Ectaco ER-X8 User Manual

Partner® X8 User's Manual

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION -------------------------------------------------------------------------4

General View ----------------------------------------------------------------------------6 Power Supply----------------------------------------------------------------------------6 Initialization-------------------------------------------------------------------------------8 Keyboard ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------9 Display ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11

ENGLISH LANGUAGE TUTOR------------------------------------------------------ 19

How to Install or Remove the Card ---------------------------------------------- 20 Interactive Course-------------------------------------------------------------------- 20

DICTIONARY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 26

MAIN DICTIONARY ------------------------------------------------------------------- 26

General Dictionary Function------------------------------------------------------- 27

DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE -------------------------------- 27

General Dictionary Function------------------------------------------------------- 27

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARIES---------------------------------------------- 28

Advanced Word Recognition ------------------------------------------------------ 28 Voice Input ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29 Parts of Speech, Gender Labels, Abbreviations ----------------------------- 29 Phonetic Transcription -------------------------------------------------------------- 31 Viewing Entries ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 32 Spell-checker Vector Ultima----------------------------------------------------- 34 Instant Reverse Translation and Instant Explanation ----------------------- 35 Pronunciation of Words and Sentences---------------------------------------- 36

SUPPLEMENTAL DICTIONARIES ------------------------------------------------ 37

German-Russian Dictionary ------------------------------------------------------- 37 User’s Dictionary --------------------------------------------------------------------- 38

Learner’s Cards----------------------------------------------------------------------- 42 TEXT TRANSLATION----------------------------------------------------------------- 44 VOICE PHRASEBOOK --------------------------------------------------------------- 45 ACCENT CORRECTION------------------------------------------------------------- 47 REFERENCE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 50

Irregular Verbs ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 50

Popular Idioms ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 51

ORGANIZER ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 52

PHONE DIRECTORY ----------------------------------------------------------------- 52 MEMO ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 56 SCHEDULER ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 58 CALENDAR ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 62 DRAWING BOARD -------------------------------------------------------------------- 63

Partner® X8 User's Manual

VOICE MEMO --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 65 PC COMMUNICATION --------------------------------------------------------------- 67

CALCULATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 70

CALCULATOR -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 70 LOAN CALCULATOR ----------------------------------------------------------------- 70 ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT --------------------------------------------------------- 73 CURRENCY CONVERSION -------------------------------------------------------- 75 METRIC CONVERSION-------------------------------------------------------------- 77 SIZE EQUIVALENTS------------------------------------------------------------------ 78

REFERENCE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 79

LOCAL AND WORLD TIME --------------------------------------------------------- 79

Local Time------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 79

World Time ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 83 TRAVEL GUIDE ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 84 TELEPHONE CODES----------------------------------------------------------------- 85 GAME CENTER ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 85

Mastermind----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 86

Tile5-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 86

Brick Game----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 87

Hangman ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 88 ENGLISH NAMES---------------------------------------------------------------------- 89 PHONE WIZARD ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 90 CROSSWORD SOLVER ------------------------------------------------------------- 90 USA INTERVIEW----------------------------------------------------------------------- 91

SETUP--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 92

INTERFACE LANGUAGE------------------------------------------------------------ 92 SYSTEM SETUP ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 93

Key Tone ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 93

First Screen ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 93

Auto Shutoff Period ------------------------------------------------------------------ 94

Touch Screen Calibration ---------------------------------------------------------- 94

Adult Lock ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 95

Speech Level -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 95

Audio Settings ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 96

Scheduler Alarm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 96

Date Format --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 97

Time Format --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 97

Russian Keyboard Mode ----------------------------------------------------------- 97

PC-Link Baud Rate ------------------------------------------------------------------ 98

Battery Check ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 98 SECURITY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 98

Partner® X8 User's Manual

MEMORY CHECK ------------------------------------------------------------------- 101 DATA DELETION -------------------------------------------------------------------- 101 BRIEF OF FUNCTIONS ------------------------------------------------------------ 102 ABOUT ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 102

Partner® X8 User's Manual

INTRODUCTION

Congratulations on purchasing the English-Russian Translator & Language Learning System Partner of combined efforts of Ectaco’s staff of linguists, engineers, and programmers. You are now the owner of the most advanced electronic device ever produced for foreign language studies.

The Partner

 Interactive English Language Tutor  Main dictionary (English-Russian bidirectional dictionary) of

over 1,000,000 words, including idioms, medical, technical, legal, and business terms, as well as slang and general expressions

 Dictionary of the English Language  German-Russian bidirectional dictionary of 250,000 words  Complete Guide to English Grammar, Vocabulary and

Phonetics

 US citizenship exam preparation guide

X8 features:

X8! This product is the result

 Most popular American idioms  English irregular verbs  Advanced English speech synthesis  Fully automated text translation  New word recording function  Instant Reverse Translation  Advanced word recognition system  The MorphoFinder  The Voice Input function  Personal word lists for easy learning  Interactive phonetic practice with accent correction  Award winning Vector Ultima  Over 1,100 useful phrases in the English-Russian Voice

Phrasebook with English and Russian speech recognition

 2 MB English/Russian organizer with search function



function



bilingual spell-checking system

Partner® X8 User's Manual

 Comprehensive reference section featuring Travel Guide,

English Names List, Local and World time with map illustration etc.

 Game center with four games  Crossword solver with educational functions  Standard and Scientific Calculators  Account Management  Digital Voice Recorder  Currency and Metric converters  High-speed data exchange and synchronization with PC  Bilingual Interface  Alarm and Audio Scheduler Reminder  Talking Clock  Calendar  Adult Lock  Data protection system  External power jack for non-battery operation  Headphone jack

The latest speech technology employed by Partner

X8 allows you

to listen to a clear pronunciation of English words and phrases. Unlike other portable electronic dictionaries, this model features a

break-through combination of two parallel input devices − a welldesigned 72-button keyboard and a high-resolution touch-sensitive display, which makes it functionally analogous to a mouse-equipped computer. Besides, English voice input is possible in the Dictionaries section.

♦ Note: As continuous efforts are made by the manufacturer to

ensure a better quality and performance of the Partner

products, some characteristics or the design of the actual device you purchased may slightly differ from their description in this manual.

The Partner

X8 gives you freedom of speech and communication.

Enjoy your Partner

X8 and make it your companion!

Partner® X8 User's Manual

General View

The general view and external appliances of the Partner® X8 are shown below.

Power Supply

The Partner® X8 is powered by four AAA (LR03) batteries or by a special rechargeable battery pack. When the batteries or accumulators become weak, a warning message will be displayed.

In order to prevent an excessive discharge of the batteries or accumulators and a resulting loss of data in RAM, the voice recording, talking function, and communication channel will be disabled.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

♦ Note: When the Batteries Low! message is displayed, the energy

consuming Text-to-Speech function is disabled. The other voice functions, e.g. Voice Memo, may still remain working.

♦ Note: The voice recording, talking, and electronic communication

functions consume a considerable amount of energy. It is recommended to use an external power supply while using these functions.

To restore full functionality of the device and to avoid the risk of losing user data, replace the complete set of batteries or recharge the accumulators as soon as possible.

How to recharge the accumulators

♦ Make sure the accumulators are inserted in the battery

compartment.

♦ Note: Only special accumulators – rechargeable battery pack

may be used with your Partner

X8.

♦ Connect an AC/DC adapter to your device. ♦ Note: The Partner

X8 is equipped with a jack for external power

supply.

♦ Note: Use of an inappropriate external power supply may

cause failure of the device and void the warranty. The AC/DC

adapter should provide 9V and min 300mA DC.

The red LED signal shows that the accumulators are recharging and the green one shows that the accumulators are charged. The recharge LED will glow when the adapter is connected to the device.

♦ Note: Accumulators (if inserted) are recharged every time you

connect the device adapter to electricity.

How to replace the batteries

• Press the key to turn the device off.

Please communicate with an Ectaco office to get more information about

this rechargeable battery pack purchase.

Contact your dealer to order the compatible AC/DC adapter or call +1(800)

710-7920 within the continental US or +7(812) 545-3838 in Russia.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

♦ Note: Never try to remove the batteries from the device when the

power is on. This can seriously damage the device. If you experience difficulties turning the device off, press the RESET

button on the right-hand side of the keyboard (above the button) and reinstall the system.

• Remove the battery compartment cover by sliding it away from

the device.

• Remove the used batteries and replace them with new ones.

♦ Note: Do not mix old and new batteries.

• Make sure to place the batteries according to the polarity marks

(+ -) inside the compartment.

• Put back the battery compartment cover by sliding it toward the

device. Make sure the cover sits in place properly.

• Turn the device on to make sure it works correctly.

♦ Note: You have two minutes to replace the batteries without risk

of losing the data stored in RAM. Do not exceed the twominute limit! Neither the manufacturer nor the dealer may be

held responsible for the loss of user data.

Initialization

The initialization routine is started:

• when the Partner

X8 is turned on for the first time;

• when you remove the batteries (e.g. when replacing them)

for longer than two minutes;

• after the system has been reset with the RESET button.

♦ Note: The RESET button is located on the right-hand side of the

keyboard (over the object like a paper clip. Never use a needle or a pin since it can damage the device.

button). It can be accessed with any thin

• If you see the Initialize system? message, press or touch

to abort initialization and customization.

• If you confirm the prompt, the factory defined settings will be

restored, but you can still prevent the deletion of your data by

Partner® X8 User's Manual

canceling the ensuing prompt Delete all user’s data? Press or touch

or to preserve your data.

The System is initialized! message indicates that the system initialization has been accomplished, freeing memory and restoring the factory defined settings.

Also, the user may be prompted to conduct the touch-screen calibration, which configures the proper spacing and alignment of the touch-sensitive screen elements. Please refer to page 94 for the procedure description.

After a completed system initialization, or when using the device for the first time, the interface language will be reset to English. Users who prefer to see menus and messages in Russian are referred to page 92 for instructions.

Keyboard

The American standard QWERTY keyboard combined with the Russian and German layouts allows you to enter any word just in seconds.

Partner letters:

Russian standard mode allows you to enter Russian letters corresponding to the keyboard marks.

Russian phonetic mode allows you to enter Russian letters by their phonetic consonance with English letters, e.g. you can press the F button to enter the Russian letter “Ф”.

The table below shows the Russian and English layouts in the

Russian phonetic mode

X8 has standard and phonetic modes of entering Russian

Press ALT to enter letters shown after the slash (/) in the table.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

а z

p п ж/э

ж/э

х/ъ

щ/ъ

б/ю

ь/ю

Each set of national characters is linked to its language input mode.

