Pen is a great time saver!
When reading magazines or books in spanish, this pen saves time of having to look up word after word in the dictionary. It usually scans correctly after one or two tries, however sometimes, you have to get it just right, especially on smaller text. I think it is totally worth the price, and has helped my Spanish studies tremendously.

A useful device for translating reading material
I bought the Quicktionary device to help me study Spanish. I have already been using the Franklin electronic pocket dictionary and wanted to complement it. If I had to chose between the two, I would keep the Franklin. Although the Franklin is somewhat slower and requires typing the words, it has more features such as conjugating, games, etc., it is cheaper and smaller and can be carried in the pocket. The Quicktionary is quite functional after you get used to the technique of scanning. Occasionally you may need to scan more than once to get the right word. Its weaknesses are that it is slow to boot up and to process the scanned words. It also cannot help when the word is split across two lines. Its advantage is that it can scan a whole expression or a whole line. In summary, it is a good complement to an electronic dictionary but cannot replace it. You should take this opinion with one caveat: I have not read the manuals of either device and just have been using them intuitively. There may be other featuers with which I am not familiar.