Customer Reviews

Sharp PW-E250 Pocket Oxford Spanish English Dictionary & Thesaurus

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am an English and Spanish teacher. I bought this pocket dictionary mostly for my Spanish students. I now have four of them. All of the functions are easy to use, and the definitions are fairly complete and offer the words used in context. The problem is that there are a lot of words that are not in this dictionary. I find that when I try to use this myself, most of the words that I look up are not in the Spanish-English dictionary.
This is a good product for beginning/intermediate users. For advanced users, I recommend getting a Spanish-only dictionary. These, in electronic form, are very difficult to come by, and very expensive.
The English dictionary/thesaurus functions are easy to use and fairly complete. Overall, I recommend it, while acknowledging its limitations. I would prefer something with fewer functions, and a larger, more comprehensive Spanish-English dictionary.

As a long-ago high school student of Spanish with some exposure to the language on infrequent trips to Puerto Rico and Mexico I needed quick and easy language back-up for a 2 week business/pleasure trip to Spain. The Sharp PW-E250 came through with flying colors. It automatically suggests common and useful phrases, in addition to definitions, when I input even partial Spanish words. This very useful when ordering food, getting travel directions or even making complex purchases (electronic equipment). The Sharp is very easy to use. Simply push the Spanish-English or English-Spanish button (no need to push the start button) and it is instantly ready to translate. Power drain must be minimal -- the single AAA battery is still good after using the translator for my trip and help in translating publications for many weeks after my return. It is compact easy to read in all light conditions in which you would read a printed dictionary, has big enough buttons to avoid fumbling and has a very useful calculator. I find it much faster and more functional than a phrase book or full dictionary. It replaced my desktop Spanish-English dictionary. I highly recommend it.

I actually got this as an on-the-go backup for my main Sharp PW-E550 English electronic dictionary. I'm not using the Spanish-English part of this gadget so can't comment on that part. There are about 90,000 English entries (and another 60,000 Spanish ones). An entry is a word, a phrase, a person's or geographic name, etc. Let's put this way, it has most of the commonly used (English) words. The vocabulary is "PG-13" if you know what I mean, so don't look for vulgar slangs here.

There are basically three dictionaries here:

1. English dictionary and Thesauras (Oxford American Pocket version)
2. English-Spanish
3. Spanish-English

Two salient features of this dictionary are: 1) the keyboard is very comfortable to use (but the layout takes getting used to), and 2) it has backlight, which is fabulous. I love this dictionary. I still need my PW-E550 when I read serious books because that one's got twice as many words and definitions. But for everyday use, e.g., when you read newspapers or just want to have fun with words, this is a good companion. Did I mention it has (green) backlight at the touch of a button?

The dictionary uses one AAA battery. If you don't use backlight, the one battery should last a long time. (I know this because my PW-E550 is very power-efficient.) If you use backlight a lot, obviously you should carry a spare AAA with you.

If you have kids, this is good for up to grade 10 or 11, I believe. After that, a kid needs the bigger-lexicon PW-E550, depending on the quality of your school district, of course.

I am using this in a middle school to help Spanish-literate students understand English vocabulary and it is amazingly comprehensive for the price. It is rare when I do not find the word that I am looking for. Translations of definitions in both languages makes it easy to be sure that you have the correct translation of a multiple-meaning word.
It also has an easy to use spellchecker for English and basic information on many subject areas. I use the geography information frequently.
It is durable and reliable.
Now, if I could only find similar products for 5 other languages.

I have found Oxford dictionaries to be fantastic resources over the years. Unlike many other Spn-Eng dictionaries, Oxford consistantly gives enough contextual and meaning cues that it is easy to pick out the precise word you are looking for more often than any other dictionary I have run into. I had tried an Oxford dictionary on my PDA and did not like the format and search time, so I resisted buying an electronic dictionary until I ran across this one.