Language modes can be toggled by pressing the

key. In the

English-Russian bidirectional dictionary and German-Russian bidirectional dictionary, however, the input mode selection is made

automatically to comply with the current source language, and the

key is used for changing the translation direction.

The function and control keys are described below.

Function shortcut keys

Turn the device On or Off

RESET Re-initialize system

+u, t

Show Main Menu / Switch tab

Open Main Dictionary

Open Voice Phrasebook

Open Text Translation

Open English Language Tutor

Open System Setup

Launch Spell-Checker

Use speech function

Control and editing keys

Í, Î Move cursor or highlight Ð, Ï Move cursor or highlight / Scroll lines

u, t

Page by screen / Switch Main Menu tab

Key1+Key2 here and further on signifies the combination of keys to use -

first press and release Key1, then press and release Key2.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

+Ï

+Ð

Execute

Enter space / Check or uncheck boxes

Close active window / Cancel

Enter symbols from the two-letter keys

Type in uppercase / Enter additional

symbols

Clear input

Caps Lock On or Off

Copy selection or the entire text to clipboard

Insert clipboard contents

Delete character to the left of cursor

+Í

+Î

…

Delete character to the right of cursor

Toggle Insert / Overwrite

Activate toolbar buttons

Switch language or translation direction

Computational symbols and operations are available in the Calculator section.

Display

The Partner® X8 features a large-size touch screen with a responsive and efficient windows-driven graphical interface.

Use the ALT key to enter the lowercase Russian or German letters. To

obtain the uppercase images of the letters, press SHIFT or CAPS LOCK on the keyboard first.

Additional symbols are marked over the numeric keys.

Commands and options associated with currently displayed Toolbar buttons

are also accessible from the keyboard by pressing the F1-F8 keys with the corresponding number, counting buttons from top to bottom.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Touch-screen elements

By touching a screen item of a certain type – a push button or prehighlighted text – you perform an action associated with this item.

The keyboard equivalent of touching the highlighted item is moving the highlight bar to it with the arrow keys (Í,Î,Ð,Ï) and pressing

Both the touch screen and the keyboard procedures of activating an option or a command are referred to as selecting in this manual.

Stylus

Touching is preferably done with the supplied pointing device called

the stylus, which, when not in use, can be conveniently kept in a special slot at the base of the device’s case lid.

The stylus is especially useful for operations that cannot be performed from the keyboard, for example, highlighting an arbitrary text fragment in the Organizer sections or a multi-word translation in a dictionary entry.

♦ Note: If, for some reason, using the stylus does not provide the

desired effect, use (Í,Î,Ð,Ï) to access the Touch Screen Calibration procedure (see page 94).

, and the arrow keys

MAIN MENU

The MAIN MENU appears as a row of tabs at the top of the screen when the device is turned on (unless the Resume screen setup option has been selected, see page 93) or an application is closed,

or the The MAIN MENU is divided into six submenus, each of which

includes a number of related sections.

key is pressed.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Sections may also include subsections and various lower level options.

The six parts of the MAIN MENU are:

English Language Tutor

Dictionary

Organizer

Calculations

Reference

Setup

Opening a Submenu

The easiest way to open a specific submenu when the MAIN MENU is displayed is by touching a corresponding tab at the top of the screen.

Alternatively, the submenus can be chosen by pressing the key or one of the paging t,u keys on the keyboard.

Opening a Section

To open a section in the Partner® X8, display the appropriate part of the MAIN MENU and do one of the following:

• touch the section name

• move the highlight bar to the section name and press

• press the numeric key corresponding to the section number.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Sidebar

Sidebar ▼

Nine sections of Partner

X8 have permanent touch-sensitive

shortcut buttons on the Sidebar to the right of the screen:

Main Dictionary

Voice Memo

English (Explanatory)

Game Center

Dictionary

Phone Directory

Scheduler

Calendar

Local Time (Pop-Up Window and Talking Clock)

Calculator

Touchpad

Touchpad is a set of virtual keys displayed on the screen. This set of keys simulates the conventional physical keyboard or part of it. The touchpad shown below is the most widely used throughout the Partner

X8 applications.

The basic touchpad layout contains the letters of the respective alphabet and a set of symbols. The control key images have the following meaning:

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Touch key Meaning Keyboard equivalent

Touching the keyboard button screen or pressing F8 on the keyboard hides the touchpad, thus enlarging the visible input area. To re-display the touchpad, touch

or press F8 again.

Backspace

Enter

Shift

Caps Lock

Input the German letters ü, ö, ä, ß

Change language

in the lower-right corner of the

Windows

Every application, pop-up menu, or dialog box used in the Partner® X8 appears in its own window.

A window is displayed as a framed screen area with two main elements: the Title Bar and the Close Button.

The Title Bar may show the name of the currently active section or a

message title. Any window can be closed either by pressing on the physical keyboard or by touching the Close Button upper-right corner of the window.

The Vertical or Horizontal Scroll Bars might also be present in a window. The Scroll Box shows the position of the displayed contents

in the

relative to the rest of data.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

On a Scroll Bar:

• touch a Scroll Arrow or to advance or go back one line;

• touch and drag the Scroll Box to browse information;

• touch the Scroll Bar below or above the Scroll Box to jump to

the corresponding portion of text.

Pop-Up and Pull-Down Menus

A pop-up menu is an overlapping window that requests the user’s selection of one of the displayed options.

• Touch a line with the stylus or move the highlight bar to a line

with the arrow keys and press

Aside from pop-up menus, non-window pull-down menus may be used. The menu.

button on the screen indicates a hidden pull-down

• Touch the arrow button to pull down a menu.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• To select an option, touch its name or highlight it and press

• To hide a menu without making a selection, press or touch

the screen outside the menu area.

Dialog Box

A simple example of a dialog box is a prompt, which contains a Yes/No question pending the user’s confirmation or cancellation.

Ways you can respond to a prompt:

Touch

A Setup prompt expects the user to specify data items directly in the dialog box. This can imply either checking boxes or setting values.

Meaning

Yes

No N

Cancel

Keyboard equivalent

, Y

Checking boxes

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• To check an empty box touch it or move the dotted frame

to the desired item with the arrow keys and press

the keyboard. A checked box appears solid:

• Touch or press to apply the changes and close

the window.

Setting Values

• To change a value in the highlighted box, touch the , buttons

or press the Ï,Ð keys.

• To change the active box, touch it or use the Í,Î keys.

• Touch or press to save settings and close the

window.

Message Box

A message just requests the acknowledgement of information.

• To close the message box, touch or where available.

The Partner windows. Thus, you will have to close an overlapping window in order to proceed.

X8 does not allow moving or switching active

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Toolbar

A Toolbar is a set of vertically arranged buttons appearing to the right of the pertaining window.

The most frequently used Toolbar buttons are:

Page Up Save Page Down Edit Scroll Up Delete Scroll Down Search OK (Apply) Settings New Say Explain Spell-Checker Translate Font size

As an on-board help to the user, a short Toolbar button description (Tool tip) appears when a button is being touched.

Commands and options associated with currently displayed Toolbar buttons are also accessible from the keyboard by pressing the F1F8 keys with the corresponding number, counting the buttons from top to bottom.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE TUTOR

English Language Tutor is the reigning feature of your Partner® X8. With its help you can learn English fast and easy. The English Language Tutor course is stored on the special card provided in the standard package. Please visit Ectaco's Web site www.ectaco.com for more information.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

How to Install or Remove the Card

Make sure the device is turned off and there is no other card

•

installed in the CF slot of your Partner

X8.

• Pull the ejector switch down to set it to the Unlock position.

• Insert the English Language Tutor card into the CF slot

thoroughly.

• Set the ejector switch to the Lock position.

♦ Note: Always use the ejector when installing or removing the

card.

♦ Note: Never insert or remove the card when the device is on.

Use the ON/OFF button to turn the device off.

♦ Note: Use of unspecified cards may cause device failure and

possible loss of user's data. Always use the original English Language Tutor cards manufactured by Ectaco, Inc.

• To eject the card, set the ejector switch to the Unlock position

and move it towards the Eject B Card mark.

• Remove the English Language Tutor card from the slot.

Interactive Course

When the English Language Tutor card is installed into the Partner becomes available.

X8, the new advanced method of learning English

• Press the ON/OFF button to turn the device on.

• Select English Tutor from the MAIN MENU or press the

key.

You will be prompted to register.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Please input your name (login) and password into the

corresponding fields.

♦ Note: The maximum name (login) length is 31 characters and

the password length is 8 characters.

This feature is designed so that you could let several users (e.g. you and your relatives) learn English with the same device. You can create an account (user) without a password. In this case, do not input any characters in the Password field on the Registration screen. Use:

• to create a new account

• to delete an account.

• When you open the Users list, please select your name to log on.

♦ Note: If you forgot your password, you can use the usrpass

password to log on the English Language Tutor. However, this password blocks the access to any other protected sections of Partner locked mode (see page 98).

X8, e.g. Phone Directory, when the device is in the

Partner® X8 User's Manual

♦ Note: The maximum number of users is limited in order to save

memory resources.

♦ Note: Before using a new version of the English Language Tutor

card, please remove all accounts from the Users List. Create a new list and add the previous accounts to it, if necessary.

Touch Buttons

Depending on the current lesson and exercise, the following toolbar buttons are available in the English Language Tutor section:

Touch button Meaning

Universal navigator Grammar Phonetics Vocabulary Practice Decrease font size Increase font size Proceed Show virtual keyboard (to enter an answer) Listen to the record Start voice recording Check answers (Statistics)

Placement Test

Once a new account is created, you are offered to pass the

Placement Test.

Placement Test allows quick leveling of your English when you

choose a level to start from. The Placement Test is based on the

Partner® X8 User's Manual

exercises chosen from the course. At the beginning, you are likely to answer simple questions; the difficulty level gradually increases.

♦ Note: Total number of questions is about 200 and depends on

the English Language Tutor card version.

♦ Note: Placement Test content depends on the English Language

Tutor card version.

You can skip the Placement Test and go directly to the Tutorial section. However, it is recommended to pass the Placement Test first. Please answer each question of the Placement Test.

• To check an empty box next to the correct answer, touch it or

move the dotted frame either of the Í,Î keys is pressed. If you press

checked box becomes filled

. The dotted frame appears when

, the

• Touch or press to confirm your choice.

♦ Note: If you quit the Placement Test before completion, your

Placement Test statistics will be discarded and you may be advised to pass the Placement Test once again.

Tutorial

When opening the Tutorial section, you can see a list of available levels.

♦ Note: Tutorial Content depends on the English Language Tutor

card version.

• Select the desired level and press .

A list of available lessons will be displayed.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Select the desired lesson and press .

• Get acquainted with the topic of the lesson and touch or

press Before going on with the selected lesson, please get yourself acquainted with the reference material. Touch:

• to read the grammar material

• to read the phonetics material

• to read vocabulary.

