Dragon Naturally Speaking 11.5?

[Skink]

I am wondering if there are any users of this in Sheffield? And if so what do people think?

 

My typing standard is not great (two fingers while looking at the keyboard and plenty of typos) I have tried these software typing tutors but maybe dont have the discipline/time to stick to them as they have done very little to improve things

 

Much of my work is PC based and I easily spend a couple of hours or more every day writing stuff and answering/sending email

 

Tried the the programme on Windows but it really isnt very good (even with plenty of training) and Sphinx is jusrt too complicated to set up. Know nothing about Tazti really so Dragon seems to be about the only programme of any merit, but it is fairly pricey too

 

Any views or comments?

[L00b]

I have been using Dragon for well over 7 years, though I'm still on v.9 (...I think).

 

As voice-to-text apps go (I have tried many over the years, going all the way back to IBM's first ViaVoice), I have certainly found it to be the best around, by a country mile.

[Skink]

thanks L00b - from what I have read it seems people either get on fairly well with it or they really dont. A fair few user reviews also grumble about resource hogging and glitches but the Pro reviews tend to be more positive. Since my machine is reasonably fast I am hoping that wont be an issue

[L00b]

thanks L00b - from what I have read it seems people either get on fairly well with it or they really dont. A fair few user reviews also grumble about resource hogging and glitches but the Pro reviews tend to be more positive. Since my machine is reasonably fast I am hoping that wont be an issue

It is resources-hungry, but then again the extent of the issue will really depend on your PC specs.

 

For what it's worth, the PC I've had the longest run of it on (for nearly 3 years), was a DELL laptop. Model D600, Centrino 1.6, 512 RAM, 40GB HDD. Positively steam-powered by current standards, but it ran well enough on that - with MS Word (2003) and nothing besides, that is.

 

I now run it on my desktop (AMD Phenom triple core, 4GB DDR3, Win7 64) and it just flies along. Unsurprisingly.

 

The most grumbles I've heard/seen about it, have all been down to (IMHO) insufficient training and/or poor configuration. You'd be surprised how dramatic a performance increase you can get with a good quality microphone (compared to a run-of-mill, just-about-webcam-grade one), rather than trimming running Windows services

 

I've only ever used it to translate technico-legal documents "on the fly" (English>French, French>English) with highly specialised vocabulary, expressions, turn-of-phrase, etc. and the training only really started to pay off after a good 6 months of weekly use (about 4 to 6 hours per week on average). Ever since, though, it's just been getting better and better. I hardly ever need to edit/correct these days.

[Norbert]

I think it <scratch that> takes some getting <scratch that> used too <scratch that> <fullstop>

[Skink]

well I decided this was one purchase where reviews werent going help the buying decision, so I got a copy of Premium ordered. To be fair I have only been playing a little while - some things are uncanny, others annoying

 

Getting straightforward text out of my mouth and onto the screen is pretty good straight out of the box (with some basic training). So, happy so far as that is my primary need. Next step is to try some more challenging technical dictations

 

Controlling applications and the PC as whole is proving more challenging and I am not sure how to get better at it right now. "Open Word" invariably opens Wordpad, "Open Excel" sometimes opens Excel but mostly opens Firefox. I can see how Dragon will learn about my dictation and get better, but how do I teach it to get other stuff right?

[L00b]

Controlling applications and the PC as whole is proving more challenging <...> how do I teach it to get other stuff right?

I haven't ever used it in that capacity (to 'remote control' the PC and its apps), so cannot offer any words of wisdom I'm afraid.

 

It would still be faster to use keyboard shortcuts (or, in Windows 7, the 1-click 'pinned' shortcuts in the bottom bar) anyway

[Elphi 24]

I use it regularly. It does take some setting up and initial training for it to recognise your voice but now its set up its great. I use it for a variety of purposes and often need to flick between different applications.

 

I think the biggest challenge is learning how to think through sentence structure before starting to dictate.

[L00b]

I think the biggest challenge is learning how to think through sentence structure before starting to dictate.

A very good point, Elphi.

 

I have been doing that (think sentences through befoere speaking) professionally for well over 10 years now (dictating on micro-tapes for audio-typists), so it was pretty much second-nature to me already when I first started using Dragon NS.

 

Thinking about it now, on the back of your comment, it must be quite a task for people not used to dictate

[Rich]

I've tried various free speech to text softwares, they're great fun, and most of them can even translate my broad Yorkshire accent.

 

Trouble is, most of the good ones are stupidly expensive