Franklin 14 Language Speaking Global Translator with Visual Dictionary and Color Screen (EST-7014)

This Franklin EST-7014 is a terrific aid while on vacation or traveling overseas. I'm retired military, and I jump'd on a USAF Space "A" flight to Ramstein, Germany using this 14-language talking translator on numerous occasions in talking and non-talking mode. Went to a train station booth asking the ticket agent if she spoke english, she snub'd her nose, shaking her head "no" and went back to doing her cross-word puzzle...when I pushed the button on the Franklin transx and it asked the question "when is the next train to (I added: Manheim)" she laughed and started helping me with better english than I speak. When I'm learning a foreign language I use this translator with ear-phones so nobody else knows what I'm doing. This EST-7014 helped me with all kinds of functions; in addition, it has calculator, auto-country time/date, trip elapse time/stop watch (flight/train), exchange-rate currency converter, and automatic button to switch my favorite phrases from one language to another... it's a blast to use, especially in Europe and SE Asia where I visit multiple countries within a couple weeks. Also, the recharging plug-in attachments that comes with it work great for that 220 European/Asian voltage...this Franklin is more than worth the money for me.

This unit is complicated to use and the keyboard is quite small. I would recommend using one of the translation apps available for smart phones which do the same thing with a lot less hassle. One of them allows you to speak the phrase you wish to translate and the machine repeats the question in the required language. Much less complicated

ONLY THE SPACE SHUTTLE HAS A MORE COMPLICATED SET OF INSTRUCTIONS AND CONTROL BUTTONS. DON'T BUY IT SHORTLY BEFORE A TRIP BECAUSE YOU NEED ABOUT 6 WEEKS OF PRACTISING WITH IT EVERYDAY IF IT'S GOING TO BE OF ANY USE ALL. FOR EXAMPLE IF YOU WANT TO WISH SOMEONE A HAPPY EASTER YOU WON'T FIND IT UNDER "GLOBAL SEARCH'. IT'S NOT UNDER TRANSLATOR EITHER. IT'S IN THE "BUSINESS" SUB-SECTION OF "EVERYDAY PHRASES". ALTHOUGH IT HAS SOME PHRASES THAT ARE USEFUL IF YOU CAN REMEMBER THEM YOU CANNOT STRING A SENTENCE TOGETHER. THE SCREEN IS COMPLETELY USELESS IN BRIGHT SUNLIGHT AND IN DARK PLACES LIKE A THEATRE IT GLOWS LIKE A FLASHLIGHT. THE KEYBOARD MUST HAVE BEEN MADE BY ELVES OR HOBBITS AND HAD FOUR LANGUAGES ON IT.IT'S BASICALLY EXPENSIVE ELECTRONIC JUNK. IT'S NOT FIT FOR ITS INTENDED PURPOSE AND I WANT A REFUND!

If you want a handy and helpful guide while you are traveling, this is the product for you. We were very surprised and pleased.

The unit is promoted as a piece of equipment that there is nothing else to be applied. I find it a bit erratic and not friendly when using phrases and some vocabulary. Also the screen and the writing are not very clear since it uses a dot matrix condition.

works great

The color screen is a great idea, but the tool is way too cumbersome to be really useful, I did buy a 14 language "translator" for somebody else and thought it was ok, but if you are trying to learn Spanish the BES-2100 is by far the way to go, it has verb conjugations and far more words, I have caried one of those in my pocket for over a year now learning Spanish. I just wanted to try German yet too... But for some reason the audio is very distorted with headphones, the enter button is not in the corner, it takes too long to turn on, and costs a lot. I think the term "translator" is a misnomer, it is a dictionary, you type in a word and it gives a definition and uses sometimes, you CANNOT translate sentences or phrases besides what is already in it. I seriously wish I had bought the cheaper one and saved the money... but how can you know ahead of time?

Advertised as new, but mine came used. I decided to keep it because it seems so easy to use and it will help with any of the basic language barriers I run into when traveling. Basically you select options from menu after menu (ie - French, phrases for transportation, where does the bus stop, etc), then you can have the phrase said in either language by pressing one of the "speaker" buttons to listen to the phrase. If you want to translate a word, just type it in. I like the rechargeable battery (hope mine isn't too old/overused). It is an expensive piece of equipment, but we don't have phones that work outside of the country, so we can't simply log into wifi to use an online translator from our phone. It would be optimal if it could translate a verbal phrase, but so far, I haven't found a way to do that. I'm not convinced it is useful in learning to speak another language well or conversationally, but it will get me through many travel needs. Also, it is about the size of a small cell phone, so it is easy to take along wherever we go.