Each lesson consists of various exercises.

• Select the first exercise of the lesson.

• Depending on the task, input or select the right answer and touch

or press .

Partner® X8 User's Manual

♦ Note: There may be several correct variants among the given

answers. The answer will be treated as correct if you mark all correct variants.

♦ Note: When doing an exercise requiring answers input, you

should use the words learned in the Vocabulary section.

You can listen to the pronunciation of English words displayed on the screen, obtain their translations and explanations. Translation for Russian words is also available.

• Touch the desired word and hold down the stylus until a pop-up

menu appears.

• Select Say, Translate, or Explain from the pop-up menu.

The book provided in the standard Partner especially helpful when you want to find any reference for the lessons' material.

Practice

If you prefer practice instead of score, please use the English Language Tutor in the Practice mode.

X8 package will be

• Select the desired level and lesson.

• Touch the button to begin practicing.

Universal Navigator

When you are unsure what lesson to choose, please use Universal Navigator – the

will bring you to the most appropriate lesson.

button. According to the previous statistics, it

Statistics

You can see the results on completion of an exercise, lesson, or level in the Statistics window.

• In the Tutorial Browser window, select a lesson.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Use the button to view the detailed statistics for the selected

exercise. ♦ Note: You may copy the statistics to your PC and vice versa at

any time. Please refer to the PC Communication section (page

67) for instructions.

Quitting the English Language Tutor

Other sections of your Partner® X8 remain available while in the English Language Tutor mode.

• Press any hotkey on the keyboard or touch any button on the

sidebar. ♦ Note: When you quit the English Language Tutor, your results

are not deleted. However, to resume doing exercises, you must enter the English Language Tutor and select the level, lesson, and exercise again.

DICTIONARY

The important part of the Partner® X8 is the DICTIONARY section – it contains seven language-related subsections.

• Select the tab from the MAIN MENU to open the

DICTIONARY section.

MAIN DICTIONARY

The Partner® X8 contains the most advanced English-Russian and Russian-English electronic dictionaries available on the market. This Manual usually refers to those as the English-Russian Dictionary, or simply the Main Dictionary.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

♦ Note: The Main Dictionary contains not only general vocabulary

and technical terms but also slang. You can hide it using the Adult Lock function (see page 95).

General Dictionary Function

Select English-Russian Dictionary from the DICTIONARY

•

section, or touch

the keyboard.

During the initialization of the Main Dictionary you may see the icon. This usually means that User’s Dictionary contains a considerable number of entries. Since both dictionaries are interlinked, the more words the User’s Dictionary contains, the more time it takes to initialize the Main Dictionary. Please wait while the loading completes.

♦ Note: Please refer to the How to Use the Dictionaries section

(see page 28).

on the Sidebar, or press the key on

DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH

LANGUAGE

The Partner® X8 includes the advanced English explanatory dictionary.

General Dictionary Function

Select English Dictionary from the DICTIONARY section.

•

Partner® X8 User's Manual

♦ Note: Please refer to the How to Use the Dictionaries section.

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARIES

Advanced Word Recognition

•

To translate or explain a word, start entering it from the keyboard

or the touchpad. While you are typing, headwords closest in spelling to the portion

you entered so far are displayed in the Advanced Search Area under the input line.

• If the desired word had appeared before you finished typing,

select it (touch the corresponding line or make sure it is

highlighted and press

) to see its translation(s) or

explanation(s). ♦ Note: Some words borrowed from French may be given in the

Dictionary without accent marks.

• Scroll or page through the Advanced Search Area to find the

word in question manually.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• To enlarge the visible Search Area, hide the touchpad by

touching

Voice Input

The Voice Input is a new exclusive function which enables voice input of English words.

• To translate or explain an English word, touch and spell it.

Please pronounce each letter distinctly. It is recommended that the pause between letters should not exceed 1½ sec. The word will be recorded, automatically recognized, and the list of headwords (as well as their first translations if in the English-Russian Dictionary) closest in spelling to the pronounced word will appear.

• Touch the desired word or highlight it and press to see

its translation(s) or explanation(s).

Parts of Speech, Gender Labels, Abbreviations

Translations or explanations of a headword are listed in the alphabetical order of parts of speech.

A – adjective NPR – proper noun

ABBR – abbreviation NUM – numeral

ADV – adverb PART – particle

ART – article PHR – phrase

AUX – auxiliary PREF – prefix

CONJ – conjunction PREP – preposition

ID – idiom PRON – pronoun

INTRJ – interjection SUFF – suffix

N – noun V – verb

Russian and German nouns are marked with gender and number labels.

F – feminine MN – masculine or neuter

M – masculine N – neuter

MF – masculine or feminine PL – plural

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Certain words and expressions in the dictionary are marked with the following abbreviations:

ав. – aeronautics авто – motor

transport

амер. – American анат. – anatomy арифм. – arithmetic арх. – archaic археол. –

archaeology архит. – architecture

астр. – astronomy библ. – biblical биол. – biology биохим. –

biochemistry

бот. – botany

ист. – historical карт. – cards кино – cinema книжн. – literary кож. – tanning ком. – commerce комп. – computers косм. –

cosmonautics

кул. – cooking лат. – Latin лингв. – linguistics лит. – literature лыжн. – skiing мат. – mathematics мед. – medicine метал. – metallurgy

сл. – slang собир. – collective спец. – special спорт. – sport стих. – prosody стомат. –

stomatology

стр. – building театр. – theatre текст. – textile тех. – technical типогр. – printing уст. – obsolete фарм. – pharmacy фехт. – fencing фиг. – figurative

физ. – physics брит. – British бухг. –

bookkeeping

вет. – veterinary воен. – military вулг. – vulgar вчт. – computers геогр. – geography геол. – geology геом. – geometry горн. – mining грам. – grammar греч. – Greek груб. – vulgar детск. – nursery др.-греч. – Old

Greek

метео – meteorology

мех. – mechanics мин. – mineralogy миф. – mythology мор. – nautical муз. – music неценз. – obscene опт. – optics охот. – hunting перен. – in

transferred use

полигр. – printing полит. – political поэт. – poetic психол. –

psychology

физиол. –

physiology

филос. –

philosophy

фин. – finance

фон. – phonetics

фот. – photography

фр. – French

хим. – chemistry

церк. –

ecclesiastical

шахм. – chess

шотл. – Scottish

шутл. – jocular

эк. – economics

эл. – electronics

энт. – entomology др.-рим. – Ancient

Rome

ж.-д. – railways

радио – radio разг. – colloquial

рел. – religion

юж.-аф. –South

African

юр. – law

Partner® X8 User's Manual

зоол. – zoology иск. – art

A number of Russian words similar in written form have different meaning depending on the position of stress. These words are marked in the dictionary with accent marks put before the stressed vowel.

римск. – Roman с.-х. – agriculture

Phonetic Transcription

Pronunciation of English words in the Dictionary is illustrated by means of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The following consonant symbols have their usual English values: b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, z. However, certain sounds require symbols with markedly different values:

Symbol Example Symbol Example  i: bee

e bet

 ɑ:  u: ɒ ɔ: :

The symbol : denotes length and is shown with certain vowel symbols when the vowels are typically long. For example: people

pit

pat father book room lodge more fur

 ə

θ ð ʃ    ŋ j

cut circus

thin they she treasure chair job learning yes

[pi:pəl]. Primary stress is shown by  before the affected syllable, while secondary stress is shown by . For example: organization [ɔ:rgənəzeʃən].

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Viewing Entries

Suppose you want to translate the English word TOUCH into Russian.

• Enter TOUCH in the input line.

♦ Note: The Dictionary search is not case-sensitive, so you can

type in any case you want.

♦ Note: It is possible to retrieve a translation or explanation for

word forms entered in the input line. The source word entry for the desired word will be displayed. For example, if you enter TOUCHES and there is not such an entry in the dictionary, you will get the TOUCH entry as it is a headword for TOUCHES. The MorphoFinder™ function helps you find source words (headwords) for English past participles, gerunds, plural forms, and for Russian adjective forms.

• To select TOUCH and see its translations, touch the

corresponding line in the advanced search area, or make sure

the line is highlighted (use Ð if necessary) and press

♦ Note: Similarly, you can get explanations of the words in the

Dictionary of the English language.

• Use the scroll bar or the Ð key to scroll the screen down to see

more translations of the word TOUCH – you will also see translations of the word TOUCH as a verb.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Touch to reduce the screen font size and see more

translations or explanations of the given headword on the screen without scrolling.

♦ Note: There are three font sizes in the Dictionaries. Touch

twice to restore the initial font size.

• Use the t, u keys or the , buttons to switch between

adjacent entries.

♦ Note: Your User’s Dictionary headwords, if coinciding in spelling,

will be displayed in the advanced search area before those of the Main Dictionary.

• To translate or explain another word in the same dictionary,

press a new search.

or touch to return to the selection screen and begin

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• To change the direction of translation, make a reverse translation

or press

touch

♦ Note: The English-Russian and the German-Russian dictionaries

are chosen by default after the system initialization.

or touch to return to the selection screen, then

or press .

• To record a displayed entry in your personal Learner’s Cards,

select the

button and specify the set name.

Spell-checker Vector Ultima

The multilingual spell-checker Vector Ultima is one of the most advanced on the market. When you are unsure of the spelling of a word, the Vector Ultima allows you to enter the word as you hear it and choose a spelling version from a list of suggestions.

• Type the word BOARD as you hear it: BORD.

• Touch or press + either of the t, u keys. A list of

suggested variants appears on the screen.

• Select the word BOARD to see its translations.

♦ Note: If the spell-checker is unable to suggest alternative words,

the No variants message is shown.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Instant Reverse Translation and Instant Explanation

For your convenience, the Partner® X8 provides Instant Reverse Translation and Instant Explanation for all words and expressions in the Dictionaries and in the English Language Tutor.

• For example, display the entry for the word PROFIT.

• To highlight a word among the explanations or translations

• touch it with the stylus, or

• move the highlight bar to it with the Î key. For example:

♦ Note: You can also highlight an expression. Expressions

constituting a complete translation variant can be highlighted as a whole. To highlight a whole expression between commas, touch its first word with the stylus and drag the stylus along the expression until the last word is highlighted.

♦ Note: Don’t highlight across punctuation marks.

• Touch or , respectively to obtain an explanation or

reverse translation of the highlighted word or expression.

♦ Note: To get an explanation of the headword of a displayed

entry, just touch

♦ Note: If there are entries in both Main and User’s Dictionaries,

the entry in the latter dictionary is displayed first.

• Touch or press the u key to page down to the Dictionary’s

entry.

