Franklin - Speaking Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary

for a dictionary that cost 100 bucks you would expect it to be unabridged, pronounce in a human voice, easy to read, responsive keys and have a small thin modern design package, however this is not the case. it's the 11th ed of MW collegiate which is decent. the sound only comes out of the left speaker and is tin-like computer generated and to hear it the volume has to be cranked all the way up. there's no backlight and the contrast makes the screen hard to read even with adjustments. there's no cover and its size is rather large. my old franklin was like a blackberry in size and shape. this is very uncomfortable and the soft keys are not as responsive as the old hard plastic ones. the startup screen defaults to choose the book/function and can't be altered. it's a pain to remember to push the enter key after turning it on to enter words. we buy these things for the dictionary first and the other stuff just came with it. unfortunately this is the top of the line and franklin owns the market on these products. other companies do make palm and pocket pc softwares of dictionaries but i personally have found the use and interface of them not as satisfying as directly pushing in buttons and instant results. if you don't need that many definitions, then definately get the intermediate one around 50 bucks. otherwise this is your only choice but it do what it is suppose to.

I got this for college because I needed a dictionary. It works great and has a large screen. However, the Best Buy description is incorrect. It does not have a backlit screen. Another issue I had with this model is that it is not expandable, so you cannot use other Franklin book cards with it. It also does not include a carrying case. That is an additional cost at Franklin's website. For the steep price, it should have a backlit screen, be expandable, and include a carrying case. I think a $110 dollars is a little steep for a dictionary with these limitations and a student should look for a better investment to spend a $110 on.

I bought this talking dictionary last year and haven't put it down since. When I'm at work I use it often. I also use it when I'm writing papers for school and it suggest better words than I was going to use. I liked it so much I bought one for my nephew, who's a senior in high school, and he says it's very helpful to him and plans to take it to college with him next year.

I bought this for my daughter when she starting studying for the AP US History test in early April. It was a college course and she was only in 10th grade, so the vocabulary was tricky for her. I got her one of these as a good-luck gift and now we use it everyday! It saves time and you don't have to pull out the huge dictionary anymore! Two thumbs up!

Using this while studying is really helpful. Knowing the definitions helps worlds and this is an easy device to carry around anywhere-compared to a paper back dictionary.