Franklin MWD-1490 Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus with Comprehensive Reference Set

I bought this back in 2008 when I needed a small, portable dictionary/thesaurus while traveling. It worked reasonably well for the price but I have a few complaints:

- Entries are somewhat limited. It has no listings for about a 1/3 of the words I look up.
- No auto-fill while typing a query, you have to type the entire word before finding out if it's listed or not.
- Display broke relatively soon after purchase, no repair options.

This last point upsets me most. A whole row of the display went out, making it unusable. Called Franklin but because I bought it thru Amazon they said "sorry, warranty is up, nothing we can do". No repair options, no exchange/upgrade offers, no recycling, zilch. Granted, I got a year and a half of use out of it but now it's just another chunk of electronic debris.

Like it, but wish it had a back light for I read a lot with a reading light in the dark, so it makes it tough to read the screen in poor light. Has good amount of words, but not special terms and not as wide range as say, Oxford dictionary. I was confused, because it listed Russian language as one of the languages in the package, but it is NOT there. So I am using it just as a reference, not translator. Has a few cute word games, that might help building up your vocabulary and quick thinking. Overall - good for the price, but needs better description of the features.

I find the Franklin MWD 1490 electronic Reference Set to be quite helpful. I have only found a couple of words out of a dozen or so that it could not define so far. Overall a good value for the money.

Very impressed with all its function and the ease of use. Would recommend it to anyone needing this type of dictionary.

GREAT Quality/Price and Delivery. The product is all it says it is! Keys are a good size and the database is detailed and complete. Thank you.

I needed a small, convenient dictionary beside my reading chair. This is very good. I also enjoy the word games.

The combination the screen and the font color makes the dictionary very difficult to use. Buy more advanced version to see the word easily.

This electronic dictionary is a great buy and the response time by this seller was great and I will definitely buy from this seller again.

All i have to say is that this is a great tool for a great price! This dictionary has basicly everything you need; it composes of 7 different dictionaries! Even just the concept of 7 different books located at your fingertips in a small compact electronic is awsome. This tool is going to be very valuable to me as i pursue my career in college. im currently in my junior year in college and im going to be heading to law school. This tool im sure will be of great value considering it relieves me of carrying around a huge dictionary.It even has an SAT word list, 7 different games, a huge thesaurus,and tons of other things. This product is WELL worth the buy! I highly recommend it

I got this for Christmas because I was tired of my daughter asking me how to spell words.

She carries this thing in her back pack- and is so much easier than toting more books.

Makes even very hard crossword puzzles fun to do. Don't know what I did without it.

I love this product, I used to read and just skip the words I didnt know because I couldnt stand flipping through the dictionary every time I wanted to know one. Just lightly press the keys and you have your definition. The only downside I can think of is it doesnt have the definitions for sort of obscure literary terms such as allophone, but this is a minor fault as it usually has the word Im searching for.
As to the dark screen complaints, I actually prefer it as it is easy on the eyes, unlike the glaring comp/cellphone screen.

I've used a Frankin pocket electronic dictionary for years. I wore it out. This new one has many additional and useful features not in the old one.

Fairly good product, extensive dictionary, easy to use, but not easy to see words on screen because the screen does not light up.

This product has been working perfectly since it was delivered! It is a great replacement for the big paper dictionaries and thesaurus and, while not complete (no paper or electronic dictionary is), it has more than 85% of definitions for words searched for. It is very user-friendly, battery-efficient and light-weight. I recommend it.

Our son carries this to school every day. It helps him with his German class as well as his writing. It's much more appealing than a stack of reference books for a teenager.

I bought this dictionary a couple of days ago and it is already broken. The problem is that it restarts by itself and erases all the user memory randomly, from time to time, for no apparent reason. I am going to return it and get a replacement. Other than that, the dictionary is good, but sometimes is a little slow. I would buy the Sharp dictionary, but it is two times as expensive and is not worth it.

Good buy! This is much better than having to haul a heavy dictionary around. The language features also come in handy.

I got this to upgrade from my clunky older electronic dictionary. Some upgrade! It lacked five words from a Woody Allen book, several from Bill Bryson, some from Thurston Clarke. I just gave up trying to find anything. For the price and its claims I expected much more. I would gladly have my old clunky back, but it went to the Goodwill Store.

My old clunky electronic dictionary was doing okay but I had upgraders syndrome and went for this one. Wrong mover! Besides missing tons of words, surprise! It does not, like the older model, give the word derivations! This was a cruel blow.

The lid is really hard to open and I have considered just tearing it off.
This model has tons of features but the old clunky was much easier to operate.

I am thinking of using my Mozilla Internet Dictionary, or going for the Oxford CD Rom.

Maybe someday these manufacturers will realize that when some of us go to buy a dictionary, we expect to find words in it, instead of games and five-language translators.

There is just no substitute for a good dictionary.

This item was a gift for our 11 year old grand daughter. She absolutely loved it. Price was fair and delivery just as expected.

I bought this item (Franklin electronic dictionary) as part of an 8th grade graduation gift for my grandaucghter. She said she liked it and it would come in handy in High School next year.

No backlight LED for night time use but other than that amazing. I take it with me everywhere.

I must use this device five to ten times a day! It is the handiest "word gizmo" I've ever seen or used. I especially like the Thesaurus section. I write many things and do not like repeating the same word over and over again. I highly recommend it to anyone who writes a lot or a little.

I received the Franklin Dictionary and Thesaurus Organizer and am enjoying using it very much. It is very handy when writing a letter or paper. It has been great for quick research of words.