♦ Note: If the translation for the selected expression is not found,

select the main word in it, touch

, and when in the Dictionary touch entry. For example:

or press the u key to page down to the appropriate

Partner® X8 User's Manual

♦ Note: It is possible to retrieve a reverse translation or explanation

for the highlighted word forms as well. The source word entry for the highlighted word will be displayed. For example, if you highlight "distributes" you will get "distribute" as there is no translation or explanation for "distributes" because it is a form of "distribute." The MorphoFinder™ function helps you find source words for English past participles, gerunds, plural forms, and for Russian forms of various parts of speech. If the Not found! message is displayed, try to find the word in the dictionary by typing the desired word in its basic form.

You can make up to 4 reverse translations and explanations in succession (without closing windows). The message Last translation is displayed when the limit is reached.

• To close the Reverse Translation or Instant Explanation windows

in the reverse order, touch

or press .

Pronunciation of Words and Sentences

One of the most exciting features of the Partner® X8 is the TTS (Text-to-Speech) technology which allows you to listen to the pronunciation of English words and phrases.

• Display an entry, for example:

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• To listen to the pronunciation of the headword in the English-

Russian or English Dictionary, touch

♦ Note: Certain words have several variants of pronunciation. So

the pronunciation of the TTS engine and the given phonetic transcription may be different. In this case, consider the variant given in the dictionary as the basic one.

or press the key.

• To listen to the pronunciation of the translation or explanation in

the Russian-English or English Dictionary, select all or any of the

words and touch

or press the key.

• To listen to the pronunciation of all displayed translations in the

Russian-English Dictionary, touch

or press the key.

TTS is able to generate the pronunciation of any English text, not limited to dictionary entries. Simply type a word or phrase in the input line of the corresponding Dictionary and touch

key to listen to its pronunciation.

♦ Note: In the Speech Level option of the System Setup menu you

may adjust speech volume, frequency and speed, shaping your own pronunciation style. In addition, volume can be conveniently changed “on the fly” using the external switch.

or press the

SUPPLEMENTAL DICTIONARIES

German-Russian Dictionary

The Partner® X8 contains a bidirectional German-Russian dictionary of 250,000 words.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

General Dictionary Function

• Select German-Russian Dictionary from the Supplemental

Dictionaries section.

♦ Note: All functions and keys in the German-Russian dictionary

work in the same way as they do in the Main Dictionary. Please refer to the How to Use the Dictionaries section to read about

Advanced Word Recognition, Viewing Entries, Spell-Checker Vector Ultima



, and Instant Reverse Translation.

User’s Dictionary

The Partner® X8 allows you to create your own vocabulary which automatically links to the Main Dictionary.

• Select User’s Dictionary from the Supplemental Dictionaries

section.

• Select one of the user’s dictionaries.

Creating a Record

The record consists of a word or expression, its translation, and its part of speech.

• When in a record list or in the viewing mode, touch to open a

new record template.

• Type in an English word or expression. For example:

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Touch or press u or to go to the translation page.

Enter a Russian translation.

• Touch or press to save your record. You can also

specify a part of speech by selecting appropriate abbreviation from the list. The record will be saved and you will return to the record list.

When in the record list or in the viewing mode, use

• Ð, Ï to move the highlight bar

• , to page up and down

• to open a new record template

• to make a search

• to open the highlighted record for editing

• to delete the highlighted record

• to listen to the pronunciation of the English part of the

record's contents.

♦ Note: The User’s Dictionary entries are fully reversible. Any

translation of a Russian-English User’s Dictionary entry

and choosing an

automatically becomes a headword in the English-Russian User’s Dictionary, and vice versa. This also means that by deleting one of them you will automatically delete the other.

Finding a Record

There are three ways to find a record:

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Select from the List

• Open a User’s Dictionary. A list of existing headwords will be

displayed, for example:

• To select an entry, touch it with the stylus or move the highlight

bar to it and press

The selected record opens in the viewing mode.

Contents Search

• When in the record list or in the viewing mode, select the

button.

• Type in any Russian or English word (or a part of a word) that is

contained in the record(s) you are looking for.

• Touch or press to display the search results, if any.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Open the desired entry.

Access through the Main Dictionary

The User’s Dictionary entries are also accessible from the Main Dictionary. These are marked with a special icon:

• Open the Main Dictionary.

♦ Note: The more words the User’s Dictionary contains, the more

time it takes to initialize the Main Dictionary, since both dictionaries are interlinked. During the initialization process you

will see the

icon.

• Select the translation direction compatible with the headword

language you want to use for search.

• Start entering a headword.

♦ Note: Your User’s Dictionary headwords, if coinciding in spelling,

will be displayed in Advanced Search Area before those of the Main Dictionary.

• Press to display the entry in the Main Dictionary format.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

♦ Note: You can save your User’s Dictionary entry in a Learner’s

Card from this window.

Editing a Record

• When in the record list or in the viewing mode, select to open

the record in the editing mode, and make the desired modifications.

• Touch to save changes.

Deleting a Record

• When in the record list or in the viewing mode, select .

• Confirm your intention to delete the record.

♦ Note: If you previously saved this entry in the Learner’s Cards

(this procedure is carried out via the Main Dictionary), you will loose it in the Learner’s Cards, too.

Downloading Additional Dictionaries

You can download additional dictionaries from a personal computer to the User’s Dictionary. Please refer to page 67 of this Manual and visit Ectaco’s Web site at www.ectaco.com for more information.

Learner’s Cards

The Learner’s Cards section provides you with a convenient personalized storage for selected Dictionaries’ entries that can help you memorize foreign words and their meanings more effectively.

An entry is saved in the appropriate Learner’s Set when you select

in a dictionary and specify one of the available sets.

• Select Learner’s Cards from the Supplemental Dictionaries. The

list of the available Learner's Sets will be displayed.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

By default three sets are available – Important Words, My Words, and Useful Phrases. You can use up to twenty Learner's Sets including the initial ones.

When in the menu, use:

• Ð, Ï to move the highlight bar

• to open the highlighted set

• to create a new set

• to change the name of the highlighted set

• to delete the highlighted set

• to search a headword in the highlighted set.

• To open a list, touch the corresponding line or move the highlight

bar to it and press sorted list will be displayed.

Use:

• to show / hide translations or explanations of the

selected word

• Í,Î to highlight any word in the translation or explanation

. The first entry of the alphabetically

of a given headword

• to get an explanation of the English headword or of the

highlighted English word or expression

• to translate the headword or the highlighted word into

another language

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• to search a headword in the current set

• to delete the displayed record

• , or u,tto move to the next or previous record,

respectively

• or to listen to the English part of the displayed

record.

TEXT TRANSLATION

Your Partner® X8 features a highly efficient text-translating program Lingvobit™.

• Select Text Translation from the DICTIONARY section.

• To select the direction of translation, touch .

• Input a text for translation.

♦ Note: Text for translation cannot contain more than 1,000

characters.

• Touch or press to automatically translate the text.

• Select the active box (indicated by a dotted frame) by touching it

or by pressing the Ð, Ï keys.

• To obtain an Instant Reverse Translation of any word in the

active box, highlight it and touch

. Select a language you

Partner® X8 User's Manual

want to translate from. Close the Main Dictionary window to return to Text Translation.

• Touch to get explanation of the highlighted English word.

Close the English Dictionary window to return to Text Translation.

• Press +Ï to copy all text from the active box.

• To listen to the pronunciation of an English text in the active box,

touch

or press the key.

• Touch or close the translation window to return to the input

screen. You may edit the old text or press the screen and enter a new text.

+ to clear

VOICE PHRASEBOOK

Take the Partner® X8 with you going abroad. The Voice Phrasebook substitutes for a Russian or English interpreter in standard situations such as registering at a hotel, shopping, visiting bank etc. You simply choose the appropriate phrase from the book or say it in English or Russian and the Partner or English translation.

For easy reference the phrases are arranged by topics:

Everyday Conversation Shopping Traveling Bank

X8 will pronounce its Russian

Local transport Health Hotel Housekeeper

Restaurant

• Select Voice Phrasebook from the DICTIONARY section. You

will see a list of topics displayed in the English or Russian language depending on the Interface Language setting. For example:

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Press to set Source language.

• To open a topic:

• highlight it with Ð, Ï and press , or

• touch or press the REC key. Say the name of the topic.

The highlighting will be moved to this topic for a second and then the topic will be opened.

♦ Note: When using the Speech Recognition function, please

pronounce the phrases correctly, in a clear voice, at a normal pace and without pauses.

• Touch to set the Source language.

• To find a phrase, touch or press the REC key and say the

desired phrase. It will be recorded, automatically recognized, and highlighted. The translation will be pronounced (if this option is set, see page 47).

♦ Note: You can say not only a phrase from the list, but its

equivalents, too. You can find the list of equivalents available for recognition at www.ectaco.com.

If the highlighting does not move to another position or a wrong phrase is displayed, this means that the phrase was either not recognized, recognized unsuccessfully or there is not such a phrase in this topic.

For successful recognition please take into account the following recommendations:

Partner® X8 User's Manual

1. Ensure there is silence at the time of use.

2. Choose the optimum distance from the built-in microphone within a range of 3 – 6 inches (8 – 15 cm), in view of your usual loudness of pronunciation.

3. Try to say phrases distinctly and plainly yet not in clipped syllables.

4. Avoid carelessness in pronunciation (smacking of lips, loudly inhaling or exhaling, mumbling, interruptions, repetitions, etc.).

5. Try to adjust the microphone level according to loudness of your voice. Touch the and change the value using number buttons.

Use:

button. Highlight the Mic volume checkbox

• Ï,Ð to move the highlight bar

• t,u to page up and down

• or the REC key to make a voice input

• to learn more about correct pronunciation and recording

a phrase

• or to listen to the pronunciation of the selected

phrase

• or SHIFT+ to hear the pronunciation of the

translation

• to set or cancel the Pronounce translation, Show

translation, Auto playback options

• to set internal speaker ON or OFF and to adjust the

microphone level.

♦ Note: If you hear no sound, make sure the internal speaker is

ON (it can be turned off by the program).

ACCENT CORRECTION

The Accent Correction is an excellent tool that helps you improve your English articulation skills.

The section contains over 1,100 commonly used phrases.

To check or uncheck an option touch the desired one with the stylus or

select it with Ð, Ï and press the SPACE key.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

For easy reference they are divided into conversational topics:

Everyday conversation Shopping Traveling Bank Local transport Health Hotel Housekeeper

Restaurant

Phonetic exercises make the basis for improving your pronunciation, thus making it closer to the sample pronunciation of an Americanspeaking person. Sample phrases are recorded by the American speaker, processed and stored in the memory of your Partner

The phrases you pronounce are entered via the built-in microphone, processed, and then compared to the sample. In the comparison stage, a unique speech recognition technology is used to determine which phrase was spoken. On the basis of this comparison the degree of the closeness of your pronunciation to the model is assessed.

