FIGURE B


An example definition and synonyms Roll over picture for a larger image.

Actually using the Oxford American Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus is quite simple. You can either scroll up and down the list of words using your stylus or the scroll buttons on your device, or you can enter in a specific word using the Graffiti area of the device or the onscreen keyboard. You may not have to enter the entire word, either, as the list view is constantly updated with appropriate matches. This can save a significant amount of time. Another time-saver is the hyperlinking that you'll find in the word entries. Look up "loan" for example, and you'll find that the synonyms at the bottom are blue and underlined in much the same way as in a typical Web browser. Tap on any of those words and you'll be taken directly to that entry in the program so that you can see the pronunciation, definition, and additional synonyms.

I found the application to be quite complete and a valuable reference. The Oxford American Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus has over 100,000 entries and definitions, plus more than 175,000 synonyms. It's perfect for students, journalists, business professionals, and anyone else who needs quick access to an English language reference. It's hard to go back to that heavy printed dictionary on the bookshelf once you've used this handy program from Handmark. It's available now for $29.95 from the Handmark website at http://www.handmark.com.

OUR RATING: 4 of 5

Heather Wardell received her first Palm handheld in 1997 (from a boss who couldn't get the hang of Graffiti) and has never looked back. She worked in banking as a systems analyst for four years, and then moved into elementary education, teaching computers at a private elementary school for four years. Heather is now a full-time women's fiction writer, and her first novel, "Life, Love, and a Polar Bear Tattoo" is available for free download through her Web site at http://www.heatherwardell.com.