How do you like your iTRAVL Communicator? Opinions please..

For those of you who purchased an iTRAVL talking 2-way Communicator, how do you like the device? Is it what you expected? What are the highlights and limitations of the device?
I am really looking for opinions from iTRAVL users (not Etaco staff).
I am especially interested in Chinese.
Can you describe how the speech recognition and and audible translation facilitate a conversation?
From the description, I imagine that I can say an English phrase into the microphone to a Chinese person and the device will play back the translating on Mandarin. Then the other person will respond into the microphone in Mandarin and the device will play back what they said in english. Almost like an interpreter.
How far off am I? How would the above situation actually play out using the device?

I haven't used my iTRAVL to hold a conversation in Chinese yet but I will soon. I am going to Beijing next week for the Olympics and I am looking forward to trying it out.

I have the deluxe NTL-9C model and I used it recently on a trip I took with students to Italy, France and Germany and I was able to have real conversations with people using it. We stopped in France first and I was amazed - especially by the handheld scanning and translation function. I don't read French very well and so being able to translate parts of the newspaper and especially the 'fine print' on our train tickets saved us literally thousands of dollars.

In Germany and Italy the iTRAVL saved the day countless times and, without a doubt, I was the most popular guy on the trip.

By the end of that two week trip I knew that I had made a great investment even if I never used it again! But since coming home I have begin using the Language Teacher to improve my French and start learning German. Italian will have to wait for my return from Asia, where I am sure both me and my iTRAVL will be just as popular as we were in Europe.

I'll let you know how it goes!

I will also be going to China, but probably after the Olympics. The visa rules are really strict now.
Will the optical pen attachment read Chinese characters? That would be very useful.