Good features:
1. Easy to locate blue buttons direct you straight to the dictionary you want--they also dub as power buttons so you can go straight to the dictionary without pressing on/off.
2. Brings up matches as you type so you don't have to finish the whole word once the word is recognized.
3. Quick search time (this is a big plus you don't appreciate until you use some lower quality dictionaries where you have to wait for it to process).
4. Has a history feature (nice when you want to go back to make up a vocabulary list or flash cards from words you've just looked up)
5. Has an English geography dictionary--this can be handy when reading about unfamiliar places because it does have many Spanish-language world sites.

The negatives:
1. I am still waiting for a full screen viewscreen like my Japanese Canon wordtank dictionary has. On this one, on zoom, you can get five lines of type. Without zoom, you can get eight but it's hard to see. You have to scroll for most definitions.
2. It only has a partial cover--the cover does completely cover all the buttons that could be used to power on your dictionary but does not cover the letter keys, etc.
3. The calculator doesn't show your whole calculation as you work even though it has the space to do so (but hey, who other than me uses the calculator function on a dictionary anyway?)
4. I wish it had a flash card function and some language games for those of us who need to stay on top of vocabulary or who get bored easily!

I use this dictionary at home for reading Harry Potter, websites, and whatever else I happen to be doing and cart it to school daily to use in my classroom if I need to quickly check the spelling of a word or if a student asks about something I'm not quite sure about. Just like my paper Oxford dictionaries, it has most of the words I need. (I still keep around my Oxford desk dictionaries for those really tricky words.) I also let my high school Spanish students who need extra support in the classroom use it during class assignments--it gives them enough of an edge that they can keep up and is "cool" to use.

i'm so happy i made this purchase. i've had this translator for two years now and i use it everyday. it's awesome because it is created from an oxford dictionary, so it`s definitions are acurate. the translations are acurate also. it has alot of slang wich i find helpful.

i`m a linguist studying spanish and living in Mexico and i highly recommend this sharp dictionary/translator

This translator was a real asset on a recent trip to South America. It is fast and has deep resources, both of English and Spanish words. It's main limitation is that it is not very strong on phrases. However its data base of words is excellent--both for Spanish and English words.

I have had pretty good luck with this translator... the thesaurus and spell-check and -fill options are quite nice, as are the entries for individual words; any given word will have at least two entries for definitions and possible English-Spanish translations. However, this does not have conjugations, which seems like a rather trivial thing to implement, given the complexity of the rest of the translators' software. I suppose this will force me to remember all these conjugation tables.

I always carry this around in my purse because it's so useful,especially in my travels. I wanted a pocket dictionary that had a large amount of entries in the English language. Even used as an English dictionary alone, I have found it to be fairly comprehensive. I don't think I have typed a word that I haven't found. I use this mainly as an English dictionary, and so far I haven't been disappointed.

As a former Spanish language student, I also needed a Spanish dictionary just for reference, and for my trips to Spain. As a Spanish-English and English-Spanish translator, I have found it to be useful, and found most of the words I was looking for. It even has gives you phrase suggestions for appropriate word usage. What I wish it had would be Spanish verb conjugations in all the tenses.

The backlight is a great feature, as other models don't have it and can be a struggle to read in the dark or at night.

The Puzzle feature used for Crosswords is something I don't use, and the Geography is something I use only sporadically. I only wish that this one had games to build vocabulary, instead of these two above-mentioned features. Otherwise, I would've given it 5 stars. The Calculator and the Converter can be handy too, but they're really more of a bonus to me than a necessity.

Overall, this is a great pocket electronic dictionary. I bought it because I wanted a handy and light dictionary I could carry with me everywhere I go. When I'm reading a book on the bus or plane, I no longer find myself frustrated when I come across a word I'm not familiar with. I used to carry a mini dictionary book with me, but stopped doing so because it was still too heavy and bulky and often times I didn't find the word I was looking for. This electonic dictionary is one of the best purchases I've ever made.

I picked up this Spanish/English pocket dictionary & thesaurus for my son. It allows him to get his work done when he is not home to use a computer or dictionary. He loves the fact that it can help him with his Spanish work as well. I am very pleased.