Customer Reviews

Franklin MWD-1490 Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus with Comprehensive Reference Set

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I recently got one and i'm pretty satisfied so far. Features of this include:
1. Word of the day (random word everytime you turnon).
2. Super-jump (jump to definition of any word in the screen).
3. dictionary <-> thesaurus switch given a word
4. wrong spelling suggestion
5. word finder (by using ? or * characters). "?" will match any character. "*" will match any one or more characters. ie, "an?" will match "and, ant, any, etc"
6. Organizer (clock, address book, Calculator, Converter, Currency)
7. It has exercises (Spelling bee, SAT, flashcards)
8. It has 7 games (anagrams, hangman, jumble, word builder, word train, link four, tictactoe
9. 5-language translator
10. Display has 3 font option (small, large, medium).
Given that it's less than $50, it's a pretty good product. The display is OK and readable (don't compare it to colored back-lit LCD screen). It doesn't have backlight bec it's powered by 2 CR2032 battery. Keys are good. Dictionary content is the typical Webster book (not the heavy and thick one). Don't expect all known words to exist.

I didn't know, when ordering Merriam-webster Dictionary, Thesaurus and Reference Suite that the Webster Collegiate was also available. Merriam-webster gives definitions BUT NOT ETYMOLOGIES. That was a big disappointment for me. I also wanted the full, collegiate vocabulary. On the other hand, the "M-w." is small, light-weight, has an excellent thesaurus & complete definitions. The spell checker & reference features are handy. I really liked the crossword helper. All these "extras" did not make up for the lack of etymologies & collegiate vocab. for me. M-w.'s a good tool. It just depends on what you need.

This item caries the bare neccessities to qualify as a dictionary/thesaurus. Some faults I have oberved are: The letters on the LCD are extremely small and hard to read depending on the light source. The contents of the thesaures could be greatly expanded. The dictionaly/speller works well but could be expanded. The battery power should be changed to 2 triple "A"s as the barreries included don't last long and are somewhat expensive. For the price it's a good purchase.

I have found this product invaluable to me in my reading. I look up every word with which I am not familiar and then add it to my "word list". I then try to review the word list at least once per day, committing at least one word to memory. I try to keep my list under 25 words.
The bad thing about this dictionary is that is not complete. It's very frutrating not having a word's definition available.
Overall, however, I am very pleased with this product. I am currently on disability for a back injury and read 2-3 books per week so this has a real learning tool for me.

I got this to upgrade from my clunky older electronic dictionary. Some upgrade! It lacked five words from a Woody Allen book, several from Bill Bryson, some from Thurston Clarke. I just gave up trying to find anything. For the price and its claims I expected much more. I would gladly have my old clunky back, but it went to the Goodwill Store.

My old clunky electronic dictionary was doing okay but I had upgraders syndrome and went for this one. Wrong mover! Besides missing tons of words, surprise! It does not, like the older model, give the word derivations! This was a cruel blow.

The lid is really hard to open and I have considered just tearing it off.
This model has tons of features but the old clunky was much easier to operate.

I am thinking of using my Mozilla Internet Dictionary, or going for the Oxford CD Rom.

Maybe someday these manufacturers will realize that when some of us go to buy a dictionary, we expect to find words in it, instead of games and five-language translators.

There is just no substitute for a good dictionary.

i gave it one star because this product is wrongfully advertised there is NO usb connectivity you can not update it. overall it is a pretty good product, worth the $44.00; with the features, the multiple lines of text and flip cover.

I keep mine beside my favorite reading chair. For the price, this dictionary does a great job. It is super easy to use and has several neat features. I would recommend this product.

I had wished for this product and received it as a gift. The dictionary is 'acceptable'(some words are just not there); Translation (I'm using English/German and the reverse) is often totally wrong. A word typed in in German is often changed to a similar sounding word and then translated which, of course, is a disaster. With translation in mind, I could not recommend this product. Sorry.

This product has been working perfectly since it was delivered! It is a great replacement for the big paper dictionaries and thesaurus and, while not complete (no paper or electronic dictionary is), it has more than 85% of definitions for words searched for. It is very user-friendly, battery-efficient and light-weight. I recommend it.

Easy to use and fast, but I wish the screen was was black on white and of higher resolution instead of the more difficult to read blue on green.