Customer Rating: 
Summary: Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred Version 8 Might do it!
Comment: I read all the horror stories about Dragon Naturally Speaking version 7, and was reluctant to purchase the product. I also read reviews about IBM ViaVoice, and was reluctant to purchase that one as well. I subsequently decided to get Dragon Naturally Speaking version 7 based purely on features available. However, my local retailer was out of the product and informed me that version 8 was soon to be released.
I bit the bullet last night and purchased Naturally Speaking Preferred version 8, and hoped that I would not have the same problems that many of the previous reviewers had with version 7.
I opened the package, put in the CD-ROM and proceeded with the install wizard. My first attempt was a relative disaster, giving an error number 1335, explaining that there was a cab file that could not be found because: either there was a network error; or an error reading from the CD-ROM; or that there was actually a problem with the package from the vendor. I searched the CD-ROM and could not find the cab file that had been mentioned in the error message. So, I tried the installation one more time. This time it worked. My next step was to plug in the microphone and headset that came with the package. I went through the initial training of the microphone and setting sound levels, and got an indication that while the levels were not very good, they were understandable.
My next trials and tribulations occurred when I was actually trying to train the program for my voice. This is when my computer started freezing and I had to keep on rebooting the computer. And then I had a brainstorm! I decided to plug the microphone into the back of the computer rather than to the microphone jack on the front of my computer. Ever since I did that, the program has been working wonderfully!
The program is doing a fairly decent job of recognizing my voice after only 30 minutes of training. I did take the time to go through the 14 slide tutorial, and that may have given the program more opportunity to recognize my speech patterns. I have used it in Word Dragon Pad with success. I have had several problems with Internet Explorer since installing the program. I cannot confirm that these problems are because of Naturally Speaking since these problems were beginning after I installed service pack 2.
I will caution you to either put your microphone to sleep or to turn it off when the telephone rings. I forgot to do this and had a very interesting insertion in the file I was working on at the time. Nothing like humor to lighten your day!
I'm using voice recognition to create this review. Because I am new at this, I did correct errors made in voice-recognition. It was easy to do while I was dictating. Doing so gave me practice in learning how this program works, and in the voice commands available for correcting.
I'm running Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred version 8 on a Dell XPS (Pentium 4, 3Ghz, one gig of RAM), using Windows XP home for my operating system. I had previously installed Service Pack two. For now I'm using the microphone that came with the package and do not think I am experiencing adverse results.
When I initially had the installation problems, I did visit ScanSoft web site's technical support. As previous reviewers have noted, there is zilch for technical support. Fortunately, by plugging the microphone into the rear of the computer, I no longer have the computer-freeze problem; so I am not in a position where I need technical support. Let's hope I never actually DO need tech support.
With my limited one day's experience, I will give this product 4 stars, and will return at a later date to give an update on his review.
If you are considering this product, I do say go cautiously, and heed the previous reviews which have been rated as useful by most readers of the reviews. They all have good and bad things to say about the product, and help with the overall decision-making process.
But, maybe this Version 8 has fixed some of the major bugs. Keeping my fingers crossed (and hopefully my tongue NOT tied!).
Customer Rating:
Summary: I think they've got it!
Comment: I edited this review in an attempt to make it more helpful on 9/07. I've now used this same version for almost 3 years.
I have used DNS since v.4 and this is the only version that has met my expectation - that I should be able to talk and the software will be mostly accurate when turning my speech into text! I have found no need to upgrade to more recent versions.
This version makes it much easier to correct and add new words.
While you can use a headset with microphone (one with the specs that will work with DNS), I choose to use a dictation device, the Sony ICD-BM1 digital recorder. I dictate into the recorder then hook it up to my laptop via USB and it translates into text. To my knowledge, this is one of the only affordable software still out there that will do this well.
This version still requires that you train it by the tedious process of reading long stories as found in prior versions. It does not easily train without doing this process.
I would like this version to have multiple custom vocabularies. I would use one vocabulary for research, one for my profession, and another for personal use.
