Dragon Naturally Speaking

From: Ed Chait (edchait4remove_at_earthlink.net)
Date: 01/20/05 

Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2005 03:04:47 -0800

Ok, I received the program (7.0 Preferred) a couple of days ago, and have
been working with it, so thought I would post my experience thus far, which
has been quite positive.

I paid a total of $29.93 including shipping, for just the sealed CD with
activation code.

I installed it and I think it automatically upgraded itself to version 7.3
during the install, as I was connected to the internet. There was no
indication that it was doing so, but when the install was complete, I had
version 7.3.

I set my hardware up with no problems, although my audio quality was
described as unacceptable with the cheap Labtec headset I am currently
using. I did the voice training and also had the program scan some reports
in order to add to the vocabulary.

Version 7.3 Preferred can scan Word documents in .doc format just fine.
There is no need to convert them to text format.

I've used the program to transcribe several reports now and my impression is
very favorable. Even with my cheap headset I am getting very acceptable
accuracy and performance. I'm using a combination of voice and word
expander, because for some things I find the word expander faster and
easier.

I think my voice has something to do with my success thus far. I sort of
naturally have a newscaster voice, and people who are hard of hearing don't
have too much trouble hearing me. Several people have mentioned to me that
I sound like Tom Selleck (although nobody has thus far mentioned any
physical resemblance) so that probably is a factor in how well the program
is working for me.

In any case, I am totally satisfied with Dragon. I think that if you work
with just one or two specialties, this version of the program is very
viable. And if you are prepared to so some more extensive training, I think
it is viable for anyone. I just ordered an Andrea NC-750 microphone, so
that should improve the accuracy even further.

The best part is finishing my work and not having achy hands.

More to follow as I gain more experience.

ed

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