The Franklin DBE-1490 also contains the Merriam-Webster Dictionary with more than 274,000 English word definitions. A phonetic spelling correction feature lets you enter words phonetically. Also included are grammar guides and quizzes, verb conjugations, and word lists for help with correct usage. Games and learning exercises help you keep your language skills sharp; a crossword puzzle solver helps you when you get stuck in a crossword puzzle. The Franklin DBE-1490 Spanish-English dictionary runs on two CR-2032 batteries (included).

(Example: Caer;
1:to fall, to drop
2:to collapse
3:to hang down
4:caer bien - to be pleasant, to be likable
5:caer mal or caer gordo: to be unpleasant, to be unlikable
6:caerse:to fall down)

In the past, I would have been tempted to use 'me gusta' to say I liked someone; however, this would have implied I had amorous feeling for them (oops!) Who would have guessed?
This info can also be found in the book, 'Breaking out of Beginner's Spanish', which is also highly recommended, but the electronic translator keeps it right at your finger tips.

My husband was a dedicated hard copy dictionary user, who thought I was wasting my money, until he realized how fast, easy, and on-the-mark the Franklin is. He "borrowed" my 1450 so often that I finally ordered another one for him, and another one for my 13-y.o.
Verb conjugations do take a little time,(not long enough to irritate me,still a useful function), but this is not primarily what I use it for. There are so many other good products on the market for that, such as the Warren Hardy flashcards (www.warrenhardy.com), the Real Spanish Path (www.speakspanish.com), etc. I hardly ever use any of the other functions, just the translator. It's very quick to switch from English to Spanish (how do you say?) to Spanish to English (what's that word mean?) If you forget and type in an English word in the Spanish function, one button will automatically switch you over, so you don't have to re-type it. By the way, don't forget to follow the arrows on your display pad. There is always much more info than what you can originally see, so you need to keep scrolling down to read it. Also, be clear about this, the translator does not translate phrases, only single words. Bien viaje!


I think Franklin fixed all my major complaints from their previous models!   August 27, 2006
LEE (Seattle, WA United States)
94 out of 94 found this review helpful

The DBE-1490 is a very pleasant surprise for me. I've had the DBE-1440A and DBE-1450, but the DBE-1490 is alot more user friendly. I believe this model is the replacement for DBE-1470. I've never used the DBE-1470 so I can't make a comparison between the two.

The DBE-1490 is slightly larger than the DBE-1440A and DBE-1450. They have the same thickness and length, but the width is about 3/4-inch longer. If you're a guy, it's probably too big to stick in your front shirt pocket. The dimensions (my measurement) are 5-1/8 inches x 3-7/8 inches and 3/8 inch thick.

The operation and features of the DBE-1490 are similar to Franklin's other non-speaking Spanish-English dictionary. It has verb conjugations, grammer guide, conversational phrases, my vocabulary list, games & learning exercises, phonetic spell correction, SAT word list, TOEFL word list, crossword puzzle solver, and a English monolingual dictionary.

My major complaints with previous Franklin models are the keys are too small, the keys tended to stick so you had to really apply pressure to get it to register, and the display screen is so small that you always have to scroll down to read everything. The added width of this model allowed Franklin to use bigger and more responsive keys and, best of all, a BIGGER display screen.

This model does NOT have a slot for the Franklin Bookman Card. I've never used a Bookman Card so not having this feature was not important to me.

This model uses two lithium batteries CR2032. This is what my other Franklin models used. I believe recent Franklin models like the DBE-1470 uses AAA, but the downside is that they are bulkier. The upside is that AAA batteries are easier to find and cheaper. The downside to the lithium batteries is that if you're in a remote village in the Andes or Amazon, you better have extra ones because it is going to be difficult to find them.

With this model, you'll need a jewelers philips screwdriver to remove a screw that secures the battery cover. This fixes a complaint that some users had about loose battery covers on previous models.

As an owner of previous Franklin models, I can attest that the improvements with the key and display screen size make this the best one yet.


So far so good.   November 29, 2006
Good Lux (Yay Area, CA)
48 out of 48 found this review helpful

I just bought this from a store, and I reading up to make sure it was the right product. I'm mainly writing in response to a previous review I read:

"and the conjugation feature -- a feature that was a selling point for me -- is a joke: it only conjugates in first-person singular indicative mood."

This just isn't true. It looks that way if you only hit the conjucation button once. However, if you hit the conjugation button a second, third, forth, etc time it cycle through the following tenses:

present indicative
present progressive
preterite
past progressive
future
present perfect
future perfect
pluperfect
present conditional
past conditional
imperative

and it has the 1,2,3 person singular and plural.

This is an extremely useful device, for me at least!




Solid Upgrade over the DBE 1440, satisfied.   November 22, 2006
Daniel Fong (Michigan)
38 out of 38 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)


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