WordBook has opened up a treasure trove of some 135.000 words and definitions on my PDA in a way that no other dictionary has.

It’s fast, up-to date (check screenshot #2!) and extensive.

But best of all: it’s accessible from all programs and documents! 

My 3970 is chockers with dictionaries.

Encarta is one of them. Lexionary is another good one.

I have some in TomeRaider format which are free but I’d rather pay US$18 and free up some megabytes elsewhere to make room for this beauty.

WordBook comes with WordPicker, which lets you use WordBook when reading documents. It’s the icon that looks like a suction syringe or dropper, supposedly to “suck” up the ink of a word you’ve selected. Using this “sucker” on a selection will give you instant access to the definitions in WordBook. Often these definitions come with their own examples too so that we can be in no doubt what a word means. Or how it is pronounced.

The WordPicker (ever noticed how words these days are conjoined at the hips so to speak? It’s so acceptable now that I didn’t think twice to name my site PocketPCReviews – one word), anyway, this WordPicker can be positioned anywhere you like on a screen just by dragging the icon. It’ll be there for all the programs you open. Very handy indeed.

What I also like is the fact you can use ClearType for easy reading.

There is a History list of words you recently used and a Bookmarks list. Handy for building your own vocabulary.

I’m pleasantly surprised, given the 11 MB database, that the program is so fast.

There are no “gotchas” or snags in installing or using the program. It’s very easy to use.

If I were to give a suggestion for improvement I would have tooltips to explain some of the more esoteric icons. Took me a while to figure out that the icon of a yellow sliver of moon puts the program to bed (hibernation mode) so that you’re back with the document you were reading.

On the subject of icons: perhaps an icon that takes you direct to the pronunciation guide for the phonetic spelling might be useful. Having done my university training in the U.S. made me familiar with the way AHD phonetic spelling works but I can imagine that for others it’s a foreign language… Currently, you’ll have to browse the Manual to find the key to the pronunciation guide.

The dictionary set is taken mainly from Princeton WordNet and some other sources. It’s very gratifying to see that a couple of part-time programmers (one in Chicago and one in Vietnam) can develop such an eminently practical program which just about every PDA user could use on a daily basis.

Pro: extremely useful dictionary

Con: none whatsoever but it’s a BIG program (11MB)

VfM (Value for Money): sure you can get free dictionaries but US$18 buys the best.

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