS:
*Verb conjugation features takes too long to use
*Not very durable, its easy to break
*Keypad keys are too small
*Fairly slow response
 Screen Legibility Much Poorer Than Previous Models August 22, 2004
H. A. Scarbro (Las Vegas, NV USA)
21 out of 21 found this review helpful
The LCD screen on the DBE-1450 is much less legible than on previous models. I have owned seven models, all of which were much easier to read.
I adjusted the contrast on the DBE-1450 to get it the best I could, and I got it in the best light that I could find. Then I compared it to an old Model DBD-440 that I have. The old DBD-440 was light years ahead of this new model in the legibiity of the screen.
Why would Franklin put out a screen so much less readable than the older models? I believe the problem is the touch screen that the company has chosen to put on top of the regular LCD screen. Bad choice. The touch screen replaces buttons, which did a better job, takes up one line of the already limited screen, and reduces the legibility to barely, in good light.
Franklin makes the best of the electronic dictionaries that I have tried, but this screen is a pain. My advice is to get some way of trying out the screen before you buy this model, and see if you think it is as bad as I do. Another alternative is to seek out a model without the touch screen.
Very Nice, Fast, Easy May 19, 2007
Kevin (San Luis Obispo, CA USA)
19 out of 20 found this review helpful
I wasn't sure whether to get this or the BES-1850 talking one. I ordered both. I would say I prefer this one because it is thinner, and the talking feature of the BES-1850 wasn't that useful to me, and the screen harder to read on the BES-1850 without the back light. Also, the buttons on this model are easier to press and it seems faster looking up words.
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