Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and Franklin Thesaurus Card

One of the best features in the “Palm Tungsten T5″:http://www.palm.com/us/products/handhelds/tungsten-t5/ handheld is its memory slot. So far, I haven’t had a reason to use it for expandable memory cards, but one of the first accessories I purchased after acquiring my T5 was the “Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and Franklin Thesaurus Card”:http://store.palm.com/sm-merriam-websters-collegiate-dictionary-eleventh-edition-expansion-card–pi-1392481.html. I had plans to write on the go, since the T5 has MS Word built right in. I had the wireless keyboard and the ability to compose stories whenever, wherever. And an author should never be too far from his dictionary and thesaurus.

Fortunately, there was this handy-dandy expansion card with an entire reference set available, so I bought it first chance I got. And I’ve never been sorry that I did. Last night, as I was putting the finishing touches on my story, I probably had my T5 turned on continuously for the better part of an hour, searching through the thesaurus for just the right word to add that much-needed flair to a sentence, switching to the dictionary when I needed to verify that the word I liked did, indeed, mean the same thing as the one I wanted to replace.

I use this expansion card so much, in fact, that it never leaves the slot in my Palm. I do have a little plastic storage container for it, but since I never remove the card, the container stores only dust.

Probably the thing I love most about this card, is the intergration of the dictionary with the thesaurus. If there is a word that just sounds like it would perfect for what I need, yet I’m not quite sure what the exact definition is, all I have to do is tap it with the stylus to bring up the option to get a definition, which, when selected, loads in a ‘pop-up’ screen for quick reference. No cumbersome switching to the dictionary to look the word up. Just tap-tap and there’s the definition of the word. Another quick tap when you’re done, and it’s right back to your place in the thesaurus. I just wish the thesaurus was so smoothly integrated into the dictionary.

The dictionary and thesaurus are the writer’s best friends, moreso now that they have gone digital.