I want to build a "portable electronic acronym database device".  What
does this mean?  I want to build a device about the size of those
cheap $10 PDAs that store addresses, phone numbers, calendar
information (not the Palm Pilots; the cheaper no-name brand ones that
are usually stocking stuffers).

What does this device suppose to do?  I would imagine that I would
have this database of say 100K acronyms I want to be able to search
for.  I would like to have that data permanently stored on a chip (in
other words I am not concerned about being able to add data on this
device).  I would like to flip open this acronym database and be able
to enter an acronym and have this simple little device return "no
entries"  or the 1 or more matches it found; possibly being able to
scroll between multiple matches.  That's all I want to do.

When I say, "build", I am assuming there's some hardware out there
with some type of general purpose processor that I can write code for
and have it do all the heavy lifting.  I am looking for suggestions of
ways to go about doing this.  I am looking for companies that might
sell a cheap small programmable device that will allow me to build my
own "electronic dictionary/acronym database"

Hey maybe i can talk to some chinese manufacturers, if u gimme the
exact requirements. Considering , you will eventually want them in the
market.

Regards
ShowMeTheMoney