X8.

• Select Accent Correction from the DICTIONARY section.

• Choose a topic.

• Touch or the REC key to make a voice input.

First you will listen to a phrase recorded by the American speaker (if this function is enabled).

• Position yourself near the built-in microphone at a distance of 3 –

6 inches (8 – 15 cm) and say the phrase.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

The phrase you said will be recorded, automatically recognized and compared to the model pronunciation. The results of the comparison are given as Excellent, Good, Poor, Wrong or Please try again. The Please try again result means that it is necessary to repeat the phrase louder or to lower extraneous noises.

♦ Note: The quality of voice recognition strongly depends on the

level of external noise. Try to ensure silence in the room where you practice pronunciation.

• If you want to listen to a model pronunciation of a phrase before

you make a voice input, touch to the phrase option is selected.

and make sure the First listen

• If you want to listen to the phrase you said before the result

appears, touch

Use:

• Ð, Ï to move the highlight bar

• u, t to move between pages within a section

• or to listen to the pronunciation of the highlighted

sentence

• to set the internal speaker ON or OFF and to increase

the level of amplification of the microphone

• to learn more about correct pronunciation and recording

a phrase.

For successful practice, please take into account the following recommendations:

and check the Auto playback option9.

1. Ensure silence at the time of use.

2. Choose the optimum distance from the built-in microphone within a range of 3 – 6 inches (8 – 15 cm), in view of your habitual loudness of pronunciation.

3. Do not say extraneous words or phrases into the microphone.

4. Try to say phrases distinctly and plainly yet not in clipped syllables.

To check or uncheck an option touch the desired one with the stylus or

select it with Ð, Ï and press the SPACE key.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

5. Avoid carelessness in pronunciation (smacking of lips, loudly inhaling or exhaling, mumbling, interruptions, repetitions, etc.).

REFERENCE

The Reference is a convenient on-hand translation aid when dealing with lexical, grammatical, and idiomatic aspects of the English language.

• Select Reference from the DICTIONARY section.

Irregular Verbs

All commonly used English irregular verbs are stored in the alphabetical order in the Partner’s Irregular Verbs section.

• Select Irregular Verbs from the Reference section.

• Find the verb you need by typing or by scrolling the list.

• To see the verb's basic forms and its translations, touch the

corresponding line in the list, or make sure the line is highlighted (press Ð if necessary) and touch

or press .

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Use:

• , or u, t to move between verbs

• to obtain an Instant Reverse Translation of the

highlighted English or Russian word

• to get an explanation of the highlighted English word

• to save an entry into a Learner's Card

• Touch or press the key to listen to the

pronunciation of an English irregular verb along with its basic forms.

Popular Idioms

Over 200 widely used American idioms and their Russian equivalents or translations are included in the Partner’s Popular Idioms directory. The idioms are listed in the alphabetical order.

• Select Popular Idioms from the Reference section.

• Search the idioms by typing or by scrolling the list.

• To display an idiom, touch the corresponding line in the list, or

make sure the line is highlighted and touch

or press

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Use:

• , or u, t to move between idioms

• to obtain an Instant Reverse Translation of the

highlighted English or Russian word

• to get explanation of the highlighted English word

• to save an entry into a Learner's Card

• Touch or press the key to listen to the

pronunciation of an idiom in English.

ORGANIZER

The ORGANIZER section contains a number of versatile applications to help you classify, record and manage various personal or business information.

All Personal Organizer records can be protected with a password.

• Select the tab from the MAIN MENU to open the

ORGANIZER section.

PHONE DIRECTORY

In this section you can store names, telephone and fax numbers, postal and e-mail addresses in English and Russian, as well as search, change, and delete records.

• Select Phone Directory from the ORGANIZER section. You will

see a list of existing telephone records sorted by Name.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Creating a Record

• Touch to open a new record template. Start filling out the first

page Name.

♦ Note: It is necessary to have completed the Name page to save

the record.

There is a Page Icon in the upper left corner. A Tool tip with the page name appears when a page is opened or the Page Icon is touched.

A Phone Directory record includes the following pages:

Name

Company Name

Position

Company Telephone Number

Home Telephone Number

Fax Number

Mobile / Pager Number

E-mail Address

Web-address

Address

Note

Use:

• , or u,t to open the next or previous page

• to choose a specific page from the pop-up menu

• to save a record.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

♦ Note: Do not forget to enter a Company name for each person (if

applicable), which will facilitate your future searches.

Finding a Record

There are three ways to search for records:

Select from List

• Open the alphabetical list of records represented by Names, for

example:

• To see your entries sorted by Companies, touch :

• View the list and select an entry to open it in the viewing mode.

In the viewing mode, use:

• to open the displayed record for editing

• to delete the displayed record

• , or Ð,Ï to scroll the pages of the displayed record

by two

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• , or u,t to go to the next or previous alphabetical

record.

Contents Search

• Touch to display the record search screen.

• Specify any alphabetic or numeric string that might be found in a

record or records. For example, to find all Ectaco records, type

Ect and touch

or press .

• Select an entry to open it in the viewing mode.

♦ Note: You can add a business description in the Note field when

creating or editing a record to allow for more effective classified search results in the future.

Quick Lookup

• Open an alphabetical list of records sorted by Names or by

Companies (use

to toggle sorting modes).

• Press one or more alphanumeric key(s) on the keyboard to jump

to an entry that starts with the corresponding character(s):

• To clear the lookup box, press the key.

♦ Note: Quick Lookup is only used for searching within

alphabetical lists of records sorted by Names or by Companies.

• To open the selection, press or touch the highlighted

area with the stylus.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

MEMO

The Memo section of your Partner® X8 provides you with a handy storage place for all kinds of memoranda, notes, and messages which you can record in English and Russian, edit, search or delete.

• Select Memo from the ORGANIZER section. A Memo record list

is displayed.

Creating a Record

• Touch to open a new record template. Enter your memo text.

• Touch or press u to open the Title Input page. Type a title

for your memo. It will appear in the Memo list.

• To return to the main page, touch or press t.

• To save a record, touch or press .

♦ Note: The record text cannot exceed 32 KB.

Finding a Record

There are three ways to search for records:

Select From List

• Open an alphabetical list of records represented by Memo Titles.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

When in the record list, use

• Ð,Ï to move the highlight bar

• to open the highlighted record for editing

• to delete the highlighted record

• To select an entry, touch it or move the highlight bar to it and

press

The selected record opens in the viewing mode.

In the viewing mode, use:

• to reduce / enlarge the font size in the view window

• to open the displayed record for editing

• to delete the displayed record

• , or u,t to go to the alphabetically next or previous

record respectively (the current record title is shown in the screen header).

Search Text

• When in the Memo list or in the viewing mode, touch to

display a record search screen.

• Specify any string that might be found in a record or records, and

touch

or press to see results in a Search result list.

• Select an entry to open the associated record in the viewing

mode.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Quick Lookup

• Open an alphabetical list of records.

• Press one or more alphanumeric key(s) on the keyboard to jump

to an entry that starts with the corresponding character(s).

• To clear the lookup box, press the key.

• To open the selection, press or touch the highlighted

area with the stylus.

SCHEDULER

You may effectively manage your time by using the Scheduler section of your Partner Russian, as well as edit, search and delete them.

X8. You may enter records in English or

• Select Scheduler from the ORGANIZER section to display a list

of Scheduler entries specified for the current date (default).

• Use to switch between viewing all and current date records.

Creating a Record

• Touch to open a new record template.

♦ Note: A new record template can also be opened from Calendar.

The first page of a Scheduler record includes information on Event, Date, Time, audible Reminder and Recurrence settings, which can

be changed via setup dialog boxes.

Event

• To choose between Task, Call, Meeting or Anniversary Date,

touch the caption or the icon on the left.

♦ Note: The Task heading is a default for a new record.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Date

The current date is the default setting in a new record.

• To display the Date setup dialog box:

• touch the date value, or

• touch the date icon.

• To set the desired Day, Month and Year of an event, touch ,

or press number buttons. Use Í, Î to move between fields.

Time The current time is the default setting in a new record.

• To display the Time setup dialog box:

• touch the time value, or

• touch the time icon.

• To set the desired Hour and Minute, touch , or press the

number buttons. Use Í, Î to move between fields.

Reminder Reminder specifies the time period until the Time when a reminder

alarm will be issued.

• To display the Reminder setup box:

• touch the Reminder value (the none setting is a default for a

new record), or

• touch the Reminder icon.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Choose one of the available options.

Recurrence

If you need your Reminder to be recurrent, you should select one of the daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly recurrence intervals. None is the default setting for a new record.

• Touch the Recurrence icon or its value and choose one of the

options in the pop-up box:

♦ Note: With a Scheduler record made at the turn of the month and

a Monthly recurrence interval set, the Reminder alarm will be issued on the last day of the month if the month in question has fewer days than the one in which the setting was initiated. For example, if the record was created on January 31, the Reminder will be issued on February 28 or 29.

♦ Note: The recurrence interval setting does not mean a record will

be duplicated in the Scheduler and Calendar. For example, if you created a record dated Dec-01, 2003 and set recurrence interval daily, this record will not appear in Dec-02, Dec-03 etc. lists. Instead, the Reminder will sound at the set time and the initial record of Dec-01, 2003 will be displayed.

♦ Note: If one-time and recurrent events coincide with each other

on the same date and at the same time, then Reminder will only display the one-time event since it has higher priority.

• Touch or press u to open the next page.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Type in the Description contents. To return to the previous page,

touch

or press t.

• To save a record, touch .

Finding a Record

There are three ways to search for records.

Select from List

• Open the record list for the current date ordered by Time.

• When in the record list, use:

• Ð, Ï to move the highlight bar

• to open the highlighted record for editing

• to delete the highlighted record

• , or u,t to go to the next or previous date list.

• To select an entry, touch it or move the highlight bar to it and

press

The selected record opens in the viewing mode.

• In the viewing mode use , or u,tto go to the next or

previous record.

Contents Search

• Select to display a record search screen.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Specify any string that might be found in the contents of a

Scheduler record or records, and touch see results in a Search result list.

or press to

• Select an entry to open the associated record in the viewing

mode.

Search through Calendar

• Select Calendar in the ORGANIZER section.

• To open the Scheduler list referring to the desired date, highlight

a date for which a Scheduler records exists (these dates will

appear in bold) and press

Schedule Alarm and Reminder

The Schedule Alarm can be turned on or off in the System Setup section. This setting affects the entire Scheduler section: if turned on, which is the default setting, the Schedule Alarm sounds on the Date and at the Time of any Scheduler record, producing an audible beep.

