|
| Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Standard [OLD VERSION] | ![Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Standard [OLD VERSION]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5169PHNG7HL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | From: Nuance Communications, Inc.
Category: Software
List Price: $99.99
Buy New: $37.90
You Save: $62.09 (62%)
New (28) Used (7) from $34.75
Avg. Customer Rating:  162 reviews
Sales Rank: 226
Format: Cd-rom
Platforms: Windows 2000, Windows Xp, Windows Vista
Media: CD-ROM
Edition: Standard
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 0 x 0.1 x 0.1
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: A309A-GG4-9.0
Model: A309A-G01-9.0
UPC: 780420115187
EAN: 0780420115187
ASIN: B000GUDDXA
Release Date: July 25, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: SEALED. In original retail packaging. UPC intact.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Surprise! It does NOT work as advertised! August 31, 2006
28 out of 34 found this review helpful
After researching the minimum system requirements for this product - Pentium 4 @ 1 Ghz >>OR EQUILIVANT<< I bought a laptop computer at a local retailer that has a Pentium M @ 1.7 Ghz processor speed.
Naturally speaking 9 Standard arrived today from Amazon, and I immediately attempted to install the program.
Oops! Processor doesn't have enough oomph for the program. Son works for Intel - he says that Pentium M IS a Pentium 4 that runs on lower voltage to minimize heat generation and prolong battery life. Same-o same-o processor otherwise - at least that's what I am told.
Dunno for sure as I am not an Intel engineer - but I'd place my bet on the folks at Intel instead of Nuance.
I now have a $100 program that refuses to install on my laptop. Beware that you do not get caught in the same trap.
 Review of Dragon Naturally Speaking 9 August 27, 2006
20 out of 21 found this review helpful
I think I have tried all the broadly marketed versions of computer voice recognition programs for PC's and Mac's. This is the first one I have found that really works: just about 10 minutes of training and it gave me 95% + accuracy. A superb product!
My only regrets are that (1) I didn't buy a version that permits use of a USB microphone (and this problem with the Standard version wasn't clear in the advertising) and (2) that there isn;t a version for the Mac (which I use in preference to my Windows PC). Neither Via Voice nor iListen for the Mac works anywhere near as well as Dragon9 does on my PC.
 Phenomenal voice recognition - abominable customer support August 12, 2006
266 out of 270 found this review helpful
I was impressed with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8, but version 9 is vastly improved in terms of speech recognition. Version 8 was excellent; perhaps in the 95% range. Version 9 comes very close to 100% right out of the box, without any special training.
Nuance is clear about the product requirements. A processor faster than 1Ghz is required along with at least 1GB of RAM (with 512MB minimum free). At least 650 MB of drive space is required.
Installation on a computer running Windows XP SP 2 was entirely uneventful. Setting NaturallySpeaking v9 up with two different microphones was a snap. Recognition in a variety of applications was literally 100% without any training. It was, in fact, amazing. Setting the program up to run with a digital voice recorder, however, didn't go so smoothly - and that's why my rating is only 3 stars for what technologically is a 5 star product.
Nuance's tech support is absolutely awful. They charge $ 9.95 even for an e-mail response, which they call an "incident." The manual has virtually no information on troubleshooting. Their online knowledgebase is not well indexed. Or, more accurately, they are running it on a particularly poor platform. Their user community is sparsely used and a lot of the information is useless.
Nuance should learn that turning out a superior product isn't enough. It has to be supported competently as well and it is here that Nuance falls flat on its face.
On the other hand, I recognize that the product is working with two microphones and hopefully I will find the answer to my problem somewhere, some day. As a long-time (and long-suffering) voice recognition software user, I will say the accuracy of NaturallySpeaking 9 is phenomenal. Only the support stinks.
Jerry
It works! August 7, 2006
15 out of 17 found this review helpful
Very fun program and it works very well at recognizing speech and converting it into text. I haven't tried it outside of word processing settings, but if you speak faster than you type, this is a nice timesaver for text writing.
Surprise! Works much better than expected, reliably does what it says it will do August 6, 2006
273 out of 278 found this review helpful
Every now and then you get a product that not only does exactly what it says it will do, but works better than expected. [PLEASE SEE AMENDED COMMENTS BELOW] I fooled around with voice recognition software packages about five years ago, and they were far more headache than they were worth. On a whim, and after seeing positive reviews on computer sites, I gave Dragon Naturally Speaking 9 (standard) a try. After a brief (20 minute) orientation and start up period, it was taking dictation almost flawlessly. Now that I've been using it for about a week, I'm approaching 100% accuracy. In fact, I've dictated this entire review without making any corrections (I guess if you find any errors, you'll realize that the software isn't infallible).
I use this software to dictate reports containing a lot of medical terminology (I'm using the standard version, not the medical version). Apparently, it had scanned my existing documents to add my specialized words to its vocabulary before I even started, and it learns new words quickly. Its built-in list of places and names is impressive. I find it perfect for responding to e-mails, although I tend to be wordier than I would be if I were typing.
Another reviewer commented on its clunky command recognition. I admit that I use the mouse to move the cursor and click commands, and haven't tried the software for those functions. It's certainly not worth the trouble for spreadsheets. The power of the software is in saving you from typing text documents.
Overall, I'm extremely impressed, and my wrists are much less sore. I know I sound like I work for the manufacturer with this glowing review. I don't, I'm just a pleasantly surprised consumer.
AMENDED REVIEW (AFTER 6 MONTHS OF USE)
Some strong concerns that you should consider:
- software is unstable. It crashes my computer fairly often, and I've lost my user files several times. This means I need to reinstall and/or create a new user file, and the learning process needs to start all over. As mentioned by others, support is either nonexistent or prohibitively expensive, which is infuriating. Don't build a big database of specialized words ... you'll likely lose it soon enough.
- software is GREAT at taking dictation for formal documents; not so good at sentence fragments (eg, quick notes and emails). It searches for context and correct sentence structure. It often inserts words it thinks I want (usually incorrectly). To improve accuracy, you need to speak in full sentences, which often means it takes much more time than typing.
- basically, between the start-up time, correction time, and instability, you can't do anything quickly with the software. You need to make a major time investment. Great for long documents (or if you have typing problems), but useless for casual needs like notes, emails.
So the software still does exactly what it says it will do. I just find it much less useful than I first thought.
|
|
|
Copyright
©
2006 Adminpal LLC | |
