Franklin MWD-1440 Dictionary and Thesaurus with Bookman II

Franklin MWD-1440 Dictionary and Thesaurus with Bookman II Review

Franklin MWD-1440 Dictionary and Thesaurus with Bookman II Feature

• Dictionary with 100,000 words
• Thesaurus with links to 500,000 words
• Permits phonetic spelling
• Fun games, calculator, metric/currency converter
• Supports Bookman II book-card system

Why pull heavy books off the shelf when you can consult your lightweight, portable Franklin MWD-1440 dictionary and thesaurus? It easily fits into your pocket and includes games and spelling correction, too.

The MWD-1440, an electronic version of a Merriam-Webster dictionary and thesaurus, is easy to set up and learn. Just insert two coin-cell batteries (included) to get the unit running. Operating the MWD-1440 is intuitive, but Franklin has also included a manual in English and Spanish, as well as condensed instructions that appear on the inside of the unit's protective cover.

To look up a word, turn on the unit, type the word, and press Enter. For example, when we evaluated the MWD-1440, we looked up "iconoclast," and the unit displayed two complete definitions along with the word's Middle Latin and Middle Greek etymology. We pressed the Up and Down arrow keys to scroll through the information. For a list of synonyms, we pressed the Thes button, and the unit displayed six synonyms for the first definition and four synonyms for the second definition. While the unit is simple to operate, typing is difficult because of the tiny keys.

In addition to dictionary and thesaurus functions, the unit has a crossword-puzzle solver, a calculator, and a metric/currency converter. There's also a searchable list of SAT words for those studying for the college boards. The Confusables feature marks words that are commonly confused with each other (for example: their, they're, and there) and clarifies them. The Learnables feature includes flashcards that display words and allow you to guess the definitions; you can press Enter to see if your answer is correct. The unit also contains nine games: Hangman, Anagrams, Word Train, Word Builder, Jumble, Link Four, Link Four (for two players), Tic Tac Toe (for one player), and Tic Tac Toe (for two players).

With its low price, expandability, and portability, the Franklin MWD-1440 makes a fine pocket-sized dictionary and thesaurus. --Mike Brown

Pros:

• Easy to set up and learn
• Includes games and other extras

Cons:

• Keys are small
• Limited viewing area

Over 100,000 definitions with large 5-line display, includes BOOKMAN card slot, Confusables, Classmates and Learnables features; SAT word list, 5 word games, calculator, and metric and currency converter.