Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 11 [Old Version]

great product, no complaints works well for what i am after. dictation works much better than transcriptions (more accurate), so be prepared to do more proof reading and rewriting when transcribing audio, but it does the job. one tip is to specify shipping address that is open after you get off work. i work mon to fri 8 to 5. they ship from 8 to 7 pm.

I have used voice recognition software at work for the past 6 years and have really liked it. I wanted something at home to allow me to take notes while I read without stopping to write it down. Im in the medical field and had concerns about how well this would work with all the specialized vocabulary, but it works great. I wasnt about to spend 1500 for the professional medical version and Im glad I didnt. Its easy to use and overall money well spent for me. I only use the product for a specific purpose so I cant talk much about all the features, but so far it has worked great. My only complaint is that the headset is uncomfortable.

I was a little apprehensive when I read Dragon NaturallySpeaking for Dummies and it said not to expect much if you use Biblical phrases. I had ordered Dragon for the express purpose of writting Bible Studies so I thought that I had really made a mistake. But Dragon learns easily and it incorporated the vocabulary from previously written studies and seemed to know what word to use when I spoke it. I had to train it a little on Ezekiel but it got Jehovah and Hezekiah right off. All in all I am very happy with Dragon. But dont order the Dragon for Dummies book - it is about 6 versions behind. Also do not order the Sennheiser headset microphone that is listed in Amazon as it is for wireless (even the one that doesnt say wireless) and the connector does not work properly. Speech Recogition Solutions has the same microphone with a standard plus.

UPDATE 2/7/13: I totally forgot to post an update. Like I said...I hate to leave bad reviews so I am very happy to be able to add a star to my review after using the product. It works well if you do the reading samples and let the software adjust to the way you speak. I was able to write my book really fast by being able to speak into Dragon Software. Would get 5 stars except for the customer service issues way back when (which did end up finally being resolved). :) UPDATE: I finally reached someone who could help me. It took longer then I wanted but he was very helpful and nice and resolved the problem. I dont want to return the product because I really think it will help me. I get to try it tonight and I will post my thoughts on it later. FIRST POST:I do not like to write bad reviews. HOWEVER, I called NUANCE customer service twice and I was told they could not help me because I purchased their product from Amazon.com. PROBLEM: I got the software and my computer will not recognize the CD. I had the same problem with Adobe Creative Suite, however when I put an HP CD in my computer or another CD it works just fine. If they send me another CD, it probably will react the same way Adobe Creative Suite did. I ended up having to download their software online after 3 attempts. The annoying part is I have a SERIAL NUMBER for the product I purchased. All they need to do is give me the download link and I can enter my serial number as verification....BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! It is a simple solution that their customer service can not comprehend. I have class on Wednesday. I was hoping to be able to get my homework done through Dragon because that is the only reason I purchased the product. I am upset because once I am able to get the product downloaded I still have to train it and see if it actually works. Their customer service is awful and I saw this in other reviews, but when I saw their Vice President of something in their company responding to their bad reviews and trying to make things right, I thought they were making a sincere effort to improve their customer service. I guess all they do is damage control instead of having good service from the start.

I am a writer who was looking for a way to write another novel without getting typers cramp. My novels are running roughly 180,000 words so anything I can do to tighten that up is only good. I am not using it for its intended purpose yet; however, I still believe it can do it. It will not do it right out of the box. That I know. You first train it to respond to you. That takes a few days anyway. My other problems were two-fold: First, finding the right headset. I use an Andrea now and I am glad I found them. The set that came with the Dragon software is not good. It picked up something like 1 in 3 words I said. I have no idea why, but it was pretty bad. The other problem is this: When I am dictating, I can manage 2-3 sentences before I pause to think further about what I want to say. For it to really save time, you have to know what you want to say and how you want to say it. In my own case, I was using the time it took to type to think about what to say next. This is SO fast, I couldnt do that. So I first build a story structure/outline to follow as I dictate. That does make it a LOT easier. Long story short, I think it WILL BE great. I need to get used to it and it needs to get used to me. It is not an instant solution, but for anyone wanting speed or needing it to deal with a life challenge AND you can deal with a learning curve, this could be the answer to your prayers.

I have been using Dragon NaturallySpeaking for over a decade. Each update touts its new features and improved accuracy. I have never achieved anything like the level of accuracy described in the brochures. Even at 99% accuracy, a 5000 word story or paper would have at least 50 errors or more. The power of my Dell Inspiron with a Pentium I5 and eight gigs provides the power needed to run the software. An underpowered computer will not give you a satisfactory performance. the accuracy does improve when I use a version for hundreds and hundreds of hours.

I have been using Dragon for 20 years. I would be without it – because I have had issues with carpal tunnel in both of my hands. I use it excessively for emails in Outlook, word documents and occasionally in Excel. It is wonderfully accurate – and the correction mechanisms are extremely good. I ordered this version because I have a Windows 7 PC – and this was the most compatible version that was made at the time. It works really well with outlook. The only issue that I have it occasionally hangs up. I then have to shut it down and start all over. But this has been an issue with Dragon since I first started using it many many years ago.

I need this product b/c I have carpal tunnel in one wrist. I write a LOT of emails at work and sometimes they are lengthy. I could not get by w/out the voice recognition. The program is quirky though. Sometimes the mic wont turn off. Sometimes it starts posting tweets and I dont even do tweets. Dont ever say the word send in a sentence unless you say something else immediately afterward. Otherwise, you just sent a half finished email! Sometimes it starts acting up and I have to reboot my whole computer just to get it to behave.

One star since completely unable to use if your system is running an instance of an EMR. I have my EMR running in the background and cannot use Dragon for email or other non-medical applications without completely shutting down the medical software. Useless. Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 11 was purchased to dictate letters to patients. I used a previous version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical and did not need the medical vocabulary for what I dictate. The medical version is VERY expensive- several hundred dollars more than this version. This version loads and generally works as expected until you try to use in a medical software program. (I use NextGen on a Citrix client). The Dragon program shuts off the microphone and a window pops up informing that Premium 11 version is prohibited for use in medical programs. You have pay more simply to be allowed to dictate into a medical program, even if you dont need the vocabulary. Healthcare workers are not the only ones that should be disgusted with Nuance (the makers of Dragon), but patients should be peeved, too. Price gouging for medical equipment results in higher costs for patients. Nuance should be ashamed for this horrible behavior.

I am not sure how much people expect from voice recognition software. I am writing a book and for my purposes, I find the accuracy and capacity excellent. I dont expect it to be 100% accurate, and not all the commands work for me (like copying) - but the important commands worked right out of the gate. I am not trying to run my system with voice recognition, just want it to take audio dictation. So for me, especially considering the price, and that in less than an hour from start to finish I had it taking dictation at an exceptionally high level of accuracy (maybe 98%) - I am not sure how much more I could ask for. I think one should consider how clearly one speaks and if you have an accent, maybe that causes it to be less accurate. But if you speak clearly and take your time setting it up, it seems to me to be quite a wonderful technology. Best of luck!