Customer Reviews

Zelco Bookmark Dictionary

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

 

 

I thought this was a great idea - a portable dictionary so that you don't have to get up to look up a word while you're reading. The problem? As far as I can tell, it only has words that are already pretty common. Some of the words we looked up that it didn't have include gelid & eidetic - okay, those aren't exactly easy words. Some others, though, like merlot, were surprisingly not there. It became a quest to find words that the thing DID have. We came up with one: onomotapoeia, and then gave up. I think this would probably be a great gift for a young reader, but for most avid adult readers (there were 4 of us), it just doesn't cut it.

As a 50,000 word electronic dictionary, I couldn't expect the world of this device, but I had hoped it would be more handy that it turned out to be. About half the words I needed definitions on are not to be found in this dictionary. Based on the words I have found, all of them common usage, I have decided that I think it best serves someone in junior high or elementary school, and is possibly helpful for the high school student, and of very little or no help for the college student or college graduate. I have an old Oxford Minidictionary (approx. 0.5" X 3.5" X 5" in size) with 50,000 words in it that has served me far better, so I have brought it out of retirement an put it back to use.

The Zelco Bookmark Dictionary definitely cannot serve as a bookmark, since all you have to do is pick the book up, and it slips right out causing your place in the book to be lost --- annoying. At least it's small enough and thin enough to fit in a pocket.

The liquid crystal display is big enough to read, but is not as clear as it could be, and needs to be read under bright light. When reading definitions, I found it rather hard to read the entire definition as you scroll through it, as the font gets kind of blurred.

One thing that is good about it is that if you aren't sure of the exact spelling of a word, it can pull up words that have similar spellings, if it doesn't find the specific word itself.

The calculator function is something you might only use in a pinch, since the placement of the numbers is not great.

The clock and alarm functions are handy.

Overall it's great idea that needs more work.

The concept is great-while you read you can quickly check the meaning of unknown words. However, the read-out area is very tiny and difficult to read. It should be made larger. Also, I thought there would be a hook on the underside of the book mark to grab a page. There is not. This causes the bookmark to just slide out when in transit due to the slippery material it is made from. The manufacturer could make this a better, more functional device.

This product held so much promise but failed to deliver. 50,000 words might seem like a lot but the really tough words, the ones you really want to know the meaning of, are not in this dictionary. Also, one must spell the word they want the definition for nearly perfectly to get any definition at all. Even if the word is spelled perfectly, if that word is not in this dictionary, it will give you the meaning of any other word that has some of the letters in the word you want to know. I think that the idea is great, the gadget is easy to use and it makes a good bookmark however, it is a poor dictionary due to its very limited vocabulary.

This item is a neat little useful tool.. Easy to use and read...
Functions as a calculator, electronic dictionary and a book mark. I loved it so much I bought a few for Christmas gifts...for friends and family.

This item was $50.00 when I bought it and I think that $25.00 is still to much to pay. The display needed just the right light to see and even then would fade in and out. After about a week (really just a few uses) the screen went black so I put in a new battery. A couple uses later some of the letters just stopped working thus making it useless. These where just the mechanical problems.

i doubt this dictionary would have the word 'horrific'. wouldn't you think that the designer of a bookmark dictionary would realize that the market would be bookworms, that is, folks who have no need for every day words and a yen, an insatiable itch for that word just beyond reach? this was, therefore, one of the most frustrating purchases i have ever made, and i was frankly relieved when it failed to survive a rainstorm. by the by, one would also think that it would have survived a little rain. unless you have the vocabulary of an eight year old and the patience of a saint (and live in a desert) do not buy this product.

This is a handy device but seems to have a fairly limited vocabulary in storage. I'm guessing that I don't find at least one-third of the words I look up in its dictionary. If I had it to do over again, I probably would not purchase this product.