Let me start this review by noting that I received a defective unit right out of the box. I opened the box, powered the device up and found it would shut itself off in just a second or so. I checked the batteries which appeared OK. The problem kept recurring, so I changed the batteries. When the problem persisted, I started testing and realized that my Entourage7 would not stay powered on with the battery compartment cover in place! If I removed the cover, the unit stayed on, but each time I would replace the cover, it would shut off. I examined the compartment and cover and cannot find anything causing this situation, but it does happen.

So....I left the cover off and tried using the device. For the price, it includes a lot of features. It translates in 7 languages, of which is English. So keep in mind if you speak English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, (Mandarin) Chinese, or Spanish, you really have 6 "other languages" to which you can translate.

The most important note about this product....while it is versatile and has a library of over 700 phrases (each translatable to/from all 7 languages), it does not allow for entering of your own sentences, so bear in mind you can look up and translate phrases, but can't type something freehand like "Hi can you get me to a PC. I want to log in to amazon.com". Nor does it allow you to speak a phrase into the device for translation. At this price point, you should not expect that sort of feature, but I just wanted to note it so no one misunderstands what the Entourage7 does.

The device is compact. A downside to this is that the text for most of the buttons on the front panel is extremely small, equivalent to perhaps a 4 or 5 point font. I have 20/20 vision and don't need reading glasses but some of the button text was difficult to make out.

Also, the top 12 buttons have text over the button, another button has its text label under the button, two other buttons are labeled to the right and left of those particular buttons and the `joystick' button is labeled on the button.

The screen size is easy to read and can be backlit, and once you can figure out what the button text says, most of the controls and menus are intuitive.

The translations I did from English to Italian were accurate enough so someone speaking an Italian dialect would understand.
PROs:
* Lightweight and compact - about the size of a Blackberry device.
* Displays the translated phrase.
* Speaks the translated sentences for you.
* Headphone jack so you can listen to translation in private and repeat the phrase to someone rather than reading the display or playing the recording for them.
* Translates about 700 phrases in 8 categories useful to travelers.
* Good battery life can be anticipated due to battery type (PC CMOS type battery as opposed to AA or AAA cells).

CONs:
* Button label text is very small.
* If my defective device is any indicator, predicted reliability may not be good.

All in all a decent product for the price. I rated it just 2 stars, however, given the defective one I received. I have contacted the manufacturer about the defect and will update this review when I hear back from them.

This is great and really nifty! All you have to do is punch a button and pick the language you want. It is in categories that you might use while traveling...general, emergency, entertainment, sightseeing, directions, restaurants, transport, hotels. There is a menu button, clear button, a favorites to save your favorite phrases. There is a sheet with unit that tells all the phrases so you can find them quicker and a plug in section for earphones (earphones not included with product). But unless you are planning to whip it out and start punching buttons when you want to say something, you might want to practice ahead of time. Personally, I would store the phrases I thought I might need ahead of time. It will fit in the palm of your hand but this is a drawback for some of us because it's so small, it is hard to see the lettering on unit unless you are in a bright room (and in my case wearing my reading glasses). If the room is shadowed I probably would have to use a magnifying glass. That is the only bad part of it in my opinion. This would be fun for the kids to learn too so let them play with it. It has 7 languages and it has a clock that also gives the time in 24 major cities, an alarm, and address book and you can lock it with a password if you want. It has a small light in window for reading by. You can either point it at person you are talking to and let unit say what you want to say or learn the phrases yourself. There are 705 phrases (these are in English only on page but in 7 languages on unit). I love the ones in section called "if someone is bothering you". Some of phrases in it are "please go away!, leave me alone!, I don't want to buy anything., Go away or I'll call the police." These you might want to learn ahead of time in case it's a mugger and you don't want to be trying to punch buttons while the mugger is standing there stunned at your inattention. Batteries are already in unit.

I handed this translator to couple girls in a Starbucks and asked them, if they could figure out what it was and how it worked. It took the first girl two minutes, the second beat her by thirty seconds. I did that because I found the words above the keys to be so small as to be unreadable. They might as well not be there. But I guess you don't need them, because after five minutes they had the whole thing figured out. They were good to go.

Me, I spent time fumbling with the directions, going through the written phrases (included with the directions). But I guess I should have just jumped right in like they did.

So, would I ever use this when traveling? Probably not, but I'd certainly use it before I left, playing and memorizing the very useful phrases. Heck, I'm using it now, memorizing words and sentences and I'm not planning a trip to anywhere. Okay, I'm not using it for French and Spanish, because I already speak those languages, but learning a few Japanese and Mandarin phrases, how cool is that?

this unit looks better than its precedent and the price is good (the shipping fee is almost 25% of the price). The main concern for me is the quality of voice. To my surprise, the voice sounds like synthesized using some text-to-speech technology. I can't tell about other languages, but "Good morning" sounds like "Jade morning". The interval between words is also unnatural.

The battery cap on the back can be easily broken if you didn't notice the "open" switch on the top.

The World is getting smaller, and if you travel a lot it's often easy to get confused by language changes. If you don't want to grab a copy of "Rosetta Stone" or take bilingual courses, this little device can help you through. The categories of the useful phrases are easy to follow, and pretty extensive. Like all products like this however, there are good and bad points.

PRO's
Small, lightweight, somewhat discreet, good battery life.
Over 700 different useful phrases in several categories

CON's
Inflection of pronunciation is not the best, don't expect to sound like a native.
If you have large hands, buttons can be fiddly.
Always remember that thumbing a computer voiced translator in a foreign country equates to wearing a large sign over your head saying "Tourist - please rip me off or rob me" so use with discretion.

4 Stars overall.