Franklin DBE-1490 Spanish / English Dictionary

The item is not as it appears on this picture it is a little bigger than palm sized and looks like it was designed to fit in the back pocket of a pair of jeans.

The screen is nice and large and the text size is adjustable but the contrast can be poor depending on lighting conditions.

The features really do set this thing apart from the simpler translators. The definitions are just as they would appear in a dictionary and the conjugation of verbs is invaluable for the student as they have english equivalents (Yo he andado = I have walked)

The games and the personal organiser are good in their own right but pale in comparison to the newer colour phones most people use for this purpose nowadays.

I'm still discovering features all the time, and even though I work in electronics I can only marvel at the thought that has gone into this little thing.

Pros: Size and weight, clever design, ease of use (considering complexity), scores of little extras

Cons: Screen Contrast, Lack of swearwords/slang, no sound


Franklin DBE-1470   January 14, 2006
Mr. D. A. White (UK)
15 out of 15 found this review helpful

The delivery time was fantastic and the product itself was easy to use and well worth the money. As someone who's still in the early stages of learning the language its proved to be a great help and even spanish speaking friends find it useful.

The functions are good with a variety of games on offer to make learning more enjoyable and the conjugation option has proved very handy!

However, the image of the product on the amazon site it not actually the one you'll get. The product is a Franklin DBE-1470 and can be viewed of www.Franklin.com the product on the amazon site is some kind of panasonic device and looks nothing like the item you'll actually receive.... None the less, well worth the money if your serious about learning spanish.


excellent; really useful   October 19, 2005
waterceltfire (north east)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

Really handy learning tool. You can search it the same as any english/spanish dictionary, and the results it brings up are very comprehensive ... you can also press a key to conjugate a verb, and then press again in order to see each verb tense conjugation.

You can set it so that each time you turn it on a new word is displayed. At any time you can press the 'learn' button, so the word is added to your word list (40 words maximum). This is a really useful feature, as you can set it so that the games use your word list ... thus you are learning 40 words at a time, at your own pace. I find this is such a useful way to learn vocab and verbs.

What with the grammar guide, spelling bee, TOEFL list (which you can also choose to be used by the games), flashcards, section of traveller's phrases, and various games, I very highly recommend this. I also find that it's very useful when using multimedia that doesn't have a dictionary etc included, as I can quickly look up a word or verb I'm not sure of.

Invaluable piece of spanish learning kit! And to be able to carry it anywhere and learn anywhere is great.


Quite a nifty bit of kit   January 28, 2007
Andrew london (London, England)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

This dictionary is great. It's really cheap on here compared with other online retailers (nearly half the price).

It works really well as a dictionary, and can conjugate verbs really well (although the word order is a bit weird, it has the Nosotros at the end of the conjugation rather than 4th). I am however really happy I bought it. You can make the text bigger too.

It has a few interesting features that you'll never use; games, expansion port, word of the day, rolodex etc, but the dictionary / grammer is excellent, and I am really happy I bought it.

Criticisms: No backlight, navigation a bit fiddly, no swear words (electronic censorship?)


Essential for learning spanish...   February 27, 2007
B. Atkins (Birmingham)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

I previously had a rather large spanish dictionary but wanted something a little more discrete so i could take it to work and learn spanish. I wont echo the comments of other reviewers but was shocked at how many features there are on this thing. Even though id got learn it yourself books / programs etc some of the grammar descriptions were the most concise id read. At work i cant fire up a full program on my PC or take a massive book. But i can take this and have a few games of spanish hang man, brush up on grammar, look up words etc.

Having seen a few other devices (some of which are [...]). Im very smug with my purchase.

5 stars!