Franklin Electronic Publishers BES-1890 Speaking Spanish-English Dictionary

I've had this dictionary about a month and a half and the few reviews I could find prior to buying it were not overly positive. But I bought it anyway and couldn't be happier with it. It is intuitive, very fast, and translates almost all the words I have entered. I have used it almost every day since I am attempting to move up from a high beginner to a strong intermediate in Spanish by month's end. I have been in Buenos Aires for 11 days, with 20 to go, taking a 3 week Spanish course in a language school. I am in a low intermediate class and we have homework assignments and lots of exercises and speaking each day. I use the Franklin dictionary constantly when I don't know a word or need the equivalent in Spanish. The best part about the little computer in my opinion is the conjugations. I have had and will have more class lessons in conjugations, so far only the present tense. When I am stuck on an irregular or any other verb I enter it into the dictionary, hit the conj key and bingo, aqui esta. Successively hitting the conj key takes you through all the tenses in all persons. While my classmates are fumbling around with their Spanish-English translation books, I have the verb, its meaning, and have already conjugated it, if applicable. It's my favorite feature and really helps me to learn the verbs and their forms. The negatives are the rather poor audio for some of the translations (not all) and the fact that the screen is not backlit, although I have had absolutely no problem seeing it in normal or even somewhat low light. I use it in restaurants here in Buenos Aires while I'm waiting or eating and can practice Spanish by inputting words or reading and translating phrases. It fits easily in the pocket of my shorts and I'd replace my BES 1890 immediately if anything happened to it. If you're serious about learning espanol, or simply need a new translator, I recommend it. For the serious estudiante, it's more than worth the cost.

I really like this item. I got it so that I could look up words that I did not know faster than using a paper back dictionary, but this actually does a lot more. I even have fun with the games. It is a great learning tool. For new Spanish or English speakers it is magnifico! I do wish it had a back light because in some light it is very difficult to see. Mine is also hard to hear--I have to hold it to my ear--but maybe my batteries are not strong.

Well I would say this is the best translator I have tried.The good is it is fairly portable,easy to use,very extensive dictionary and conjugates verbs very well with many examples,also lots of popular fraises.It has many usefull features.The bad is sometimes the screen is hard to read there is no backlight,sometimes the buttons I push those letters dont show up on the screen,and sometimes the voice on the speaker sounds muffled and is hard to understand.Overall I like this translator,I payed about $50.00 for it and I think it is well worth it.I have taken two spanish classes and I think this would be good for both beginners and the advanced.

Received this product a few days ago and my daughter (who is a sophmore in High School) says it helps her learn Spanish. Overall, I found the product a little expensive once I had it in my hands. I was not able to turn the volume up very loud. I even saw my daughter putting it to her ear to hear the words. Second, it did not have a Backlite for ease of reading. To read the words on the screen, you had to put it under a light. For the amount of money it cost, I assumed it would have that. On the good side, it does come with many applications. She was able to put her vocabalary words in the unit and it would help her spell and translate each of them. Overall, I am a little disappointed with the product. The sound could have been better and a backlit LCD would have been an improvement. However, as long as my daughter is happy with the product and she is using it for her Spanish class; then I am happy and will not tell her how disappointed I am with it.

Despite several bad reviews, I purchased this product after losing my Franklin BES-1850. I started using Franklin English-Spanish dictionaries over ten years ago and they have proved to be very beneficial in learning Spanish. This one is no exception. Some reviews said the sound wasn't loud enough; mine is perfect. One complained about the screen being too small; mine is more than adequate. Some complained about it not having a backlight; although it is convenient, it is not necessary. I would tell anyone who is considering buying this to go ahead and buy it. You won't regret it.

I bought this unit before there were any reviews written. I figured I would take a gamble since this is the BES-1890 (i.e. has a higher model number than the rest). There are some good features of this model and there are some bad features. I will skip these for now though and report on one feature that is an absolute showstopper: There is a bug in the hardware that repeats the first line of anything written in italics. This is really really annoying and is very common. I have no idea how this made it past Q&A. For example, I have the unit in front of me now. I type in "arte" into the Spanish dictionary. Here is what I get: arte nmf (usually m in singular, f in usually m in singular, f in plural) 1: art <artes y oficios: arts and crafts> The part in parenthesis sounds confusing doesn't it? That is because it is writing part of the line and suddenly starting over again. I would say that I encounter this in 1 out of 3 words I look up. This bug is enough of a reason to stay away from this product. If I knew this before I bought it, I wouldn't have.

I wanted a spanish phrase dictionary that would help me speak or that I could use when speakiing to people in spanish speaking countries...this isnt it

The only problem is that the back where the batteries are fitted kept falling off and I am afraid of loosing it. I living in Barbados.

I purchased this unit to go to Mexico for a 2-week vacation. I am quite satisfied with the quick translation. I speak Intermediate level Spanish but I am seriously "out of practice" so the need for the occasional word is exactly what I needed. Good battery life if you do not use the speakers. A good value for the money!!! Denis

For the price, this is a fantastic product and I find the build quality perfectly acceptable. It comes with a basic cover case and a pair of headphones. Advantages: Unlike cheaper products this has a very large database of words and far more phrases which means unlike my old French-English dictionary I'm not left resorting to a paper dictionary for half the words I want to look up. It does of course miss some modern slang and regional vocabulary and is not quite as comprehensive as I would like but it's not bad. The screen size and ease of use make it pleasurable to use. It takes 2 x AAA batteries (not included), so I can use my existing rechargeables. This also has all the verb conjugations and synonyms so is a useful reference (you have to keep pressing the Conjugate button to toggle through these - took me a while to realise!). Admittedly, you can also get all that for free on the internet, so its primary use for me is for looking up words when reading good old paper books, magazines & newspapers in Spanish. It's a lot more convenient than a laptop for that! Disadvantages: There is no lid and the case is basically a thin piece of fabric so doesn't offer much protection (it doesn't even close in any way) - so not ideal for travelling with. Plus the battery cover is a bit dodgy - prone to fall off. Personally I'd rather have paid less and not had the speaking feature because Spanish pronounciation is so straight forward. Also, there is a slight click when this is activated, which can be annoying. The pronounciation is fine but the voice does sound a bit artifical. I imagine it may be occassionally useful to check the odd word, otherwise its really more for beginners. It does seem to pronounce almost everything in English or Spanish. All in all the best mid-price Spanish-English translator I've found. I just wish I'd had a French one like this; even now I had a quick look and couldn't see anything comparable on amazon.

This is a very good learning tool. There are two voices used to speak the Spanish. The male voice is clear and easily understood although the pace of speech is unrealistically slow. The female voice speaks at the same speed as most Spanish speakers which can make understanding a little difficult for a novice like me. I find that her pronunciation is not as exact as the male voice, that may reflect normal speech but it is not helpful for a relative beginner. The machine is easy to use with a usable keyboard. The screen definition is not very good even though the contrast is adjustable. The print size for the menus is not adjustable although elsewhere it is. It is a little slow in operation. It translates only single words, it cannot translate phrases. Overall I find it a useful tool and good value for money.