Customer Reviews

Franklin BFQ-450 Larousse French/English Dictionary

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I use the dictionary while reading or writing in French.
Its vocabulary includes 95% of the words I look for.
Every now and then an English word cannot be found ("soy" for example).
When typing a verb in any tense or form,
the dictionary will recognize the infinitive.
Also useful is the conjugator.

What I don't like is the inability to translate expressions.
you can't type "put off".
To translate the expression you have to type "put"
and scroll down dozens of expressions until you reach the desired one.

The spell correction is also bad and can take a whole minute.
Sometimes if you misspell a word,
it'll be quicker to reboot the translator than wait for the error code.

I was very disappointed with this dictionary. I have just come back from Asia, where extremely elegant, sophisticated and versatile electronic dictionaries set a high standard. It's common to find high resolution backlit touch screens and multiple languages, as well as context-sensitive glosses on words and expressions. Sound is a common feature, as well. My new Franklin electronic dictionary sports none of the above. To start with, it looks cheap and flimsy, like a child's toy, and does not function as advertised. The dictionary seems to have only one text size, too large (the instructions claim there are three, but choosing a different size does not change the display) and communicates only in capital letters. Despite packaging graphics that show both upper and lower case letters, input and output are uniformly upper case, making it hard to distinguish the French accent marks. There is a "maj" key which is supposed to make it possible to type in capitals or lower case, but it doesn't work. I don't know whether I have a defective unit or whether the specifications have changed, but it is going back!

I use this to do french homework, reading french books, translating random words. I bring it everywhere with me. I can say that its great to learn the language.
Note: Put the resolution up so that you can see more text.

This was a gift...apparently it is a hit. Will be used for french class and a trip to Paris. Very compact and user friendly.

I have used this device for two years and find it amazing. Its easy to use and has almost all of the words I need translations for. I find it very easy to carry on my travels and while studying French at home.

This hand-held dictionary is okay. The font/print is not bold enough and the back lighting is too weak making it difficult to read in well-lit spaces. I like the sentences that illustrate the definitions. If I had it to do over I would get a more up-to-date model(if one exists) with the quality of today's computers. I am disappointed with this product.

Having a little pocket translator/dictionary like this is very useful. This is a vast improvement over my last one, but there are still some improvements that can be made. The dictionary seems to be decent-sized - haven't yet come across any words that it couldn't find. It lists the gender where necessary (ie nouns, etc). It would be nice if it had pronunciation notes. My two minor gripes are that the case seems pretty flimsy and it's not a true QWERTY keyboard - it looks like it at first glance, but they've shifted some letters around and that's causing me some headaches as I'm so used to working off of a standard keyboard. The verb conjugation tool only conjugates "je", no other pronouns. All told, it's a handy gadget to have and I use it on a daily basis - not bad for the price, but it's pretty basic.

This certainly doesn't replace a full service dictionary but could have been valuable when you don't have the space for the paper......my BFQ-450 died after 2 months. Customer Service provided a fax number option for warranty coverage. I'm fortunate enough to have a fax machine and that number has been busy continuously for over 14 hours. I should have been provided with an "RMA" number per terms of the warranty to return the defective product-not a fax number that's off the hook!
After a day of total frustration, they did reply to an e-mail and committed to send a replacement device.

It's been many years since my last French class, so this was in invaluable tool on my first trip to Paris. I especially like that is does conjugations, as I had totally forgotten all of those.

If you really want a French dictionary device (en lieu d'un dictionnaire en papier) this is not it. Missing a lot of words and some definitions incorrect. I have a program on my laptop (Collins) which is much better. Look for other options.