Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary on CD-ROM [Audiobook] [CD-ROM]

Random House (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 13, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0375720235 | ISBN-13: 978-0375720239 | Edition: Cdr

Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary on CD-ROM has been newly revised and updated and works with all of the current Windows platforms, including Windows 2000 and XP. Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary is the most definitive single-volume reference of the English language. It offers extensive and authoritative coverage of more than 315,000 words. The CD-ROM contains the entire dictionary, includes more than 2,400 illustrations and 120,000 recorded pronunciations, and is available at a new low price.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary on CD-ROM has been newly revised and updated and works with all of the current Windows platforms, including Windows 2000 and XP. Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary is the most definitive single-volume reference of the English language. It offers extensive and authoritative coverage of more than 315,000 words. The CD-ROM contains the entire dictionary, includes more than 2,400 illustrations and 120,000 recorded pronunciations, and is available at a new low price.

Product Details

• CD-ROM
• Publisher: Random House Reference; Cdr edition (May 13, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375720235
• ISBN-13: 978-0375720239
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.8 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,146,754 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice Dictionary, lousy software, November 2, 2004

By 

B. Hoogerbrugge "hapybrian" (Sunny CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary on CD-ROM (CD-ROM)

I can't believe how bad the user interface is for this

product, and even though I bought it to replace a nearly

10 year old "Talking American Heritage Dictionary", I'm

likely going to stick with the old one!

The "About" information reveals what's going on here--the

copyrights are for 1999, and there are even notices about

"for 16 bit Windows"; we're talking pretty ancient software.

The dictionary itself is pretty standard; there are plenty

of entries, and a nice layout. There is good use of bold,

color, and italics, which makes for easier reading. The

dictionary guesses when you type most of the word you are

looking for. You can hit "Enter" without finishing the typing,

and the word appears.

It didn't handle misspellings well. I tried to look up

"mnemonic" by entering, "mnumonic". The dictionary responds

with "M. Nurs", and offers no suggestions. The AHD, on the

other hand, suggested I try "mnemonic" (which is the correct

word), when I entered the same thing.

The dictionary sometimes adds words you look up into a history.

Sometimes it doesn't. I have yet to figure out when it decides

to add, and when not.

The buttons are not organized well, and the shortcuts actually

conflict with the menus. I tried to exit by hitting ALT-F,X

(standard Window's UI), and instead brought up a filtering

window. Strangely, only filter and Prefs have a keyboard

shortcut--the other 7 buttons have none.

There is no click to find a word! This is terrible. I looked

up "PC", and it says "See Personal Computer". Why can't I click

on "Personal Computer"? I have to type it all out (yes, you can

copy/paste). There is no excuse for this in a software

dictionary.

Mouse scrolling does not work, nor does drag-scrolling (you don't

get realtime movement by dragging the scrollbar.). You either

have to move line by line, or move the scrollbar, let go, and

hope you've gone the distance you wanted.

If you just want to read definitions on your PC, this dictionary

will work. But the American Heritage is just as cheap, and works

much better.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Dictionary, but the 2003 edition is actually 1999, May 21, 2003

By 

S. Stamatov (Novi, Mi United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary on CD-ROM (CD-ROM)

Random House WUA is a fine dictionary - no question about it. The touted 2003 release is actually the now four year old 1999 edition. One click at Help->About is enough. Even file dates are from 1999. It was probably tested for Win XP/2000 compatibility and then re-released.
Still - the best Unabridged Speaking computer dictionary I know.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is only a re-issue of the old 1999 version., May 30, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary on CD-ROM (CD-ROM)

The contents of this dictionary is superb. But the software is only a reissue of the old version. No user interface has been changed or improved. It does not even recognize a mouse's wheel button!