organizers

First of all, let me warn you. There are at least two models of Franklin-Merriam Webster's Dictionary. The cheap one (list price $59.99) is worth less than $20. The expensive one (list price $99.99) is worth $300 or more.

The cheap model is a VERY bad deal for two reasons:
(1) The display is very difficult to read (even configured with large type size).
(2) It is lacking in vocabulary. What is the point of carrying along a dictionary that ignores the meaning of 100,000 words?

The expensive model is a wonderful deal for several reasons:
(1) The display is excellent even in the small print size. I spend hours playing games and my eyes don't get strained.
(2) It has twice the vocabulary of the cheaper model (200,000 words) and it pronounces the words.
(3) It has several powerful dictionary and thesaurus tools and a cornucopia of extra features laid out in a very friendly interface.
(4) It has several Learning Tools, including the SAT word list, flashcards, speaking spelling bee and a grammar guide.
(5) You can add words to the dictionary if you want to. It also accepts book cards.
(6) After looking up a word in the dictionary, you can add it to your personal list and review it as a flash card. What a great idea!
(7) It has 12 educational vocabulary games that are a lot of fun. Each game has five levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced, expert and wizard. You can also configure the games to use only the SAT vocabulary.
(8) It also has a calculator, metric converter, a clock and a databank. Each one of the extras is easy to find and yet do not compete with the dictionary. Every time you turn the machine on it works by default as a dictionary. Perfect!

OK folks, now the bad news. While the cheap model is easy to find, you won't find the expensive model in most computer stores, even the large ones. So most customers end up buying the wrong model, like I did.

For some reason, most shop owners do not leave expensive electronic products on display. If the machine costs around 100 dollars, they hide it in a secret chamber. I bought the cheap model because it was the only one I could find. Later on I ordered the top Franklin model from Amazon.

All Franklin models have a similar name. I noticed that some Amazon reviewers who gave this product a low rating were actually writing about a different model. So don't get yourself confused. Make a note of the full name of the top model: Franklin Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 11th edition Speaking.

I got this device as a dictionary book replacement so I can take it with me everywhere. It excedeed all my expectations. The number of words is astonishing. The keys on keyboard, although small, are up to the job. It also includes the voice pronunciation for all the words. The pleasant surprise was the presense of other features, some are useful, some not. For example, it provides words synonyms, antonyms and other related words. It provides correction for misspelled words: in many cases it gives a choice of a few corrections. You can store the words you were interested in. The device also contains various games and other simple programs, such as calculator, currency converter, etc. My only complaint is the size of the screen, which is not very big. Very often the information fills more than one screen so you have to scroll it. The scrolling mechanism is not the most convenient one. I would imagine something like Apple iPod has would be better. But for this price you probably cannot get anything better. All in all it is a portable dictionary that works very well.

Although the product description says on amazon.com it is "Accurate Pronunciation", the speaking of a word is not clear or even it is not accurate at all. For example, the pronucation of "quantitate" is wrong. It is misleading. English is my second language. I am very disappointed about the dictionary because I wish I could use the speaking function to improve my pronunciation. Otherwise, I might have a much cheaper one without speaking function. I think the product defective. I brought it for my wife as her graduate gift. I am asking for full refund.