Customer Reviews

Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary on CD-ROM

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

It is certainly totally different from the paper version and looks just like any other electronic dictionary. I found it useful but the interface is quite elementary and could be much better for that price.

This dictionary does not live up to its advertisement. The instructions on how to use its advertised features are next to non-existent. When I finally figured it out for myself by cut-and-try, I wondered whether it had been worth the effort. Sorry!