[Gadget] I can't let go of my 10-year-old SHARP BRAIN electronic dictionary

I'm glad I bought it.

I have a habit of buying multiple items I like, and I've bought six electronic dictionaries.

They are all retro gadgets from the 2010s. A few thousand yen each. For this price, you get over 100 contents including renowned dictionaries like Kojien and Kangorin.

Even though they are 10 years old, it's an exceptional deal. It's at a level where I worry if they can continue to sell the book versions.

The two major brands are SHARP's BRAIN and CASIO's EX-word series.

I've used models from the 2010s from both brands.

Comparing only the 10-year-old models, I personally think SHARP is overwhelmingly better.

First, the screen. As expected from SHARP.

There is very little flickering.

It's obvious when you film it in slow motion with a smartphone.

The CASIO one has flicker like an LED traffic light caught on a dashcam.

The BRAIN hardly flickers at all.

It might be good for reducing power consumption, but it really tires out my eyes.

The CASIO EX-word series comes with over 1,000 Aozora Bunko titles, and I was lured by that and bought two of them in total.

I was excited and read things like Eiji Yoshikawa's 'Musashi', but both models made my eyes tired.

A post went viral a while ago saying you should check LED lights with your smartphone's slow-motion camera when buying them, and when I got curious and compared the electronic dictionaries I had on hand, the extent of the CASIO's flickering was revealed.

Since I believe models aimed at students are the best sellers, I hope that current models have been improved to protect students' eyesight as well.

Anyway, the Sharp Brain is also solidly built. It has a robust construction.

I like that it feels well-made in every aspect.

I've said it many times on note, but this is my absolute favorite No. 1 among the Brain series.

The PW-SH1. It's the best.

This is a high school student model.

There are plenty of them available. If you look, you can find them used starting from the 1,000 yen range.

As of August 5th, when I'm writing this, there is a used one in "very good" condition for 2,500 yen. It comes with a one-month warranty, so it's safe.

My favorite one also has a battered exterior, and the screen has a slight burn-in.

What's more, it uses a battery. Was it a micro-USB port? The type with the old trapezoidal plug.

The battery is from after three years of high school use. I'm concerned about degradation, but surprisingly, it doesn't drain at all. I still keep it at hand and use it almost every day, but I can use it for a month without charging it even once.

The battery capacity is 1550mAh.

I read on some blog that the batteries in the Brain series from that time had significantly more capacity than what was needed for their power consumption.

Perhaps even if the battery has degraded, there is still enough left to keep it running sufficiently.

What's great is that the PW-SH1 is incredibly fast at searching.

When I'm writing notes, if I have a table, I keep it open.

Once you find a term you want to look up

1. Press the 'Search' button
2. Enter the term
(3. If multiple terms are found, tap the one you want to look up)

You can look up the meaning in these 2-3 steps.

The search time is also bearable by 2024 standards.

To be specific, there is a time lag between 1 and 2 above. About a second?

So if you start typing 2 in a hurry, sometimes it doesn't register correctly.

You need to take a breath between 1 and 2.

For example, I was just reading 'Red and Blue Down', so

after search step 1 above, I entered 'Denka' in step 2.

The same terms are lined up, and the explanation is displayed in the right window.

Denka is displayed 5th, so I tap it, or press the down button 4 times to see the explanation.

It says, 'Since the Meiji era, an honorific for members of the Imperial family other than the Emperor and the Three Empresses.' Denka sounds like a feudal lord, but it's used for women too, isn't it?

By the way, if you wonder what 'Three Empresses' means, you can trace it with the included stylus and use S-Jump to search further.

The Three Empresses is a collective term for the Grand Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager, and the Empress.

Grand Empress Dowager? Empress Dowager? Let's tap them.

The Grand Empress Dowager is the Emperor's grandmother. The Empress Dowager is the Emperor's mother who was an Empress, and the Empress is the Emperor's spouse, the primary consort.

Another great thing about electronic dictionaries is how you can easily trace the roots of knowledge with a single search.

Besides that, the PW-SH1 has beautiful text. It is a model that supports smooth fonts.

By the way, on models older than the PW-SH1, the text looks blocky, like on an old game console.

Because of this, I have loaded 17,300 Aozora Bunko books onto this device, and it is excellent as a text reader.

The screen is beautiful, so my eyes don't get tired easily. The text is clear and easy to read.

The battery is tough, and the overall build is solid.

The build quality is good, and the design is stylish without being wasteful, so it gets me excited just to carry it around.

If you are looking for an affordable electronic dictionary to buy in 2024 for a few thousand yen, the PW-SH1 is a good choice.

However, since it is a high school student model, be careful of units that have deteriorated significantly.

When looking for a used one, I recommend reading the photos and descriptions carefully to get a sense of its condition.

By the way, you can find all the Aozora Bunko data for BRAIN by searching for "BRAIN Aozora Bunko" on Yahoo! Auctions.

If you like reading or writing notes, you will definitely not regret owning an electronic dictionary.

You can obtain high-purity information without any advertisements.

Its merits can be condensed into this one phrase.

You can look up anything on the internet, but there is a lot of useless information.

In that sense, an electronic dictionary, a fountain of offline knowledge, occupies the exact opposite position.

By the way, this model is also recommended.

It is a bit more sluggish in operation than the PW-SH1 introduced above.

Its strength, above all else, is that it comes with a standard text editor. In other words, you can easily input text with a keyboard even when you are out and about. Since it is a keyboard designed for looking up dictionary entries, it has a bit of a learning curve. However, once you get used to it, high-speed input is possible.

It also works well as a text reader with smooth fonts.
There are few used units available, so you are lucky if you can find one at a low price.

I have also finished reading "Red and Blue Gowns" introduced above,
the study abroad memoir of Princess Akiko of Mikasa.

This is a study abroad memoir in the UK by a real princess who almost never went out alone or used trains or airplanes in Japan. With happenings on public transportation and the reactions of people who have never met a princess before, it is impossible for it not to be interesting.

It is a rare work that allows you to get a glimpse into the life of a member of the Imperial Family.
The interview is also very wonderful, and it includes stories that were not in the book, so please check it out.