This is not as extensive as I would have liked. I was hoping it would replace my old beat up paper dictioary, but i guess old fashioned is better!

It is good, but the translation feature is not as strong as the dictionary. the screen should have illumination.

Bought this for my wife and she loves it. I tried it out a few times and was quite impressed. It has a lot of words.

I thoroughly enjoy the handy reference, quick dictionary, and translator. Compared to similar products, the Franklin MWD-1490 holds the largest volume of dictionary entries. I've also found many German and Italian words that I've needed translated from scholarly works. There have been several occasions where English words as well as foreign have not been found in this products 300,000 English dictionary. However, from what I've researched, it is currently the best product in its category on the market.


What I did not appreciate about this product is that when I placed it in my cart on Dec 27, 2007 it cost $36.99 Two days later, it jumped up $7. By the time I'd checked out on Jan 9th, it increased to $49.99. This seems like false pricing or underhanded business tactics unjustified by rapid inflation. However, it is the first time I've come across this situation. I'll probably check the blogs to see if anyone else has met with similar situations.

I bought this for my cousion, and she like that product very much and happy with it.
You can search all most every word but what i didn't like is the "Screen".
The screen is not so good but its ok.
Rest all is fine, games are also good.

I had wished for this product and received it as a gift. The dictionary is 'acceptable'(some words are just not there); Translation (I'm using English/German and the reverse) is often totally wrong. A word typed in in German is often changed to a similar sounding word and then translated which, of course, is a disaster. With translation in mind, I could not recommend this product. Sorry.

I purchased this for my writing and it has come in so handy...I love it!

Easy to use and fast, but I wish the screen was was black on white and of higher resolution instead of the more difficult to read blue on green.

I am using this all the time for college classes. I highly recommend this resource.

Absolutely love this product. I keep it with me at all times. An amazing little gadget and I don't ever want to be without it!

I very much enjoy using my franklin MWD-1490 dictionary... I take it everywhere I go... Love the games as well.

However it has no backlight so you can only use it if there's light around and there are certain programs in it that are hard to use, if you make a mistake in your typing there's no way of deleting w/ some of the programs.

I allways have got a dictionary or theasauros close to me when i work.Franklin is at my thoughts the best option for this purpose

I do a lot of writing on my computer. Always having to search for the word in a dictionary, and than having to find my glass's (I am always laying them in different places) before I could even see what I was looking for, and finding that some of the dictionaries did not have some words and others did, well, it was a big hassle.

The electronic dictionary makes it so simple, easy and fast. The wording is large enough to see without searching for the glass's. Also the Thesaurus is nice in a pinch. The compact design makes it small enough to slip into my purse if I am going to be going anywhere with my laptop. Overall a great product, easy to use and at a reasonable price. I would recommend this product.

The dictionary is pretty good. I have gifted it to my brother. it works good and he is well satisfied. it does not pronounce the word but for this price it is worthed.

i gave it one star because this product is wrongfully advertised there is NO usb connectivity you can not update it. overall it is a pretty good product, worth the $44.00; with the features, the multiple lines of text and flip cover.

I HATE THIS ITEM. IT BEARLY HAS ANY WORDS.IT SHUTS OFF WHEN IT FEELS LIKE
IT.

Works good. No issues. Very helpful. Very Handy & convenient.
Haven't found a word that does not exist in this gadget.
Great for kids for school home work on spelling or meanings, parts of speech etc. Invaluable companion for children & adults while reading a book. As an improvement, I would like to see better display, fonts & better content formatting. But that is merely cosmetic.

better than I expected. My son uses it for school and he loves it.

i use my dictionary when i go to barnes and noble. it's a great help to understand obscure words. although, i must say, there are some "really" off the wall words that can't be found. but over all, i'm very pleased with the product.

This little dictionary/thesaurus and language translator is pretty good for its price. If you ever had an electronic dictionary of this brand maybe eight years ago, it is very similar. The great additions is that is has a five-language translator, geographical dictionary, biographical dictionary, and grammar help. It's convenient and light. My only complaint might be that some of the definitions are a bit lackluster.

Overall, a pretty good scholarly companion!

I have found this product invaluable to me in my reading. I look up every word with which I am not familiar and then add it to my "word list". I then try to review the word list at least once per day, committing at least one word to memory. I try to keep my list under 25 words.
The bad thing about this dictionary is that is not complete. It's very frutrating not having a word's definition available.
Overall, however, I am very pleased with this product. I am currently on disability for a back injury and read 2-3 books per week so this has a real learning tool for me.

This dictionary is good for school. It has a cover and hence less inclined to be damaged by a packed backpack. The collections of definitions could be more comparing to a lot of translator in the market.

so this Merriam-webster?Dictionary, Thesaurus and reference suite, I know it's not college levelled product, but it has fewer vocabularies then I expected. also, it sometimes turns off suddenly when I pressed the key "enter" so i think its electric circuit isn't well designed. other than that, the product is satisfactory

I am quite disappointed in this thesaurus. There are few synonyms suggest for most searches both for the thesaurus and the dictionary. The children are having fun with the games, but it is overall disappointing. I am considering purchasing one of the dearer varieties, hopefully with greater satisfaction! I anticipate the folding cover snapping off before long.

good product. I wish the quality be a little more durable than what it is right now. But it is still an awesome product. Will recommend it.

I keep mine beside my favorite reading chair. For the price, this dictionary does a great job. It is super easy to use and has several neat features. I would recommend this product.