Customer Reviews

Lingo 10 Talk Talking Electronic Language Translator

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

 

 

I carried the Lingo Talk 10 on a recent trip to Moscow and found it to be quite useful (in fact for me, a necessity). I had only a basic understanding of the Russian alphabet and knew some basic phrases and phrase segments and a hand full of words.

The Lingo's phonetic sub-titles below the Russian text helped tremendously in aiding in my pronounciation of the words I needed to effectively communicate.

The talking feature helped even more on some of those real Russian tounge twisters. I'd say if you're not real familiar with the alphabet and pronounciations, then a talking translator is the way to go. The sound quality on this one was adequate through the small on board speaker but it was even better through the ear buds supplied.

The Lingo Talk 10 is very reasonably priced (great prices can be found with just a bit of surfing), is easy to use, has a back light display, and volume control and seems to be of substantial quality. It's vocabulary isn't as great as I would have liked but adequate to get me through my week in Russia. I would suggest that for trade or business you also carry an additional dictionary with a greater vocabluary for the country in which you are working. Just the same for tourist and others just passing through, this is nice.

I would like to have a translator with the Lingo Talk 10's features that was just perhaps a tad bit smaller so that it would fit in my shirt pocket behind my glasses case, but this was small enough to fit in my inside jactet pocket without too much fuss. I know this works against my desire for a smaller size but I would also prefer that it use AA batteries instead of the AAA size as in some areas the AAA's may not be readily available.

Overall, I like mine and I'll have it with me on my next trip abroad. I keep it in my desk on top of my passport just to remind me that I'll need that too.

I live in Japan but do not speak the language. I took the Lingo 10 with me on a trip to China and it worked great with taxis and merchants. There are limitations but this is a great machine for travel to a variety of countries. The price is also good considering some translators cost the same for only one language.

I am disappointed with the voice function. It reminds me of the old Texas instrument "speak and spell" - That had to be some 20 years ago, I would have thought voice tech knowledge would have improved by now.

Its vocabulary is limited to about 6000 words for each language. But the biggest disappointment is that it can't tell between different words that sound the same. Example If I enter the word "Fall" it will give me a translation in several different languages, but it does not say whether it is talking about "fall" the season for "fall" like fall off a cliff.

Part of the problem may be one of its features. Instead of specializing in just one language it does several, which probably limits its ability to cast a better definition on the word you are trying to translate.

I don't care for the body style to much. To me at least, it is ugly and has somewhat of a disposable feel to it.

But on the flip side it very easy to use as advertised, and if you don't intend on learning a language, but just need a language survival guide in several different countries, you may want to look into it.

Research the price before you buy. I have seen it advertise as low as [price] in military stores and as high as [price] on some web sites.

I found the Lingo very easy to use and very helpful. I recomend it to all my friends and family.I think it makes an excellent gift for overseas relatives and associates.

I recently purchased the Lingo and I've got to tell you I am very satisfied.
Before I purchased the Lingo, I did some heavy research on electronic translators as I ... am a real electronics fan. I spoke to people who own it, spoke to sales people in electronic stores, and even tested different models. ...
As far as the language selection goes- there are many products available in differant languages.....it clearly states which languages are on the products!!!
Anyway I am very happy with the product and although I do admit it can use a slightly larger vocabulary, its other features more then compensate for it.The voice is clear enough in most of the languages and the Lingo will definitaly help me on my vacations.

I knew I was taking a big chance ordering something like this over the internet. But Lingo touted their product so highly and guaranteed my satisfaction. So I ordered and hoped for the best.

I knew as soon as I opened the box that the unit was junk. First off, the external design and color scheme were pitiful. Even the name, 'Lingo', is too cutesy for any serious electronics lover. I immediately discovered that the languages advertised on the site were not exactly what came with the device, much to my chagrin. Instead of one of the particular languages I was hoping for (Korean), they had Hebrew and Arabic and Turkish. Hebrew? You tell me. The sound quality was poor-numerous attempts to discern what the voice was saying proved futile.