The Reminder time is adjusted separately for every individual record.

• Press any key or touch the screen to interrupt a Schedule Alarm

or a Reminder beep (otherwise, the beep will sound for 30 seconds). The corresponding Scheduler record will be displayed in the viewing mode.

You can change the record – for example, set the Reminder for a later time. Closing Scheduler will bring you back to the section where you were before the alarm went off.

CALENDAR

This section provides you with a Calendar for 1900-2099. It also allows you to make new records or select existing Scheduler records.

• Select Calendar from the ORGANIZER section to open it on the

current month with the current date framed.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• To page by month, use , or , at the month name on

the screen.

• To highlight a date, touch it or move the highlight bar with the

Í,Î keys.

• Touch to jump to a specific date via the dialog box.

Dates of existing Scheduler records are shown in bold. The current date, icons showing event types and the number of events planned for this date in the Scheduler section are displayed in the right part of the screen.

• Select a date shown in bold (touch it twice or highlight it and

press

) to open the Scheduler list referring to this date.

DRAWING BOARD

You can create simple drawings and outline images in the Drawing Board of your Partner

• Select Drawing Board from the ORGANIZER section.

Creating a Drawing

• Touch to open a new drawing template.

• Start creating a free-hand drawing with the stylus.

The default settings are: Thin line, Free draw.

X8.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• To draw using a Thick line, touch . The button changes to

. Touch this new icon to restore the Thin line.

• To draw a Straight line, touch . Touch to return to using

Free draw.

• To use the stylus as an eraser, touch . Touch or to

resume drawing.

• To copy or cut a rectangular drawing fragment touch (Copy)

(Cut), respectively.

• Touch the drawing board next to the fragment you wish to copy

and drag the stylus so that the fragment is included within a frame.

• Take the stylus off the screen.

A framed drawing fragment is copied to the clipboard. The frame (and its content, if the Cut option was used) disappears.

• To paste the clipboard contents into the drawing, touch

(Paste).

• Touch the drawing board to display the clipboard frame and

position it properly by dragging it by the upper left corner.

• Take the stylus off the screen.

A drawing fragment previously copied or cut to the clipboard will be pasted into the drawing. The frame will disappear.

• When finished and ready to save, touch and specify a record

name.

• Touch or press to save the record.

Finding a Drawing

There are three ways to search for saved drawings:

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Select from List

• Open the list of existing record names.

Use:

• Ð, Ï to move the highlight bar

• to open a new record template

• to open the highlighted record for editing

• to delete the highlighted record.

• To select an entry, touch or move the highlight bar to it and press

Find a record name

• When in the record name list or in the viewing mode, select

to display a search screen.

• Specify any string that might be a part of a record name, and

touch

or press to see results in a Search result list.

• Select an entry to open the associated drawing in the viewing

mode.

• In the viewing mode use , or u,tto go to the

alphabetically next or previous drawing record name.

Quick Lookup

• Open the record list.

• Press one or more alphanumeric key(s) on the keyboard to jump

to an entry that starts with the corresponding character(s).

• To clear the lookup box, press the key.

• To open the selection, press or touch the highlighted

area with the stylus.

VOICE MEMO

Your Partner® X8 can be used as an easy-to-handle voice-recording device. It can save up to 4.5 minutes of voice memos.

See General View, page 6, for the location of the recording button and the microphone.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Select Voice Memo from the ORGANIZER section. A list of

existing records arranged in alphabetical order appears.

Creating a Record

There are two ways to create and store a voice record.

From Voice Memo Section

• Touch or press the REC key to start recording.

• Press any key or touch the screen to stop recording.

• Enter a filename for your Voice Memo up to 8 characters in

length.

• Touch or press to return to the Memo list. If no

filename was specified, the record will be given the default NoName.

Quick Recording

• In any section except Voice Memo, Voice Phrasebook and

Accent Correction Recording… message will appear on the screen.

, press and hold the REC key. The

Please refer to the corresponding chapters of this manual to learn how to

use the REC key in those sections.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Release the key to stop recording. The record will be given the

default name NoName, which you can change in the Voice Memo section.

♦ Note: The REC key works even if the device is turned off.

Finding and Playing Back a Record

• Open a list of existing records.

There are three ways to search for records:

• Scroll the list vertically to view more records.

• Press one or more alphanumeric key(s) on the keyboard to

jump to an entry that starts with the corresponding

character(s). To clear the lookup box, press

• Touch to start the playback of all Memos in the list from

top to bottom. You may interrupt playback at any time by

pressing

• To play back the highlighted record only, touch its name or

highlight its with Ð, Ï and touch

Use:

• to delete the highlighted record

• to delete all records in the list

• to change a filename

• to set internal speaker ON or OFF and to adjust the

microphone level.

PC COMMUNICATION

Using the Partner’s PC-Link cable (available separately as a part of the Communication Pack) and the PC-Link software (can be downloaded from www.ectaco.com for free) you may exchange

Partner® X8 User's Manual

data between your Partner® X8 and a personal computer. This feature will allow you to keep a backup copy of the Telephones,

Scheduler, Memo, User’s Dictionary data, and the English Language Tutor Statistics on your PC.

Software

• Download the Partner

site www.ectaco.com.

X8 PC-Link program from Ectaco's Web

• Install PC-Link.

• When the program is installed, start it from the Start menu,

Programs / Ectaco. The corner of the System Tray.

♦ Note: Make sure you selected the appropriate COM port and set

the same baud rate in the System Setup section of your Partner X8 and in the PC-Link program.

♦ Note: Make sure you have no other PC-Link program running

simultaneously with Partner

♦ Note: The latest version of the PC-Link program and additional

dictionaries can be downloaded from Ectaco's Web site www.ectaco.com.

Data Transfer

icon will appear in the lower right

X8 PC-Link.

• Connect the PC-Link cable to the Data Link jack located on the

right-hand edge of the device.

• Select PC Communication from the ORGANIZER section.

• Choose a data transfer mode (Upload, Download, or PC

Synchronization).

• To Upload, also specify section(s) to send. To select section(s):

• touch it with the stylus, or

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• press Ð, Ï to select the desired section(s) with a dotted

frame, press

to check or uncheck the section.

• Right-click on the PC-Link icon in the System Tray. In the PC-

Link program, select a corresponding data transfer mode. To Download, also choose the section(s) to send.

• Start data transfer first on the receiving device, then on the

sending one.

You may enter, edit, or delete data in your Partner program.

♦ Note: Time span between data transfer startup on the PC and in

X8 PC-Link

the device must not exceed 30 sec. Otherwise, the Time out! message will be displayed.

♦ Note: The PC Synchronization option presents an alternative to

having to conduct time-consuming full data backups of Phone Directory, Memo and Schedule, overwriting previous versions on

the receiving device. It makes sure both the Partner

X8 and PC have the latest updated version of records. Only changes are transferred.

♦ Note: In the Download mode, your newly transferred data will

replace all the information you had saved in the corresponding

section of your Partner

X8. In case any empty sections are transferred, all data in the corresponding sections of the Partner X8 will be erased.

♦ Note: Always back up your important data! Neither the

manufacturer nor the dealers assume any responsibility for lost or corrupted data.

♦ Note: Data Transfer consumes a considerable amount of energy.

Use of an external power supply is strongly advised.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

CALCULATIONS

The subsections listed in the CALCULATIONS section will satisfy a broad range of your everyday computing and money management needs.

• Select the tab from the MAIN MENU to open the

CALCULATIONS section.

CALCULATOR

• Select Calculator from the CALCULATIONS section or touch the

button on the Sidebar.

Entering numbers and operations from the displayed touchpad or

from the keyboard (there is no need to press application as an ordinary pocket calculator.

), use this

• Use to switch between the Standard and Scientific modes.

LOAN CALCULATOR

This useful feature of your Partner® X8 enables you to compute monthly payments and amounts of principal and interest paid or payable to date on your loans and mortgages.

• Select Loan Calculator from the CALCULATIONS section. A list

of saved loan calculations will be displayed.

Creating a Record

• Touch to start a new calculation.

• Enter a record name and touch or press .

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Specify the inception Year, inception Month, and the amount of

the Mortgage (or loan).

• To switch the active box, touch it or press for the next

box. Touch

or press + to clear the active box.

• To go to the next page, use , or when in the

Mortgage box.

• Enter the Annual Percentage Rate and the Period of loan or

mortgage in years.

• With all values specified and the last box highlighted, press

to save the calculation and display the loan information

screen.

The info screen summarizes the data you entered and includes the amounts of monthly payment and total payable interest.

When in the info screen, use:

• to start a new calculation

• to change the current calculation

• to inquire for a specific date

• to delete the current calculation

• , or u,tto go to the next or previous saved

calculation.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Finding a Record

• Open the Loan Calculator to display a list of saved loan

calculations in the alphabetical order.

• Touch an entry or move the highlight bar to it and press

, to display the info screen on a loan.

Loan Inquiry

• On a loan's info screen or in the record list (the desired loan

record name must be highlighted), touch dialog box.

to display the Date

• Enter the number of years and months within the loan term and

touch specified date. The information on the interest, principal, and the total amount paid to date, as well as on the loan amount left, appears on the screen:

Use:

or press to see the loan's details for the

• to change the current loan data

• to display the loan information for another date

• , (if enabled) to see the details of other loans on the

same date.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

♦ Note: This function enables you to compare the conditions of

different loans as they are projected into the future.

ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

The Account Management section of your Partner® X8 allows you to keep track of your bank accounts and transactions.

• Select Account Management from the CALCULATIONS section.

Creating a Record

• Touch to open a new record template.

• Specify an Account name (touch or press Ð to pull down a

menu of sample names).

• Touch or press u to open the Account No. page.

• Type in an account number and touch or press u to open

the Balance page.

• To return to the previous page, touch or press t.

• Enter an account balance and touch to save the record.

Finding a Record

• Open Account Management to display a list of accounts.

• View the list and open the desired entry in the viewing mode

(touch the entry or select it with Ð,Ï and press

Partner® X8 User's Manual

An account record in the viewing mode includes information on aggregate deposits and withdrawals, and on the adjusted new balance.

♦ Note: If the account details are changed, a new Balance is

calculated, and the Deposit and Withdrawal values are reset.

Use:

• to open a new record template

• to open the displayed account for editing

• to record a Deposit or Withdrawal for the current account

• to delete the displayed record

• , or u,t to go to the next or previous alphabetical

record, respectively.

Managing Transactions

Posting a Transaction

• Highlight in the list or open for viewing the account record you

want to post a transaction to.

• Touch and select Deposit or Withdrawal from a pop-up

menu.

The current date and time are default for a new transaction record.

