Franklin BES-2150 Speaking Merriam-Webster Spanish-English and Advanced Learner's English Dictionary (BES-2150)

I haven't used many talking dictionaries, but this one is great. The screens and keyboard are pretty intuitive. I haven't looked at the instructions yet because, honestly, I haven't really needed them, so I don't know how comprehensive they are. The voice function is pretty clear, even on the highest volume setting. The size of this device is very convenient as well: small enough to fit comfortably into your pocket, but large enough that you're probably not going to lose it. Also, I figured out how to work the backlight on my second try: if you're familiar with laptop keyboards, you'll recognize the FN key and the little picture of a lightbulb next to the Enter key and go from there. (The first time I tried, I just pressed the FN key and then the Enter key, but on my second try, I realized I'd have to hold down the FN key while pressing Enter.) It's really not that difficult. There is a bit of a delay sometimes while the device is "thinking", but what exactly do you expect from an electronic dictionary like this? It's not like Franklin would have/could have put a mega-powerful processor in the thing. Overall, this is an excellent little device, and I'm very pleased with my purchase.

Helped a lot

I think it is pretty dumb, if not stupid, I want to say (for example to someone in Spanish) how are you today, I type it in in English thinking the machine will say it in Spanish, it tells me in English, wtf, or I am stupid and do not know how to work the machine,the machine is great if you want to teach yourself the language you already know, a and trying to get support ,forget it,stupid purchase, falsely advertised, useless for me

This device is HEAVILY biased toward the English language and English learners. It CANNOT be configured or easily traversed to serve as an optimum tool for learning Spanish. It appears to have been mainly a marketing trick for Franklin to put this thing across as the best tool for learning Spanish. Well, they tricked me -- I now own a $100 door stop -- and I am very angry about it. I've purchased probably 6 different Franklin tools for learning SPANISH, from most basic to top of the line, and this is the worst by far in terms of USABILITY (which mostly means quick ability to look up a Spanish word and find conjugations, etc. It has a massive English dictionary...English words defined in English and with NO cross reference to Spanish. If you don't know English very well maybe this is what you need. If not, look elsewhere. This device is too stupid to even remember that the last time you had it on you were looking up Spanish words and come up in that mode. If they had at least that basic functionality, or a one button way to switch to that functionality, I could at least make use of this. Franklin as a company appears cunning but stupid. They have have packaged the same basic information into a million different Spanish-English devices, with an endless variety of interfaces, and they are forever dropping old interfaces and coming up with new ones. If the new ones were BETTER than the old ones or there was any way to effectively sort through the confusing and continuing flood of devices, or if they would even keep old interfaces on the market longer, this could be viewed as there best effort to evolve. But they don't do any of that, either. Their devices break pretty regularly if you are using them much and then, when you try to buy a new one, you find its been discontinued with no clear upgrade path, and you are sort of lost at sea about what to do except take a GAMBLE. Well, unless you don't know English, don't gamble -- don't buy this. I wish I could buy another model "DBE-1470" as it had high functionality, the best interface by far, of any model I've owned. Unfortunately it has been discontinued with no obvious upgrade path. Someone ought to take Franklin on in the translator space. I don't think it would be too hard to obsolete them as they don't appear to have any common sense.

This translator works probably like most of the other ones on the market, but one thing that should be taken into consideration is that this should probably be used by someone who is trying to learn English and not vice versa. Most of the books and reference materials that are pre-downloaded are used to teach English. The only thing that I find useful is the Spanish-English dictionary, and this is only useful if you know a Spanish word that you want to have translated. It will also take any English word and translate it into Spanish, but it does not translate phrases. You can't learn Spanish one word at a time, and also if you try to translate an English sentence literally into Spanish, you will not get the anticipated meaning. So if you don't know a good bit of Spanish, this is probably the wrong device for you. I wish it would translate more prepositions and linking-words and two to three word phrases like 'instead of' or 'for the sake of' or 'once upon a time'. It doesn't. So if you're trying to learn Spanish, this is probably not the product for you......

Although I've not had too much usage yet, the unit seems very versatile and has a comprehensive data set. The package is very compact so it fits in a purse very well. I like the fact that it has a cover built in so that the face does not get damaged when carried. It seemed a bit expensive, but as it should last for years, it will not be expensive in the long run. I was please with the idioms presented. They are perhaps the hardest thing for a non-English speaker to understand.

I finally found an electronic comprehensive Spanish-English, English-Spanish dictionary that I can carry in my purse. This small unit has served me more than I had ever imagined. I write articles in Spanish, and sometimes need to remember the translation of words that I haven't used in many years. I find the word I'm looking for, and, among other things, many examples phrases or sentences, Thesaurus, Spanish Conversational phrases, English conversational phrases, and English Conjugations; I can also learn how to pronounce words by pressing a key that makes a recorded human voice pronounce the words.

Don't bother spending more on the 2150. This is the third Franklin dictionary I have purchased, and this was the greatest waste of money. The "backlight" is non-existent, the screen is difficult to read except under well-lit conditions. I owned a BES 1650 with a manual back light that was far superior to this model, but alas, it finally wore out. I see virtually NO difference in the 2100 and the 2150, despite what other reviewers have stated. I agree with the reviewer that stated this model is a BIG disappointment. I will NEVER purchase another Franklin product, despite my delight with the BES 1650. Being ripped off twice, first with the 2100 and then with the 2150 is too much.