On the upside, the four line display wasn't too bad. And it didn't take long to arrive. Though it's taking a while now to get my refund! Still waiting. But back to the bad news-the backlight function stays on for a few seconds before you have to press the button again. Oh really! The thing lacked any grace in its design. The front door shifted around on it's hinges when shut. It had no finesse and didn't lock down tight with a nice whoosh or subtle snap. No attention to detail. 'Flimsy' is all that comes to mind. You have to arrow over to see long phrases and that's arrow over sideways, not downward to see the whole phrase together. And you're probably thinking 1,200 phrases in all 10 languages right? Think again, that's 120 phrases for each one language, and about 5,600 words for each language. This company does accel at one thing-it's called 'deceptive advertising'.

I should also mention that the manual for the thing looked like something thrown together at the local Kinko's. After 20 minutes of toying around with it I knew I'd been stung for the shipping, restock, and return fee. Over 50 dollars lost like a hot minute in Vegas. Ouch. I mean for 160 dollars, plus 20 for shipping, one expects a true work of technological art, not a piece of ... This is something to make you embarrassed for a company that dares sell such flotsam. Shame on you Lingo, shame on you. This 'Ten Talk' thing is a perfect example of how American product designers have zero sense of what makes an electronic device fun to use and hold and lay eyes on. Companies like Lingo deserve to have their butts kicked by vastly superior competition in Japan and elsewhere. I'm easily pleased and not easily displeased, but the Lingo 10 Talk is, briefly put...awful.

This unit is good to get you by if you plan to travel to a lot of these countrys, but to have a one on one conversation with some one thier is not enough vocabulary to get your point accross.The operation of the item is a little time consuming to switch back and forth from language to language.

I carried the Lingo Talk 10 on a recent trip to Moscow and found it to be quite useful (in fact for me, a necessity). I had only a basic understanding of the Russian alphabet and knew some basic phrases and phrase segments and a hand full of words.

The Lingo's phonetic sub-titles below the Russian text helped tremendously in aiding in my pronounciation of the words I needed to effectively communicate.

The talking feature helped even more on some of those real Russian tounge twisters. I'd say if you're not real familiar with the alphabet and pronounciations, then a talking translator is the way to go. The sound quality on this one was adequate through the small on board speaker but it was even better through the ear buds supplied.

The Lingo Talk 10 is very reasonably priced (great prices can be found with just a bit of surfing), is easy to use, has a back light display, and volume control and seems to be of substantial quality. It's vocabulary isn't as great as I would have liked but adequate to get me through my week in Russia. I would suggest that for trade or business you also carry an additional dictionary with a greater vocabluary for the country in which you are working. Just the same for tourist and others just passing through, this is nice.

I would like to have a translator with the Lingo Talk 10's features that was just perhaps a tad bit smaller so that it would fit in my shirt pocket behind my glasses case, but this was small enough to fit in my inside jactet pocket without too much fuss. I know this works against my desire for a smaller size but I would also prefer that it use AA batteries instead of the AAA size as in some areas the AAA's may not be readily available.

Overall, I like mine and I'll have it with me on my next trip abroad. I keep it in my desk on top of my passport just to remind me that I'll need that too.

Considering the price level, I expected much more than this product delivered. My biggest disappointment was with the sound of the computer generated voice for the French language. The audio feature was the only reason I was willing to pay 3 times the price of a simple translator. I got a lot more benefit by listening to video and audio tapes that featured real people speaking the French Language. I found other features of the product to be annoying: keys hard to press, dim display, and navigation awkward. Great idea if my expectations had been met.

Although this translator is useful, the vocabulary list is much too small, and the computerized voice is sometimes impossible to understand.

Helpful functions include the currency converter and the universal clock. But for this price, this machine should have a much larger vocabulary list.