Still a great product overall.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Superb Product That Requires Patience
Comment: I have been using Dragon NaturallySpeaking 74 approximately a year now at work and at home. I have carpal and cubital tunnel syndrome is; therefore, I need a product to help me. I do a great deal of writing.
I am dictating his review into Microsoft Word and will not make any corrections to it. You will then get an idea of its accuracy.
The program works rather well. However, it does make a fair number of the patient mistakes, which requires a lot of time-consuming editing. Nonetheless, I cannot work or surf the Web without this program. If you have some sort of disability, it is a lifesaver.
The program is rather resource-intensive. I used and him 4 computers with 2.2 and 2.6GHz; each has 512 megabytes RAM.
["I used and him 4" should read "I use Pentium 4".]
My system will often go slow when I am doing a great deal of dictating and making many corrections. The program learns your voice the more you use it; therefore, it keeps corrections in its memory so that it will not make the same mistake later.
I highly recommend this program for anyone who physically has a hard time using the keyboard and mouse. I suspect that everybody will be using voice recognition software in 3-5 years as the technology advances. I have used several versions of NaturallySpeaking and they continue to improve.
Customer Rating:
Summary: It's fun
Comment: I just got it today, I'm having fun, learning how to use this. I can't help but laugh when it makes mistakes, but I will keep trying to get teach it to be more accurate.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Get ready to pay more later
Comment: Dont expect any help from Scan Soft if you have any problems with this program. This is a huge and buggy program that will conflict with a bunch of different software since it has to integrate itself into anyh program that accepts text entry. Scan soft limits tech support to one phone call, $19.95 per call after that, even if your issue is ongoing. I was told to uninstall and reinstall (how creative) and on the reinstall found that the CD was corrupt. Replacement CD's are only $25 + $5 S/H. How nice.
Scan Soft will not back up their products, and probably make more money on tech support and replacement for buggy and defective products.
Looks good on the description, but good luck if you are not up and running right out of the box.
Summary: Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred Version 8 Might do it!
Comment: I read all the horror stories about Dragon Naturally Speaking version 7, and was reluctant to purchase the product. I also read reviews about IBM ViaVoice, and was reluctant to purchase that one as well. I subsequently decided to get Dragon Naturally Speaking version 7 based purely on features available. However, my local retailer was out of the product and informed me that version 8 was soon to be released.
I bit the bullet last night and purchased Naturally Speaking Preferred version 8, and hoped that I would not have the same problems that many of the previous reviewers had with version 7.
I opened the package, put in the CD-ROM and proceeded with the install wizard. My first attempt was a relative disaster, giving an error number 1335, explaining that there was a cab file that could not be found because: either there was a network error; or an error reading from the CD-ROM; or that there was actually a problem with the package from the vendor. I searched the CD-ROM and could not find the cab file that had been mentioned in the error message. So, I tried the installation one more time. This time it worked. My next step was to plug in the microphone and headset that came with the package. I went through the initial training of the microphone and setting sound levels, and got an indication that while the levels were not very good, they were understandable.
My next trials and tribulations occurred when I was actually trying to train the program for my voice. This is when my computer started freezing and I had to keep on rebooting the computer. And then I had a brainstorm! I decided to plug the microphone into the back of the computer rather than to the microphone jack on the front of my computer. Ever since I did that, the program has been working wonderfully!
The program is doing a fairly decent job of recognizing my voice after only 30 minutes of training. I did take the time to go through the 14 slide tutorial, and that may have given the program more opportunity to recognize my speech patterns. I have used it in Word Dragon Pad with success. I have had several problems with Internet Explorer since installing the program. I cannot confirm that these problems are because of Naturally Speaking since these problems were beginning after I installed service pack 2.
I will caution you to either put your microphone to sleep or to turn it off when the telephone rings. I forgot to do this and had a very interesting insertion in the file I was working on at the time. Nothing like humor to lighten your day!
