Translate Reviewer's Comments

Translate 2007 Personal is LEC’s top translation product for home use. This package comes with four convenient translation tools as well as a limited time subscription to Translation DotNet and Translation ToGo, LEC’s web based tools. The translation engine itself is exactly the same as that of Power Translator 11, so it navigates and performs the same.

This suite is practical to quickly translate small and large amounts of text, translate content copied to the clipboard, translate webpages as you browse and translate instant messages and chats. Translate 2007 doesn’t have the LEC FileTrans, which translates Word, PDF and other files.

Effectiveness:  
Translate performed well in our translation test, but certainly not as well as the top 3 products. This means that Translate gave us a good translation that had some errors and some word-order problems. While they didn’t totally destroy the meaning of the translation, it did pose some problems that could lead to misunderstanding. That being said, Translate still performed better than the majority of the other programs. To see how Translate did in the tests, look at the articles Test Format, Test 1, Test 2 and Test 3.

Features:  
Translate 2007 Personal comes with four of LEC’s translation modules and a limited time subscription to Translate DotNet and Translate ToGo. The modules included are LogoTrans, ClipTrans, MirrorTrans, and TransIt. Each module is accessible through a shortcut icon on your desktop or through a primary LEC control panel.Each tool is applicable to a type of translation. For example, LogoTrans specializes in translating small amounts of text. ClipTrans automatically translates anything copied to Microsoft’s clipboard. This works well for translating emails and other documents. MirrorTrans translates as you work in another window. You could type a letter in Word and translated version appears in the MirrorTrans window as you type. And TransIt specializes in translating instant messages and chats.We found all of the modules to work as described. This is an excellent product for the average home user communicating with friends, family or even business associates from another country.The one feature not included is FileTrans. This is LEC’s file translator and will import and translate Word, PDF and other files.Some of the applications have the ability to translate back. This feature will translate your translation back to native language so you can ensure your thoughts are relayed accurately.

Ease of Use:  
Because Translate 2007 is divided into four simple interfaces, the software is easy to learn. Nevertheless, we would recommend referring to the user manual in order to learn to use each tool most effectively.

Available Languages:  

There are many language pairs to choose from with Translate, including French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese and Japanese. However, you are only able to purchase individual language pairs. That’s okay if you only use a translator for one specific language, but it doesn’t offer as much for your money as Babylon or @promt.

Supported Formats/Files:  
Translate works well with email and web browsing. However, Translate can’t handle translations directly from a Word or PDF file. You can still copy and paste text directly into the translator and get results, though.

Help/Support:  
The software comes with an easy-to-read manual and has an integrated help section. You can contact LEC by phone or email with further questions.

Summary:  
This is a good product that will meet most people’s needs and LEC’s translation engine is the best on the market. Additionally, the package comes with a limited time subscription to Translate ToGo and Translate DotNet. Through these are Internet-based translation engines, you can translate from any computer with an Internet connection and translate to and from multiple languages.