Franklin SCD-1870 Speaking 11th Collegiate Dictionary
by Franklin Electronics
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List Price: Our Price: $49.99 You Save: $80.00 (62%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Franklin SCD-1870 Speaking 11th Collegiate Dictionary
Customer Review: Attention! Make Sure You Buy the Right Model.
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all, let me warn you. There are at least two models of Franklin-Merriam Webster's Dictionary. The cheap one (list price $59.99) is worth less than $20. The expensive one (list price $99.99) is worth $300 or more. The cheap model is a VERY bad deal for two reasons:
(1) The display is very difficult to read (even configured with large type size).
(2) It is lacking in vocabulary. What is the point of carrying along a dictionary that ignores the meaning of 100,000 words?
The expensive model is a wonderful deal for several reasons:
(1) The display is excellent even in the small print size. I spend hours playing games and my eyes don't get strained.
(2) It has twice the vocabulary of the cheaper model (200,000 words) and it pronounces the words.
(3) It has several powerful dictionary and thesaurus tools and a cornucopia of extra features laid out in a very friendly interface.
(4) It has several Learning Tools, including the SAT word list, flashcards, speaking spelling bee and a grammar guide.
(5) You can add words to the dictionary if you want to. It also accepts book cards.
(6) After looking up a word in the dictionary, you can add it to your personal list and review it as a flash card. What a great idea!
(7) It has 12 educational vocabulary games that are a lot of fun. Each game has five levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced, expert and wizard. You can also configure the games to use only the SAT vocabulary.
(8) It also has a calculator, metric converter, a clock and a databank. Each one of the extras is easy to find and yet do not compete with the dictionary. Every time you turn the machine on it works by default as a dictionary. Perfect!
OK folks, now the bad news. While the cheap model is easy to find, you won't find the expensive model in most computer stores, even the large ones. So most customers end up buying the wrong model, like I did.
For some reason, most shop owners do not leave expensive electronic products on display. If the machine costs around 100 dollars, they hide it in a secret chamber. I bought the cheap model because it was the only one I could find. Later on I ordered the top Franklin model from Amazon.
All Franklin models have a similar name. I noticed that some Amazon reviewers who gave this product a low rating were actually writing about a different model. So don't get yourself confused. Make a note of the full name of the top model: Franklin Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 11th edition Speaking.
Customer Review: It's also good for English as a Second Language users!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm an immigrant, so I think that I use a dictionary more often than regular American people. I'm tired of carrying a thick, heavy dictionary with me all the time, so this device really saves me from that inconvenience. I'm so glad. This is small enough to carry everywhere.This speaking function is awesome. This is the reason I bought this device. My American wife said that most of the words sound OK. It's great that I can check pronunciation by hearing. I think that this way makes it faster to memorize new words too.
For ESL (English as a Second Language) people, how easy the word definition is, is very important. The other function I like very much is that when the definition has a word I don't know, I can check that word also in the dictionary right away without typing that word, and I can go back to the previous definition by pushing the "back" button. This function is really useful. Though this device's definitions are a little bit difficult for me, it includes a thesaurus, so I can usually guess the meaning of words by using both books. However, if you're not using an English/English dictionary now, my advice is to use an easier paperback English/English dictionary (Ex: Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English) first to get used to using an English/English dictionary.
Some people say that the function's responses are too slow. If the response was quicker, it would be great, but I think that anyway it's quicker than using a paperback dictionary for me. When I check words with a paperback dictionary, I support the dictionary with one hand and turn pages with the other hand, then I often lose my place where I was reading in my book and have to find that place again before I can continue reading. However, I only need one hand to use this device and the other hand can be keeping my place in the book. People who don't lose their place while reading might not understand this point.
Anyway, the pros outweigh the cons for this device. I would recommend it.
Customer Review: A powerful, portable tool
Summary: 5 Stars
I just received my Franklin's Electronic 11th Collegiate Dictionary, and already it is indispensible to my activities. The hand-held user-friendly device is a comprehensive dictionary with voice-activated pronounciation of words and defintions; additionally, it is a mighty useful and expansive thesaurus. Supplementary features include word games, a calculator, a grammar guide, a table of signs and symbols, a currency converter, a World Clock, a BOOKMAN book card feature, and learning tools designed to help a student study for the SAT or increase one's spelling acumen. It displays confusables, antonymns, homophones, and pre-fixes/suffixes. Moreover, if you want to use it as a name and address database, there is a program for data storage (and secret password entry, if you desire).
The letters are arranged like a keyboard instead of alphabetically. Since the keyboard is too small to prop your hands on (like a computer), it would be my preference to arrange them alphabetically. I reasoned, however, that the keyboard arrangement (as well as the speaker) is designed to be user-friendly for the sight-impaired. I only wish that they had designed it both ways, giving the buyer a choice.
My only salient complaint is that the optional PC connectivity kit that you can purchase for $7.95 (includes Desktop Software, an expansion card, serial cable, AC adaptor, and pc software to allow you to download eBooks, magazines, language translators, etc.) is not Mac compatible.
Regardless, I will keep this literary-friendly gadget velcroed to my personage!
Customer Review: Small buttons but otherwise...
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the first electronic dictionary I have ever owned. I have always used a bulky book dictionary and was biased in favor of the old tried by true method. I checked out several electronic dictionaries before I spent a bit more money in choosing Franklin's SCD-1870.
I never understood the advantages of carrying a 200,000 word dictionary in your pocket. This little machine is a wonder... the dictionary application as expected is just fine and dandy...it's the other functions that wow me. Thesaurus, Learning Tools, Word games, Grammar guide, Signs symbols & tables (astrology, biology, chemical elements, etc.) a clock and a calculator and your own "word list" a feature I use while reading a book. If I run across a word I don't know or unsure of it is added it to my word list, which enables me to review at a later time, get the correct definition and see how it can be used in a sentence. You can also buy an attachment that allows you to hook it up to your computer and if that's not enough, you can plug in one of the many "Bookman" electronic cards thus your machine metamorphoses into an entirely different product, like magic!
There are way to many applications to go into here but rest assured... if you are a word freak, enamored with the English language then Franklin's little machine is for you. After a few hours you will wonder how you ever got along without it.
A great gift for a student son or daughter or just about anyone else for that manner.
Customer Review: A Must-Have For Word Lovers
Summary: 5 Stars
I'll never forget now the day I received my electronic dictionary. It has changed my life. My mother bought me the Franklin SCD-1870 Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and I was in awe of this handheld device which looked like a little notepad but functioned like a computer. I spent that night and the next day looking up every single word I could think of, even the ones I was familiar with. I would link myself from word to word and started building up my word list and looking up new words and studying the SAT Word List. I loved pronouncing the difficult words and the batteries that came with the dictionary lasted for 18 months before the computer told be it was on low battery, and this was after using the device nearly every single day. I love saving words in the Word List, although sometimes the list is erased if you leave the device out in an extreme temperature, so be careful and make back-ups. The games serve their purpose and I don't have a problem reading the text. This works pretty quickly if you are typing in a word that the computer matches identically, but you have to wait a bit if you type in a word that is spelled incorrectly. The asterisk and question mark function helps out a lot though if you are not sure how a word is spelled. This is highly recommended and it is definitely one of those products that makes me wonder how I ever went without it. I need it by my side at all times now.