I'm using voice recognition to create this review. Because I am new at this, I did correct errors made in voice-recognition. It was easy to do while I was dictating. Doing so gave me practice in learning how this program works, and in the voice commands available for correcting.
I'm running Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred version 8 on a Dell XPS (Pentium 4, 3Ghz, one gig of RAM), using Windows XP home for my operating system. I had previously installed Service Pack two. For now I'm using the microphone that came with the package and do not think I am experiencing adverse results.
When I initially had the installation problems, I did visit ScanSoft web site's technical support. As previous reviewers have noted, there is zilch for technical support. Fortunately, by plugging the microphone into the rear of the computer, I no longer have the computer-freeze problem; so I am not in a position where I need technical support. Let's hope I never actually DO need tech support.
With my limited one day's experience, I will give this product 4 stars, and will return at a later date to give an update on his review.
If you are considering this product, I do say go cautiously, and heed the previous reviews which have been rated as useful by most readers of the reviews. They all have good and bad things to say about the product, and help with the overall decision-making process.
But, maybe this Version 8 has fixed some of the major bugs. Keeping my fingers crossed (and hopefully my tongue NOT tied!).
Customer Rating:
Summary: I think they've got it!
Comment: I edited this review in an attempt to make it more helpful on 9/07. I've now used this same version for almost 3 years.
I have used DNS since v.4 and this is the only version that has met my expectation - that I should be able to talk and the software will be mostly accurate when turning my speech into text! I have found no need to upgrade to more recent versions.
This version makes it much easier to correct and add new words.
While you can use a headset with microphone (one with the specs that will work with DNS), I choose to use a dictation device, the Sony ICD-BM1 digital recorder. I dictate into the recorder then hook it up to my laptop via USB and it translates into text. To my knowledge, this is one of the only affordable software still out there that will do this well.
This version still requires that you train it by the tedious process of reading long stories as found in prior versions. It does not easily train without doing this process.
I would like this version to have multiple custom vocabularies. I would use one vocabulary for research, one for my profession, and another for personal use.
Still a great product overall.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Superb Product That Requires Patience
Comment: I have been using Dragon NaturallySpeaking 74 approximately a year now at work and at home. I have carpal and cubital tunnel syndrome is; therefore, I need a product to help me. I do a great deal of writing.
I am dictating his review into Microsoft Word and will not make any corrections to it. You will then get an idea of its accuracy.
The program works rather well. However, it does make a fair number of the patient mistakes, which requires a lot of time-consuming editing. Nonetheless, I cannot work or surf the Web without this program. If you have some sort of disability, it is a lifesaver.
The program is rather resource-intensive. I used and him 4 computers with 2.2 and 2.6GHz; each has 512 megabytes RAM.
["I used and him 4" should read "I use Pentium 4".]
My system will often go slow when I am doing a great deal of dictating and making many corrections. The program learns your voice the more you use it; therefore, it keeps corrections in its memory so that it will not make the same mistake later.
I highly recommend this program for anyone who physically has a hard time using the keyboard and mouse. I suspect that everybody will be using voice recognition software in 3-5 years as the technology advances. I have used several versions of NaturallySpeaking and they continue to improve.
Customer Rating:
Summary: It's fun
Comment: I just got it today, I'm having fun, learning how to use this. I can't help but laugh when it makes mistakes, but I will keep trying to get teach it to be more accurate.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Get ready to pay more later
Comment: Dont expect any help from Scan Soft if you have any problems with this program. This is a huge and buggy program that will conflict with a bunch of different software since it has to integrate itself into anyh program that accepts text entry. Scan soft limits tech support to one phone call, $19.95 per call after that, even if your issue is ongoing. I was told to uninstall and reinstall (how creative) and on the reinstall found that the CD was corrupt. Replacement CD's are only $25 + $5 S/H. How nice.
Scan Soft will not back up their products, and probably make more money on tech support and replacement for buggy and defective products.
Looks good on the description, but good luck if you are not up and running right out of the box.