• If you want to change the date or time, touch the corresponding

line to display a setup dialog box, and change the values.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Type in an amount and touch or press .

• Enter a transaction description.

• Touch or press to save the transaction as part of

an account record and display the Balance screen.

Viewing Transactions

• Display an account record in the viewing mode, or highlight its

line in the list.

• Touch to open an itemized list of deposits and withdrawals

with the most recent transaction shown on top. Withdrawals appear as negative values, Deposits appear as positive ones.

CURRENCY CONVERSION

The Currency Conversion function built into your Partner® X8 allows you to instantly calculate cross courses in 19 pre-installed currencies and 3 user-defined currencies.

• Select Currency Conversion from the CALCULATIONS section.

The Calculation window will be opened.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Checking and Setting Rates

• When in the Calculation window, touch , to open the

Currency rates window (by default all values are equal to 1).

Use:

• Ð,Ï to highlight lines

• to specify / change a user currency name (marked ???

at the bottom of list)

• to switch to the Calculation subsection.

• To set the desired currency rate, touch the corresponding line, or

highlight it and touch will appear:

or press . The Set rate screen

• Specify an exchange rate relative to the basic currency (whose

rate should equal 1) and touch rate.

or press to save the

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Touch or press + to clear an incorrect input.

• To move to the next or previous currency in the list and to set

exchange rates for other currencies, use

, or u,t.

• Close the Currency rates window to return to the Calculation

subsection.

Conversion

• Open the Calculation window.

Use:

• Ð,Ï to change the active input box

• , Î to pull out a currency selection menu for the active box

• to change the exchange rate for the currency in the

active box

• to switch to the Currency rates subsection.

• Select a currency name and enter an amount in either box, in

any order. Touch input.

or press + to clear an incorrect

• After you have typed a new amount in one of the boxes, press

to refresh the display. (When a currency name is

changed, the display is refreshed automatically.)

METRIC CONVERSION

With your Partner® X8 you may easily convert measurements from the British-American system into the metric system commonly used in Europe, and vice versa, as well as within each system.

• Select Metric Conversion from the CALCULATIONS section.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Use:

• Ð,Ï to change the active input box

• or Î to pull out a measure name or unit selection menu.

• Select a measure name from the upper menu and enter an

amount in either input box, in any order.

• After you have typed a new amount in one of the boxes, press

to refresh the display. (When a measurement unit is

changed, the display is refreshed automatically.)

• Touch or press + to clear the wrong input.

SIZE EQUIVALENTS

When you travel or shop internationally, refer to this subsection to learn about the correlation between the clothes and shoe size systems used in different parts of the world.

• Open Size Equivalents. The Men’s Shirts option will be opened.

• To switch into Men’s Shoes, Women’s Blouses, or Women’s

Shoes, touch the corresponding button on the Toolbar.

• Scroll right to see more sizes.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

REFERENCE

The REFERENCE section is your information and entertainment center.

• Select the tab from the MAIN MENU to open the

REFERENCE section.

LOCAL AND WORLD TIME

The Local & World Time section of your Partner® X8, besides serving as a local and worldwide time and date reference, is also used to adjust system settings for the current date, time, local time zone, daily alarm, DST, and time announcement.

♦ Note: To check the current date and time on the fly, touch the

button on the Sidebar to display a Time pop-up window and listen to the time announcement (if the Speech option is enabled).

• Select Local & World Time from the REFERENCE section.

Local Time

•

Select Local time from the Time menu.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

The Local Time screen shows: the name of the city and country representing the local time zone and a map of the corresponding continent, the current date and day of the week, and the current time.

• Touch or press to listen to the time announcement (if

the Speech option is enabled).

Local City

Default: New York, USA You may specify a city name for your local time zone in one of three

ways:

• directly from a city list

• through a country name – the alphabetically first city listed for

this country will appear

• typing a new city name – its time zone settings will be based

on the currently displayed city.

Set City

• To display a city selection screen, touch the city name on the

screen or the menu.

button and select Set City from a pop-up

• Find the city name you need by typing it in and/or scrolling the

list, and select it.

Set Country

• To display a country selection screen touch the city name on the

screen or the menu.

button and select Set Country from the pop-up

• Find the country name you need by typing it in and/or scrolling

the list, and then selecting it. The first city listed alphabetically for this country will be used for the setting.

Define City and Country

• From the available list (see Set City above) select any city

located in your time zone.

• Touch to display a user-defined city setup screen.

• Type a new city and country (City,Country) and its time zone will

be automatically set to coincide with that of the pre-selected city.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

♦ Note: Use a comma to delimit the city and country names.

• Touch or press .

Date

Default: 08-01-2003 in the Month-Day-Year format (may be changed to Day-Month-Year in System Setup, see page 93).

• Touch the date value to display the Set Date setup dialog box.

• Touch , or press the number keys to set the day, month, and

year.

• Use Í,Î to select active field.

• Touch or press .

Time

Default: midnight 00:00.

• Touch the time value to display the Set Time setup dialog box.

• Touch , or press the number keys to set the hours and

minutes.

• Use Í,Î to select active field.

• Touch or press .

Daylight Saving Time (DST)

Default: Off.

• Touch to turn DST on. The button will appear indented. Touch

it again to turn DST off.

Or,

• Touch .

• Check the Day-saving time box to turn DST on. Uncheck the box

to turn it off.

• Touch or press to apply the change.

Turning DST on or off sets the time one hour forward or back, respectively.

♦ Note: DST ON or OFF sets for each city separately.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Daily Alarm

Set Alarm Time

Default: midnight 00:00.

• Touch to display the Set Alarm dialog box.

• Set the hours and minutes for the alarm time.

• Use Í,Î to select active field.

• Touch or press to apply the setting.

Turn Alarm On/Off

Default: Off.

• Touch to turn the Daily Alarm on. The button will appear

indented. Touch it again to turn the Daily Alarm off.

Or,

• Touch .

• Check the Alarm box to turn the Daily Alarm on. Uncheck the box

to turn it off.

• Touch or press to apply the change.

If turned on, the Daily Alarm produces an audible intermittent signal at the set time. Press any key or touch the screen to interrupt the Daily Alarm beep (otherwise, the beep will continue for 30 seconds). A Time pop-up window will appear, and the current time will be announced (if the Speech option is turned on).

♦ Note: In case the Daily Alarm and Scheduler Reminder are set

for the same moment of time, the latter will have the priority of operation.

Talking Clock

Default: On.

• Touch to display the Time setup dialog box.

• Uncheck the Speech box to turn the Talking Clock off. Check the

box to turn it back on.

• Touch or press to apply the change.

With the Talking Clock turned on, you will hear the announcement of the displayed time, when you

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• touch or press in the Local Time or the World Time

screen, or

• touch on the Sidebar

• interrupt a Daily Alarm beep to display a Time pop-up

window.

World Time

Using your Partner’s World Time subsection, you may view the international zone times in cities around the globe, along with appropriate map illustrations.

• Select the World time option in the Time menu.

The World Time screen shows: city and country names (default: St. Petersburg, Russia) and a map of the respective continent, the date and day of the week, the time, and the time zone of the displayed city.

• Touch or press to listen to the time announcement in

the displayed city (if the Speech option is enabled).

• To see information for another city:

• next in the alphabetic list – touch or press u

• previous in the alphabetic list – touch or press t

• specific or user-defined – refer to the Local City part of the

Local Time chapter (see page 80) for instructions.

The DST and the Speech settings can be changed on the World Time as well as on the Local Time screen, and affect both subsections. Refer to the related parts of the Local Time chapter for directions.

♦ Note: The time zones (GMT offset) for more than 4,000 cities

can also be looked up in the Telephone Codes section.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

TRAVEL GUIDE

The Partner® X8 Travel Guide will help you find out a few important facts about any country you plan to visit – capital, weather conditions, spoken languages, currency, etc.

• Select Travel Guide from the REFERENCE section.

• To switch between English and Russian, touch .

• To display the information for a country, start entering its name

on the country search screen and/or scroll the list.

• Touch the corresponding line in the list, or make sure the line is

highlighted and press

or .

Use:

• Ð,Ï or the scroll bar if needed to see more text

• to return to the country search screen

• , or t,u to display info for other countries in the

alphabetical order.

For some regions only limited information is available.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

TELEPHONE CODES

The Telephone codes section allows you to get telephone codes for more than 4,000 cities all over the world.

• Select Telephone codes from the REFERENCE section.

• To switch between English and Russian, touch .

• To display the information for a city, start entering its name

and/or scroll the list.

• Touch the corresponding line in the list or make sure the line is

highlighted and press

or touch .

Use:

• to return to the city search screen

• , or t,u to display info for other cities in alphabetical

order.

GAME CENTER

Your Partner® X8 features four fascinating games.

• Select Game Center from the REFERENCE section, or touch

on the Sidebar.

For some cities only limited information is available.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Mastermind

•

Select Mastermind from the Game Center menu.

By entering digits try to guess a 4-digit number.

• Enter a number and press . The result of the try will

appear in the table at left.

sign means that one of the entered digits is present in the

A hidden number, but it is not in its proper position. A that one of the correctly guessed digits is in its proper position.

sign indicates

• Try to find the correct answer using a minimum number of tries.

Use:

• to start a new game

• to change the difficulty level: on the Low level the digits

in a number must be unique, on the High level they may be repeated

• to see the correct answer

• to see a list of the best scores.

Tile5

•

Select Tile5 from the Game Center menu.

• Choose a Single (play against the Computer) or a Two players

(play against a partner) game.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Enter your name(s) and touch or press .

Players take turns putting black and white chips on the intersection points of the game grid. Each player tries to build up an uninterrupted vertical, horizontal, or diagonal row of five chips of his color, simultaneously preventing his opponent from doing the same.

• To make your move, touch an intersection point, or move the

cursor to it with the Í,Î,Ð,Ï keys and press

Use:

• to start a new game

• to change the difficulty level (in Single game only)

• to take back the last move

• to display a hint

• to see a list of the best scores (in Single game only).

Brick Game

Select Brick Game from the Game Center menu.

•

• Select a difficulty level (0 –15) with , or Ð, Ï or from a

pop-up menu available by touching initial combination of bricks.

♦ Note: You can only set the difficulty level before starting a game.

. This will change the

• Press to start a game.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Use Î, Í (shift), Ï (rotate), and Ð (drop) to reposition the

falling blocks, trying to eliminate empty spaces below them. Once a row is filled with bricks, it will disappear from the screen, earning you points.

The next two blocks to fall are shown on the left-hand side.

• Press to toggle the hint area.

• You can change the speed of the falling bricks with the t,u

keys or by moving the scroll box at lower left with the stylus.

