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Anyone using Nuance's 'Dragon Naturally Speaking' or equivalent?

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barney:
Got the results of some tests - which seemed overly extensive to me  :( - today.  Seems that I'm due for some abstruse carving & bleeding first part of 2011.  Said carving will render my dexterity pretty much absent for some number of months, so I'm looking for alternatives.  (I don't think there is a twelve-step program for the Web, and I prolly wouldn't enroll, anyway.)

Dragon is the only voice control system I've ever used, but that was several years agone, version 2 - 3? 4? - and I was somewhat underwhelmed.  However, some of the latest reviews - not on the vendor's site  :D - indicate that it has improved significantly with version eleven (v.11).

So I'm interested in first person experiences/opinions of that product ... or any alternative product, for that matter.

While I'd like to keep the monetary outlay as low as possible, I'm not too concerned about it if I can get something that works.  I'll likely get a Plantronics Bluetooth headset, as I tend to walk when I talk, so the product will likely affect the headset choice, and I'm open to advice in that arena as well.

This is not, in and of itself, time-critical ... but the sooner it can be resolved, the more time will be available for configuration and practice - reckon I'll need all the time I can get  :-[.

Deozaan:
I have a friend who is dyslexic and not very computer literate (to put it nicely) and she uses and very much likes Dragon Naturally Speaking.

Of course, since I don't use it I can't necessarily recommend it myself. And saying she loves it doesn't necessarily mean it's awesome, either. She just might not know any alternatives exist and may just be happy that she doesn't have to attempt typing anymore. On the other hand, it just might be awesome after all.

So take that for what it's worth.

Good luck with your carving and bleeding.

David1904:
I tried the earlier versions of Dragon 3/4/5 and the time spent making corrections took longer than typing it would have (at about 30-40 wpm).
Convinced that it had to be the way ahead I persisted in getting upgrades to new versions with ongoing disappointment at the amount of money I had spent for the benefit gained.
However I tried again with ver 10 and was impressed with improvements. Now I have got ver 11 (and a Win 7 64 bit computer with 8Gb RAM and an i7 2.8Ghz cpu) and a Plantronics bluetooth headset. Just beginning to work with it but it looks really good. Although - I did have one occasion when it slowed to an abject crawl (like 5-10 seconds before responding to a phrase!) Next time I fired it up the problem had disappeared. Not sure what happened - a web search indicated that folks have experienced that sort of problem from time to time. I'm not sure of the technical issues, you can follow it up here if you like http://www.knowbrainer.com/pubforum/index.cfm?page=viewForumTopic&topicId=10810&pageNo=1#1677A268-C4C4-ECD6-197F4F6FA48B0005thread55159   
The little I have used the headset has been sitting in front of the screen. However I have tried it in an adjacent room and it worked fine, even without a clear line of sight. Twenty meters up the hall and with 5 walls and a shower in between it didn't work at all! For walking around in the same room you should be just fine.
In case you're wondering - no, I didn't use it to dictate this. I don't tend to use it unless I know I am going to be doing a significant amount of typing/dictation and I didn't intend to ramble on as much as I have.
Hope this helps.

cranioscopical:
For me, Dragon began getting seriously better at around v8.
I've used 10 Preferred since it came out and that was the first edition to really facilitate some some serious work. I find it good enough to dictate a >50 page report.
Version 10 is good enough that I'm not sure the upgrade to v11 will be worth the extra cash.
I believe that starting out with v11 would be easy and effective.
The more horsepower your machine has the better: one wants the accuracy turned up to maximum.

And, sorry to learn of your upcoming discomfort. Best wishes for a good recovery!

40hz:
Like Barney, I started out ages ago with something like version 4 and wound up abandoning it.

I got a copy of version 9 (on sale @50%-off) when it first came out and was much more impressed. I guess the hardware finally caught up to what voice recognition required by that time.

I'm currently using version 10 Preferred, and I'm generally happy with it. But like crainioscopical I mostly use it for draft dictation. How well it would work as my primary interface to a PC is anybody's guess since I never had the patience (or necessity, as in your case) to learn how to use it that way. I'm guessing if it's smart enough to get most of what I dictate correctly the first time, it should work quite well.

Some things I learned using the Dragon:

1. Quieter environments are better for it. Dragon is very tolerant of background noise and has noise filtration capabilities. But only up to a point. Continuous "droney" sounds in the vocal frequency range (like my neighbor's bloody leaf blower!) will cause it the most problems. Sporadic, sharp sounds, like fireworks or dog barks, are more easily ignored.

2. This is speaking purely from my own experiences so your milage may vary: Stay as digital as possible. A DSP-type "signal" generated by a USB microphone or headset works a whole lot better than an analogue device put through a soundcard's mic input. Especially if it's the built-in "sound system" found on most PCs.

3. Use one of the recommended input devices whenever possible. They do seem to work better. I use a (now discontinued) Logitech USB headset who's microphone was (allegedly) designed specifically for voice dictation and gaming command use. Not much to say other than it works better than anything else I've ever tried.

4. Read the instructions, do the complete setup, and do all the tutorials. Contrary to what some people say, Dragon requires training. Both of you and it. Dragon's marketing tends to downplay this for obvious reasons. They get away with it because Dragon is 80-85% accurate (for most people) right out of the box. This leads to a false sense of security. Don't fall for it! To get the most out of this product you need to put some (not a huge amount, but still some) effort into getting it working up to its full capabilities. Most everyone I know who gave up on voice dictation software did so because they got impatient and never bothered to train their app - or learn how to use it correctly .

5. Try to speak "naturally" in a clear voice. I discovered that any time I tried to "help things along" by altering my voice, my speaking cadence, or by slowing way down, it only caused the app to become more confused. So speak naturally and avoid adopting a 'staccato' speaking style. The Dragon really seems to hate it when you do a lot of 'choppy talk'. (One side benefit is that you'll discover you're soon speaking more slowly and clearly - and with better diction - if you use Dragon regularly. Almost like having a voice coach!)

6. Being real-time and software based, The Dragon likes it's resources. A fast CPU, plenty of RAM, and a "clean" OS setup works wonders for its recognition accuracy.

And that's my :two: for Dragon Preferred.   :)

---

P.S. Alexis and I hope for all the best with your upcoming ordeal. Our prayers and best wishes follow you.

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