Rayner Lucas wrote:

I would like to own the Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary,
since I sadly have neither the budget nor the shelf space for the full
twenty-volume edition. I've already decided to get a good second-hand copy
of the second edition.

Fair enough, but - just out of interest - why have you decided that? Compact
editions are quite fiddly to use and they don't include the 3 supplementary
volumes and other ancillary material found on the CD-ROM. I can see the
attraction of printed pages, but in my case I went for the two-volume
Shorter Oxford, which covers most everyday needs, with a stroll to the
faculty office or the library on the few occasions when I need more detailed
information.

If I were to buy the complete dictionary I'd go for the CD-ROM, which is
just $219 from Amazon (http://tinyurl.com/rw7o), considerably cheaper than
the price on the official OED website (http://oed.com/services/cd-rom/).
Space considerations argue against a private individual buying the complete
set plus supplements, and a yearly subscription to the online version would
cost more than the CD-ROM. And there's so much you can do with a
computerised system that just isn't possible in print (like wildcard
searches, for example). For a full account of the CD=ROM version's buttons,
bells and gizmos, see http://www.oup.co.uk/ep/prodsupp/ref/oed2v3/#Q10.

Still, if you are set on the Compact, the best price range seems to be on
Amazon (http://tinyurl.com/rw1q), with "Used from $109.95, New from $270.00,
Collectible from $585.00". If you find better, let us know!

Finally, should I be waiting for the third edition to appear? I haven't
been able to find an estimated date for its publication on the OED
website,
which I assume means that it's not going to happen in the next few years.

If you are interested in completeness that would seem to me to be yet
another reason for getting the CD-ROM, since it has all the latest
incremental additions. I don't want to argue against printed books - I love
'em! - but when you factor in all the advantages and disadvantages I'd have
thought that in this case CD-ROM was the more practical option, with - for
my money - the Shorter Oxford for handy reference.

--
John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com