Franklin TWE-118 5 Language European Translator

by Franklin Electronics

Product Details

Product Manual [112kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 2.8 x 0.5 inches ; 2.1 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005MMOS
• Item model number: TWE-118
• Average Customer Review: 1.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #33 in Electronics > Office Electronics > Electronic Dictionaries, Thesauri & Translators > Foreign Language Translators
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Features

• 210,000 total translations to and from English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian.
• 5,000 conversational phrases grouped in categories such as: Doing Business, Travel & Directions, Eating & Drinking, Shopping, Hotel and Emergencies.
• Spell checking.
• 2 games: Hangman and Quiz.
• A ROLODEX Electronics databank to store names and phone numbers.
• A calculator with metric and currency converters.
• A Euro currency converter to convert between Euro and 11 national European currencies.
• A clock to check local and world time.
• 2-line display
• Adjustable contrast
• Automatic shutoff
• Self-demonstration
• Quick reference lid instructions
• 1 CR2032 lithium battery

Specifications

• Publisher: Franklin Electronic Publishers
• Platform: Independent
• Battery Type: 1 x CR-2032 lithium
• Size: 4 1/4" x 2 3/4" x 5/8"
• Weight: 3.5 oz
• AC Adapter Jack: No

Product Description

Franklin Electronic TWE-118 5 Language European Translator TWE-118 Digital Diaries

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

120 of 121 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars cheap is as cheap does, January 12, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Franklin TWE-118 5 Language European Translator (Office Product)

I picked this up before heading to Europe. I chose it because it was inexpensive and I figured 'what the hell'. English is my only fluent language. This thing works, but you will go hungry if you try to understand/decode a restaurant menu. The display is small so that one must scroll character by character to see long words or phrases. Don't expect anything but textbook words. There is no phonetic help with pronunciation. I didn't use the address book, currency exchange, or functions other than word translations. After minimal use, the battery (included) started to fade.
Bottom line: if you want to look up an occasional word, fine, go for it. If you think this will allow you to solve your language ignorance problems, move along.

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Value for the Money, March 11, 2003

By 

Mel Gods (Absolutely Nowhere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Franklin TWE-118 5 Language European Translator (Office Product)

This handy little translator is worth the price. It's not the best in the world, but it will handle the basics. I found the dictionary to be somewhat limited, so you may need to familiarize yourself with the language of the country you are visiting. I would recommend you do that anyway, though.

Note: Cannot withstand being dropped with the weight of a backpack full of books on top of it. I'm buying my second one.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Next to Useless, May 23, 2006

By 

C. Eagle (Ann Arbor, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Franklin TWE-118 5 Language European Translator (Office Product)

A couple of years ago I bought a Franklin Spanish-English dictionary (DBE-1470AM) before going to Mexico and it worked great for deciphering written signs, menus, etc. So I thought I would get something to help me before going to Germany this summer, and this is the Franklin product that appeared to best fit the bill.

As compared to the DBE-1470AM, this product:
* Has a miniscule display which makes it very hard to see descriptions
* Has very minimal text for descriptions
* Doesn't conjugate verbs (see below)
* Doesn't provide gender information
* Has a smallish dictionary - uncommon but still used words, e.g. "dolphin", are often missing.

The absence of verb forms renders this device next to useless for people unfamiliar with the source language. As a simple example, in English, if you look up the various forms of the verb "say" you get:
* "Say" - found, with a description
* "Said" - not found
* "Says" - corrected to "see" (!)
* "Saying" - This is my favorite, since it provides the noun "saying" and the phrase "That goes without saying", but not the verb "saying" that's used in the phrase it provides!

I haven't tried the languages other than German and English, so there's a chance they're better but, at least for German and English, if you want to use this device to decipher written words, you'll be unsuccessful.

Unfortunately, I haven't get found another translator to buy so I can't recommend anything else; I can only recommend not buying this product.