Franklin MWS-1840 Speaking Merriam Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus

by Franklin Electronics

Product Details

Product Manual [357kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 6 x 4.8 x 1.2 inches ; 9 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00000JSG2
• Item model number: MWS-1840
• Batteries: 4 AAA batteries required.
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #26 in Electronics > Office Electronics > Electronic Dictionaries, Thesauri & Translators > English Dictionaries
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 1, 1999

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Anyone in business, writers, travelers, and students will value the Franklin MWS-1840 Speaking Merriam-Webster handheld electronic dictionary. Never again face the embarrassing moment when you realize you have mispronounced a word in conversation. For finding words instantly, Franklin offers the MWS-1840 speaking electronic dictionary and thesaurus with an eight-line display, 120,000 words, 300,000 definitions, and a phenomenal 500,000 thesaurus entries. At the press of a few buttons, you can peruse definitions, synonyms, and antonyms and explore related words and hear them pronounced.

Efficient and accurate, at a light 0.8 pounds the MWS-1840 is easy to carry around and incredibly convenient to use. The touch of a few buttons reveals just the right word, plus several practical options accompanied by proper pronunciation. The eight-line display expands clarity of each entry. While the MWS-1840 is a spell checker comparable with more complicated electronic dictionaries, it also offers unique features to facilitate finding a word you aren't sure of how to spell and to improve your spelling and vocabulary by using Franklin's LEARNables.

The Franklin MWS-1840 Speaking Merriam-Webster is a dictionary that everyone can use as a reference tool, to expand vocabulary, as an academic or business tool, and, remarkably, for fun. Of particular benefit to students are the Scholastic Assessment Test word list and tools to create a personalized study list of words. Anyone who writes will benefit from the grammar guide with its reliable compendium and comprehensive outline of English grammar. Enjoy playing one of 10 amusing and diverting games while improving your spelling and vocabulary.

In school and in business, precise spelling and appropriate word usage reflect favorably on your preparation and presentation. With the MWS-1840 your command of English and the breadth of your lexicon will be noticeably enlarged. For common English usage, you can hardly find a better portable resource.

Product Description

Desktop design with large 8-line screen displaying over 120,000 words and speaking full definitions; expandable book card slot, grammar guide, SAT word list, LEARNables, and games

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars nice pocket dictionary for the money, December 1, 2002

By 

Guy M. Dipietro "Guy" (Charlestown, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Franklin MWS-1840 Speaking Merriam Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus (Office Product)

I wanted a dictionary that I could take on the road and wanted it to be able to store a word list. I was pleased to have found this item and at the price.

It has met might my first need quite well. It's small and light enough to throw in backpack, suitcase or take in the car. I find most of the words I look up and the definition(s) is often sufficient. I wasn't expecting that it would be as good as my 20 lb. dictionary (it's not) but it's definitely better than a similarly sized paper dictionary.

Concerning the word list, it's not as useful as I had hoped. I often find in my reading that I come across words that I recognize, but am not sure about the definition and after looking up once it doesn't sufficiently stick, so having a word list helps. With this unit I can press the learn button on a word that I've looked up to add a word to my word list, which is exactly what I need. But there's a major drawback in that it doesn't store my words in permanent memory, so once you lose the power source you lose your list. They've obviously engineered the battery compartment to easily open and it is. But it can be clumsy in closing and more importantly it opens too easily (I also wonder about it's durability). As such I recently lost my entire list (2 - 3 books worth of reading) and that's a real bummer. As well the flash card feature could be improved. Placing words in the middle of the screen in bigger bolder letters would be nicer. The randomizer algorithm isn't that great, it will often reselect the same word 2 even 3 times in a row and it will often cycle between a small group of words.

The speaking feature was a nice bonus. It won't speak in a human voice obviously, but the pronunciation is sufficient enough for a EFL speaker (I've seen some ESL complaints). The thesarus, bookman expandability, games and calculator are nice plusses.

The LCD screen could be better. Depending on lighting it will throw a shadow over top line.

Overall I am pleased with this unit, but would've paid more for a better word list capability and a better screen.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Product, May 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Franklin MWS-1840 Speaking Merriam Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus (Office Product)

I received my Franklin Mws-1840 today and I must say I was pleasantly surprised with the unit after reading so many negative
reviews. I think it is a great product.
One reviewer said he could not read the first line.
This happens if you read the screen at an angle.
If you read the screen directly the first line is
as clear as the others.
There was a complaint about the clarity of the
pronounciation.
I found the pronounciation to be clearer than
I expected. Remember the speaker is at the
back of the unit so you have to be careful not
to cover the speaker with your hands.
There was a complaint about limited vocabulary.
This can be corrected by plugging in the
Advanced Dictionary and Thesaurus Bookman
card ADV-2002AE at the back of the unit
for $ 19.95.
There was a complaint about the size of the letters.
The unit has adjustable fonts which means you
can adjust the size of the letters.When you
put in the batteries the unit comes on with
medium sized letters.You can increase the
size to large by selecting:
Tools/Tool settings/Type size from the main
menu and changing type size to large.
One thing I agreed with the reviewers on is the shape
of the unit.I would have preferred the face of the
unit to be flat rather than curved.
I also think that the keyboard could have been about
half an inch longer so that the keys could have been

bigger.After all this is a desktop model so it does
not have to be as compact as it.
Otherwise I think it is a great product. I'm impressed.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Significantly inferior to the LM6000b model, June 4, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Franklin MWS-1840 Speaking Merriam Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus (Office Product)

There are four main things that need to be improved:
1) The letter keys are very, very hard to press and enter. It takes forever to enter even a short word.
2) The screen is too small. It takes a long time to scroll down all the definitions. The first line is also hard to read due to the shadow.
3) The speaker is in the back, not in the front that it should be. This causes a lot of problem for me since while I can't hear the pronunciation very well, the persons opposit of me usually complain that it is too loud.
4) The game selection key gets stuck easily causing the problem that a reviewer in Brazil described. This problem happened to mine and my friend's machine as well. You should try to pick the game selection key until it got unstuck. After I got mine working again, I no longer dare to play word game on it...