BARRONS, which version to buy 14th or 15th

[KingTuT]

Dear All,
Which version of barrons should I buy 14th or 15th, there is another version with CD ROM? Anybody knows the diffrence and which one do u all recommend me to go for???

Your advice is highly appreciated.

[Illusionz]

I threw Barron's away in sheer disgust after using it for a couple of weeks IMO both editions are equally hopeless because :

a) The words are given in an alphabetical fashion making it very difficult to study and memorize meanings
b) Multiple meanings of words (esp. the ones which change completely with the part of speech) are not given.
c) The contextual examples (sentences) for many words are not really very good.


FWIW there's a software that seems to have most of the Barron's words. You can download a trial version here....I found it extraordinarily useful...not that it addresses the above issues but makes learning words easier