Franklin Merriam -Webster Dictionary & Thesaurus, downloadable Content

My husband had this dictionary a long time ago and wore it out. The replacement I bought for him never worked as well as the other one and always complained. I looked on Line and was Very happy I could get the original through Amazon. It answers many of the crossword clues he needs so much better and I am so happy about that 5 stars is perfect.

I'm allways searching for a better word when replying to post on FB, however, the face word display is so small it makes this tool miserable for this grumpy old man to use, and for $100 I will try to return.

I purchased this little unit years ago and still keep it by my bed. Yes, I have other electronic devices that I could use, but still like this best. Purchased the Encyclopedia card and use it and the dictionary capabilities frequently while reading in bed. My husband has a Nook, and still asks me to look up things for him when he's reading.

I love all my products.

best tool for my college years

I bought this for my girlfriend, who wanted an electronic dictionary to use while reading books or doing crosswords.Overall, we're rather disappointed, to the extent that we're going to return it and get a different model. The specifications claim it is the "Merriam Webster Dictionary", but it lacks definitions of many words. Some of the definitions are laconic, one-liners, where a little more explanation would be nice. I think it's rather dishonest to portray this as the Merriam Webster dictionary when it lacks so many words that are in the real one. For example, while doing a crossword we looked up "Quilter" in the online dictionary - not found, but it _is_ in the real M-W.Another big issue - anything that's vaguely slang-like or potentially offensive has been scrubbed from the dictionary. This might be good if you wanted to offer it as a gift to a child (though, there is already a children's version for that), but it's rather condescending for adult users. Slang and swear words are an important part of the language, and to suppress them from a dictionary makes it that much less useful, not to mention the Orwellian overtones. (I believe the manufacturer, Franklin, has some connection with Christianity - they seem to offer a lot of Bible add-ons for their products and also sell Bibles - which may explain the "censorship".)I didn't have it for long enough to confirm or deny what others say about the poor battery life.Pros: screen is easy to read. Interface is clean and simple to use. Neat plastic cover to protect the front.Cons: many missing words - swear words and slang. Short, terse definitions. Few options for configuring the unit.

I had one before.... it was dying after years of use... did not want the new stuff that is out there, I liked this model. When it dies I will look for another.

If I had seen this at a flea market, I would have immediately put it back down. Was so worn and dirty that I sent it back.