Ectaco EJ400T Partner English-Japanese Language Speech / Talking Translator / Dictionary

by Ectaco

Product Details

Product Manual [1.04mb PDF]

• Item Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B0002RLOP6
• Item model number: EJ400T
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,792 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

Bidirectional English Japanese dictionary EJ400TM contains over 450,000 translations to and from English and Japanese including medical, technical, business and legal terms. Japanese and English voice! It is able to speak thousands of dictionary entries making it an important aid to language study and pronunciation. With more than 450,000 entries this dictionary also converts letters into Hiragana, Katakana, or Kanji as well as providing Romanized pronunciation keys. Usage of this model will make your working with a foreign language easy and convenient. Just type in a few letters of a word and the dictionary will automatically display words starting with these letters. When you are unsure of the proper words spelling, the Vector Ultima spell-checker allows you to enter the word as you hear it and to choose a spelling version from the suggestions list. All translations from English are displayed with Romanized pronunciation keys. The dictionary includes over 1,200 phrases grouped by topic for easy daily communication and almost any situation on a foreign trip. Large, 5 line high-resolution graphic screen makes for natural, smooth font appearance that is easy on your eyes. Romanized input methods allow entering characters by their Latin transcriptions. Depending on the selected input method the string of letters is converted into Hiragana, Katakana, or Kanji. Universal organizer, calculator, business scheduler. Built-in metric and currency converters.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Ouch, November 24, 2004

By 

G. T West (Blaine, Minnesota United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ectaco EJ400T Partner English-Japanese Language Speech / Talking Translator / Dictionary (Electronics)

This dictionary sucks. I bought it last summer and it did me little good. The definitions are usually only one word, the max being 3. They lump all of the translations together, so you kinda just pick and choose with no real idea of the difference between homonyms. There's no way to actually look up Kanji but you can search with them (the only plus), however, some Kanji aren't listed under the proper radical, and you must search through lists and lists of Kanji by stroke order. I highly recommend the Canon G50. Although it is expensive, it contains extensive definitions of hundreds of thousands of words, as well as an extensive Kanji dictionary (however, Kanji definitions, meanings, etc are all written in Kana). The G50 comes with an English manual and you can switch it to an English interface so it's perfect for English speakers.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not a reliable product, January 11, 2007

By 

R. Miyanaga - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ectaco EJ400T Partner English-Japanese Language Speech / Talking Translator / Dictionary (Electronics)

Unfortunately, this product did not meet our expectations.
I'm a native Japanese speaker and I bought this product for my husband. I could tell right away that whoever recorded Japanese words for this product was not a native Japanese speaker. Further, Japanese translations they had were not always correct. This product was a total miss.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Japanese <-> English electronic dictionary for the price..., December 30, 2005

By 

S. Guthikonda (Columbus, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ectaco EJ400T Partner English-Japanese Language Speech / Talking Translator / Dictionary (Electronics)

This is a pretty solid dictionary. It will allow a beginner to intermediate English or Japanese speaker to effectively survive in a foreign country. While it is not up to par with some of the more advanced dictionaries, it does serve a purpose.

I have been studying Japanese for a couple years at the University. I plan on heading to Japan to study more, for a year duration. I needed an electronic dictionary to help me out. The interesting thing about Japanese/Chinese, is that there are so many characters (Kanji) that even native speakers do not know all the meanings/readings/writings! Nearly everyone I talked to says they carry around an electronic dictionary in case they run into a character they do not recognize.

This dictionary is small enough to fit in your pocket. It eliminates the need to carry around a heavy and cumbersome bound-volume dictionary.

It can be used by native English speakers heading to Japan, or native Japanese speakers heading to an English speaking country. My friend works in a restaurant in Washington D.C... she has seen many Japanese customers come in using this model dictionary. It is very helpful in this situation, as the dictionary provides pronunciation (audio feedback) on the English words. This is where pronunciation is needed, due to the vast amounts of irregularities in the English language. Japanese pronunciation isn't really necessary, as the Kana are given (and Romaji), and they only have a single way to be pronounced: If you know the Kana, you can pronounce every Japanese word written in Kana.

The vocabulary is obviously not as extensive as more expensive models. But it has enough to get you through most tasks. There are lists of common questions/comments in various situations: At the airport, in a restaurant, walking the streets, etc.

There are a lot of 'extra' features on this dictionary. These include: foreign currency converter, calculators, clocks/alarms, calenders and schedulers.

They key thing that differentiates this electronic dictionary from others I looked at is the price. The newer Canon dictionaries run ~$300+. This is a lot of money to put into a small electronic item that can easily be lost.

This dictionary also comes with a 1 year manufacturer's warranty.

PROS:
- Inexpensive.
- Good for a beginner/intermediate learner of either Japanese or English.
- Search by Kanji through radicals or stroke orders.
- Spell checker allows you easy location of words you can't spell.
- Manual is in English and Japanese (some other models just have one or the other).
- 'Extra Features'.
- Phrases for common situations.

CONS:
- Not as many words as the more expensive models.
- Can have some 'false' definitions (these are present in all electronic dictionaries I have used due to the ambiguities arising from translating Japanese to English - just look at Zero Wing ^_^).

Conclusion: Overall, this is a good dictionary. If you are a beginner/intermediate student of Japanese or English and are planning on traveling to a foreign country, you will need to pick up an electronic dictionary. This model, EJ400T, should be your choice if you don't have a ton of money to spend, or if you have a tendency to misplace small electronics ;) There ARE better models (some Canons) - hence the 4 star rating - but they are all in a much higher price range (~$300+)