After you make 16 rows disappear, the game advances to the next level. When the game ends, you will be prompted to enter your name.

Use:

• to start a new game

• to see a list of the best scores.

Hangman

The Partner® X8 features the learning game Hangman, which improves your spelling skills and enhances your personal vocabulary.

• Select Hangman from the Game Center menu.

• Touch and choose the language for the game (English or

Russian) in the pop-up window.

• Enter letters from the touchpad or keyboard, trying to guess the

word before the picture on the left is complete.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

The used letters are highlighted on the touchpad. Correctly guessed letters appear in place of question marks in their actual positions in the word. The number shows the remaining number of tries.

After the game ends, a translation of the hidden word is shown.

• Close the Main Dictionary window to return to the game.

Use:

• to start a new game

• to change the difficulty level

• to display the answer

• to listen to the pronunciation of the hidden English word

(counts as one try).

ENGLISH NAMES

This indispensable guide to the spelling and pronunciation of English names will spare you confusion in many social situations.

• Select English Names.

• To open a list of male or female names, touch the corresponding

button on the Toolbar.

• To find a desired name, press an alphabetical key on the

keyboard to jump to the first entry that starts with that character and scroll the list.

• Highlight a name and touch or press the key to listen

to its pronunciation.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

PHONE WIZARD

The Phone Wizard helps you to easily learn a phone number by finding a word corresponding to this number. This way of dialing is used with phones having an alphanumeric keyboard.

• Select Phone Wizard from the REFERENCE section.

• Input the phone number and touch or press to

display the possible word matches.

CROSSWORD SOLVER

The Crossword Solver is intended not only to help you quickly solve an English or Russian language crossword, but it is also another of the useful self-tuition aids provided with your Partner and enjoy!

• Select Crossword Solver from the REFERENCE section.

• Set up the desired Number of letters (cannot exceed 25) and

Language.

• Input a word using question mark(s) as substitute(s) for unknown

characters.

X8. Study

• Touch or press to display a list of the words

containing the indicated characters.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Use:

• to get an explanation of the selected English word

• to get an instant translation of the selected word

• and to listen to the pronunciation of an English

word.

USA INTERVIEW

This is the ultimate talking preparation guide to the U.S. citizenship exam. Another feature of this section is the ability to translate or get an explanation of any English word, thus helping a student grasp the broader meaning of the critical words contained in questions and answers.

• Select USA Interview from the Reference section to display the

first question of the first chapter.

• Touch or press Ð to pull down the Chapters menu.

• Select a chapter to open its first question.

• To see the answer to a displayed question, touch . Close the

answer window to return to the question.

♦ Note: No answers are available for some questions; for example,

the names of current government officials.

• To see the Russian version of questions, touch .

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Use:

• , or t, u to move between the questions in the

current chapter

• or to obtain an Instant Reverse Translation of

the highlighted word

• to get an explanation of the highlighted English word

• or to listen to the pronunciation of an English

question or answer text.

SETUP

Personalize your Partner personal records with the options of the SETUP section.

X8 and ensure good upkeep of your

• Select the tab from the MAIN MENU to open the SETUP

section.

INTERFACE LANGUAGE

The default interface language of the Partner® X8 is English.

• Select Interface Language from the SETUP section.

• To select the desired language, touch it with the stylus or use the

Ð,Ï keys and press

All messages will now appear in this language. You may always switch back.

♦ Note: Some reference data is only available in English.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

SYSTEM SETUP

For best results and to ensure that you can fully employ all of the Partner’s diverse features, it is recommended that you thoroughly familiarize yourself with the options of the System Setup section, which will allow you to adjust the device configuration to better suit your needs.

• Select System Setup from the SETUP section.

Key Tone

This feature is designed to produce a short beep every time you press a key on the Partner's keyboard. The key tone is enabled by default.

• Select Key Tone from the System Setup menu to display a setup

prompt.

• To highlight the box next to the desired option, touch it or press

an arrow key.

• To save the setting and return to the System Setup menu, touch

or press .

First Screen

Use this section to specify what will appear on the screen when you turn on your Partner displayed the last time the power was turned off (Resume screen option).

X8: the Main Menu (default) or whatever was

• Select First Screen from the System Setup menu to display a

setup prompt.

• To highlight the box next to the desired option, touch it or press

an arrow key.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Touch or press to save the setting and return to

the System Setup menu.

Auto Shutoff Period

The automatic turnoff has a preset delay of 3 minutes. This feature saves battery life and prevents accidental display damage by shutting the device down after the specified period of inactivity. The adjustable range is from 1 to 15 minutes.

• Select Auto Shutoff from the System Setup menu to display a

setup prompt.

• Touch , or press Í, Î to adjust the Auto Shutoff period in 2

minute increments, or touch the chart bar to change it instantly.

• Touch or press to save the setting and return to

the System Setup menu.

Touch Screen Calibration

To restore proper touch screen functionality, or as part of an initialization procedure, the screen might have to be recalibrated manually.

♦ Note: If, for some reason, the touch-sensitive control fails, use

the Calibration setup screen.

, , and arrow keys to access the Touch Screen

• Select Touch Screen Calibration from the System Setup menu to

display a setup window showing a target image in the upper left corner.

• Touch the target center with the stylus. Repeat the process with

three more targets, which will appear one after another.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• If the calibration was successful, a confirmation message will be

shown and the setup window will close. If the Mismatch! message appears, you will have to repeat the procedure.

Adult Lock

In this subsection you can hide slang words or phrases contained in the dictionaries. For example, you may forbid your children access to slang using this feature. Adult Lock is ON by default.

• Select Adult Lock from the System Setup menu to display a

setup prompt.

• To highlight the box next to the desired option, touch it or press

an arrow key.

• If the OFF option was chosen, enter the showslan password and

press

Speech Level

Shape your own pronunciation by adjusting the speed, frequency, and volume of the built-in speech synthesizer.

• Select Speech Level from the System Setup menu to display a

setup window.

• Touch , or press the Í, Î keys to adjust the Rate,

Frequency, or Volume of speech, or touch any chart bar for an

instant change. Use the Ð,Ï keys to select an active bar.

• Touch or press to check the adjustment while listening

to the phrase This is a test.

• Touch or press to save the settings and return to

the System Setup menu.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Audio Settings

This option enables you to switch the internal speakers on or off and change the microphone input level.

• Select Audio Settings from the System Setup menu to display a

setup window.

• Touch the box next to the desired option to highlight it.

• Check or uncheck the Internal speaker on option to turn the

speaker ON or OFF, respectively.

♦ Note: If you hear no sound, make sure the internal speaker is

ON (it can be turned off by the program).

• To adjust the microphone level to account for the loudness of

your voice, change the value using the number buttons.

• Touch or press to save the settings and return to

the System Setup menu.

Scheduler Alarm

The Scheduler Alarm setting applies to all the records of the Scheduler section: if turned on, which is the default, the Scheduler Alarm goes off at the Date and at the Time of any Scheduler record,

producing an audible beep.

• Select Scheduler Alarm from the System Setup menu to display

a setup prompt.

• To highlight the box next to the desired option, touch it or press

an arrow key.

• Touch or press to save the setting and return to

the System Setup menu.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Date Format

The default American Month-Day-Year date format can be changed to Day-Month-Year. The Week starts on Sunday option allows you to choose the Calendar format.

• Select Date Format from the System Setup menu to display a

setup prompt.

• To highlight the box next to the desired option, touch it or press

an arrow key.

• Touch or press to save the setting and return to

the System Setup menu.

Time Format

The default 24-hour time format can be changed to the 12-hour format.

• Select Time Format from the System Setup menu to display a

setup prompt.

• To highlight the box next to the desired option, touch it or press

an arrow key.

• Touch or press to save the setting and return to

the System Setup menu.

Russian Keyboard Mode

In this subsection you can choose one of the available Russian keyboard modes: Standard or Phonetic.

Russian standard mode allows you to enter Russian letters in accordance with the keyboard marks. Russian phonetic mode allows you to enter Russian letters by their phonetic consonance with English letters, e.g. you can press the F button to enter the Russian letter “Ф” (see page 10).

• Select Russian keyboard mode from the System Setup menu to

display a setup prompt.

• To highlight the box next to the desired option, touch it or press

an arrow key.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

• Touch or press to save the setting and return to

the System Setup menu.

PC-Link Baud Rate

You can specify the data transfer baud rate between your Partner

X8 and a personal computer (see page 67).

• Select PC-Link baud rate from the System Setup menu to display

a setup prompt.

• To highlight the box next to the desired option, touch it or press

an arrow key.

• Touch or press to save the setting and return to

the System Setup menu.

Battery Check

You can check the current condition of the batteries being used in the device at any time.

• Select Battery Check from the System Setup menu to display the

condition of the batteries.

♦ Note: The DC power ON message will be displayed if you are

using an external power supply.

SECURITY

A password can be set up in the system to make it possible for you to protect your personal records and lock up the PC communication function.

With no password set (default) all the functions of the Partner are freely accessible. After a password has been set, the following sections may be locked (manually or automatically) against unauthorized access:

Partner® X8 User's Manual

Supplemental Dictionaries Phone Directory Memo Scheduler Calendar Drawing Board

Voice Memo PC Communication Loan Calculator Account Management Data Deletion

• To gain access to any of these sections in the locked mode, a

valid password must be provided.

• Select the Security option from the SETUP section.

Set Password

• Select Set password from the Security menu.

• Specify a password up to 8 symbols in length. Touch or

press

. Retype the password for confirmation.

• Touch or press to save the password. The

message New password set will appear. Close the message box to return to the Security menu.

Setting or changing a password automatically activates the lock-up mode.

Partner® X8 User's Manual

♦ Note: Always remember your password. If you forget it, you will

have to reset the system, which may cause irrevocable loss of user data.

Security On

If a password is set, the data access is locked:

• Automatically – after a password has been set or changed.

• Automatically – when the device is turned off, if this is the

setting selected in Security level in the Security menu.

• Manually – select Lock device in the Security menu.

If Lock device is selected while no password has been set, the message Password not set will be shown.

Security Off

The Security mode may be suspended by entering a valid password at the prompt, when:

• The Unlock device option in the Security menu is selected.

• Any of the protected sections is opened.

• Touch or press to turn the Security mode off, which

will be confirmed by the Device unlocked message.

If you make a mistake, the Invalid password! message will appear.

Change or Remove Password

• Select Set password from the Security menu.

• Enter the old password. Touch or press .

• Enter a new password and retype it for confirmation. Touch

or press

♦ Note: To delete a password and turn Security off, leave both

password input fields blank and touch

or press . The Password cleared, Device unlocked message will confirm the removal of the password.

Security Level

• Select Security Level from the Security menu.

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Ectaco ER-X8 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual