Quote:
Originally Posted by Greenhat
What is the quality of the free ENGLISH dictionaries?? are they easy and smart to use? concise or huge?
Do you have to leave the book application just to look up for one word or not?
thanks
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Quality: It varies. Copies of the commercials dictionaries (Longman, Oxford, Merriam-Webster's, etc.) are very good in quality (especially after a bit of tweaking). The only legally obtainable English dictionary (as far as I know) is the 1913 Webster's Unabridged. It has about 100k words, doesn't have contemporary words and (I hear) often the spelling is archaic.
Size: This is of course according to the dictionary, for example the Longman has 230k words.
Ease: .dic dictionaries work from inside the book application and you can look up a word with a few button pushes: open the menu -> choose dictionary application -> navigate to the right word on the page. I like it a lot (taking account the other good qualities of the PB360).
Other readers perhaps have superior functionality if a dictionary is of the greatest importance to you: on the Sony touchscreen readers you can lookup a word by tapping it (certainly less work than on the Pocketbook). And they come with a Oxford dictionary. I hear the kindle also has good quality dictionaries. However, with them you can't choose the dictionary by preference, you are stuck with the manuafacturer's choice.