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| MacSpeech Dictate | 
 enlarge | From: MacSpeech, Inc.
Category: Software
List Price: $199.99
Buy New: $154.98
You Save: $45.01 (23%)
New (17) Used (1) from $154.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  77 reviews
Sales Rank: 42
Format: Cd-rom
Platform: Mac Os X Intel
Media: CD-ROM
Edition: Standard
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.9 x 2.5
MPN: MSDICTATE
Model: MACSPEECH DICTATE
UPC: 806709380876
EAN: 0806709380876
ASIN: B0014KJ6EQ
Release Date: February 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 very inept implementation August 10, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
the speech-recognition part is pretty good -- far from excellent -- but acceptable if all you are doing is entering massive volumes of text with no editing. As other reviewers have noted there is no ability to teach the program from its mistakes. But worst of all the interface with MS Word is so fraught with problems as to be unusable. So you are reduced to using text edit for all your dictation, and then cut and paste into a Word document. There is almost no capability to edit in any way. You can barely navigate from the top to the bottom of the page. Forget about capitalizing, bolding, italicizing -- just simple things that one would think a speech recognition program would consider to be a minimal implementation. Although I am a Mac lover, and have been since 1986, the speech recognition program that is built-in to the VISTA operating system is light-years ahead of this, the most clumsy voice-recognition system imaginable.
 At times, amazing. August 2, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I am writing this review using MacSpeech Dictate. I will not make any corrections you can see how this comes out.
I was recently injured, and have been unable to type on my keyboard. After reading the mixed reviews of this product, I felt that I really had no choice so I bought it.
The installation was easy and went off without a hitch. The initial training of the software was also simple, and took about five minutes. I have to say it was very exciting watching the software recognize my voice.
While the software is not perfect, it is definitely allowing me to use my computer again. I'm mostly using it to compose e-mails. It is fast, and seems to be pretty reliable. There was one time when it started to get a little wonky, so I quit the application and restarted it. This seemed to fix the problem.
On the con side, I don't feel that I have a lot of control over the software. For example, if I say a word that it doesn't recognize, I don't see a way for me to add that easily to a dictionary. There is no way for me to spell something that it doesn't recognize. I like to sign my name Johnny, but my name does not have an h in it. I don't see a way for me to change this, so I always had to use the keyboard and mouse to get the h out of their.
This is clearly a version 1.0 of the software. It's missing some good user interface control panels that allow the user to control the software. But the speech recognition is exceptional. As you can see, there really weren't that many mistakes in this review. I have not gone back and changed anything except it would not recognize the letter H. I had to type that above. It kept typing the word each or age.
I'm looking forward to the next update of the software. But for now, I consider it an essential tool for me. I hope this is helpful.
 Not ready for prime time July 30, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
Best speech recognition for the Mac but woefully short on commands when compared to Dragon. Give this one a year or so of additional development and it could be a real winner. Buy it now if you are really in need of voice recognition software but be ready to struggle to make it work.
Pay for supprt? No way July 25, 2008
3 out of 8 found this review helpful
I upgraded to the free downloadable iListen 1.8 a few weeks ago (per the company's recommendation), which I needed to upgrade to this new product. (Haven't purchased it yet.) I needed to use iListen today, but I need an activation code for 1.8. I don't believe I ever received it.
No problem, right? Just remove 1.8, and reinstall 1.7 and go to work.
In order to do this, I have to reregister. Now, however, their registration process says my 1.7 activation code is out of date! So, what happens if I have a system crash and have to reinstall software? I'm just out of luck?
Couldn't find help on their Web site and thought I would call. Here's what i found:
"Fee-based Phone Support is available should you prefer not to use our email services. The charge is $14.95 for the first 15 minutes or less, and $1 for each additional minute."
GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!!
Dittos with what others have said about this company's support services. VERY, VERY poor.
From my experiences with this past product, I won't purchase MacSpeech until I see evidence that they're improved their support services.
underrated July 25, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I am normally a fast typist who would probably never think about dictation software. Several weeks ago, however, I injured my right wrist enough to require an ace bandage and a splint--there goes the typing. My profession requires me to crank out many original documents, so I started searching for a dictation program. A recent Mac convert, Dragon Naturally Speaking was not on my buying list. But, I needed to do something. So, I read the reviews of this product, and almost decided to pass because of so many negative reviews.
I took a chance and am very glad that I did so. Installation was smooth, the user's manual included on the CD was informative and clear. Voice training and calibration were also simple and trouble-free. Speaking into the somewhat flimsy, but definitely useable mike, presented no problems. Even on my first tries, I achieved over a 95% success rate using some technical terms. I too would like to see the product add correction capability. That is the only quality standing between MacSpeech Dictate and a five star rating.
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