Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 11 Student Edition [Old Version]

Okay everybody, I am not one to write a review, but after seeing everything that has been written about this product, I decided I must write a review. A lot of people, have been bad mouthing the fact, that you have to verify your student status to receive the serial number from Nuance. I can tell you now, for all of you who have a .edu address, this will not be a challenge whatsoever. I received my Dragon NaturallySpeaking, from UPS about an hour ago. Within that time, I did the online verification of my student status, received my serial number, install the program, and I am now writing this review I using my headset and my Dragon NaturallySpeaking. One recommendation I would strongly make, is that you invest in a better headset. I invested in the Koss CS 100 headset is thus far everything is working very clearly. I spent about 20 min. reading some of the documentation that they give you to learn your voice. In that short period of time, you see the results. As a graduate student, who is often writing anywhere between 20 and 60 pages a week of text this is going to be a lifesaver. I hope many of you will be able to make the same investment.

I have read all reviews for both this premium student version and the home premium version and decided to go ahead and purchase. I initially gave it a 5-star, but will keep everyone informed of ease of getting student version activated....now for the star-trek finish.... star date: Saturday, Dec. 11 @ 7pm CST....product ordered. UPDATE: 12/11/10 @ 20:44(from my .edu account)I pre-emailed my purchase info to the svp monitoring these reviews (Peter) to which he immediately responded (12/11/10 @ 20:49): Verification is very simple with an edu email address. You will get instructutions to sign into a website when you get your software. A serial number can be immediately sent to your edu email address. Most people who [have] had issues did not have an edu email address. UPDATE: 12/14/10 @ 14:25 (CST) received product; instructions to activate are simple; sent in the required information at 14:00. Will post when product key code is received.

I received my Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 11 and, after training it, when I attempted to dictate anything, it got very little right. Just my breathing near the microphone would cause it to type him him him him him him him. It also liked to insert the word and frequently. I checked online to see how much it would cost to buy the included headphone online. I found it priced at $9.95. So I concluded it was probably junk and decided to buy a better quality headset. I chose the Andrea NC-185VM USB digital headphone. It cost about $50. NOTE this headset is DIGITAL, therefore, if you consider it, be sure that your computer can handle digital audio input. If it doesnt or if you are not sure, you may want to consider the Andrea NC-185 analog version for about $30. If it is as good as the digital version, you should be very well satisfied. As soon as I began using the new headphone, the resulting typing was virtually flawless. Ergo, I have concluded that the included headphone is not worth using. You may as well just ecycle the headset as soon as you receive it. I even tried to throw Dragon a curve using the new microphone by dictating medical terms such as, myocardial infarction, histoplasmosis, and trichotillomania. It typed all of them without error. So the five stars that I am giving this product is for the software, not the hardware. Dragon NaturallySpeaking has even ignored me clearing my throat without muting the microphone. I have dictated this review using Dragon NaturallySpeaking and have had to correct very little. If you are a student, faculty or staff of an educational institution, be sure to check out the academic price. It can save you about half off the regular price.

works very good, quality product, and fast service, thank you

Buyer beware! Have you paid for this software, you cannot download it unless you get a code from an itinerary organisation, and if you are not someone from the big time school or university they will deny you the code in your money has been wasted! Do you not buy this

Its OK for general use but I has a specific use for it. I wanted to read numerical grades and have it in numbers in Excel. It is a bit slow, and certain numbers dont seem to come out. Even after repeating it several times it still does not appear. As for general text wtiting it seems OK. Any suggestions?

In doing work on my dissertation, I was looking for a viable option for transcribing recorded interviews to a text form. This would not only save me to time, but allow me to focus on the interview content over transcribing time. I contacted the company to inquire on the use of the program for transcribing audio files, and was told the Premium version 11 was the one to have for this purpose. Needless to say, the abilities of this program was explained in more fantasy terms rather than the reality of its capabilities. I took several interviews ranging in dialect, gender, and other characteristics, with similar poor results. I went as far to record my own voice, which the profile on the program was tuned into, and the results were just as poor. I am not sure what this software is good for, maybe handsfree command use for programs and computers, but transcribing is not it. Good luck to anyone purchasing this product, and now I must try to get my money back.

I lost a whole weekend that I could have dedicated to setting up an accurate voice profile for the software and then using the software. The wrong serial number (for a different product altogether - Mac Dictate 2.0) was provided on Nuances automated website. I was literally stuck dead in the water with a worthless serial number. (I was getting the academic version) I tried to register my product on the website (the only way to contact Tech Support) but without a correct serial number, I was stopped in the middle of that process. All-and-all, this is frustrating process. Nuance needs to overhaul their web processes and make them usable for clients. No matter how good the Dragon product MAY be (I dont know since the company is incompetent in delivering a frustration-free install process), customers will not stick around. And trying to talk with customer service reps is like talking to robots who just repeat themselves- they are reading off a script that I could easily do on my own and find answers faster from just by searching key terms instead of waiting on their long automated responses. As the old cliche goes - not good for business. UPDATE (usability testing): This is a Dragon Naturally Speaking review actually done WITH Dragon NaturallySpeaking and done on a headset (with) a noise canceling microphone in the car on the way to work so (we) will see how well it can transcribe what I am actually saying ..... -ERRORS- (CORRECTIONS) 1- The main issue is -a not- (it does not have) very good -actor- (accuracy). -see a need to- (I know you have to) train Dragon. I (have) been very diligent about giving Dragon -aint- (a) digital voice profile -is- (because) you can have different voice profile(s) (based off) what youre using. And I got a digital voice recorder profile and the accuracy is still not where I -needed- (need it) even though Im pronouncing words like a broadcaster would pronounce (his) words. And Dragon actually expects you to be able to be a professional anchor and were not talking about hard words that Im trying to pronounce -a- (but) simple thing(s) and Dragon still gets it wrong because it simply cannot take any fluctuation in your voice. (If) you mumble or -bespeaking- (if you speak too) fast but -is- (it will get) something wrong. -cf. the list fits- (So you have to be almost pitch) perfect in everything -he said- (you say). So unless youre extremely motivated to use the software and (then) go back and try to -takes- (fix) the accuracy issues in your user profile, -within- (then) this speech to text software may not be what youre looking for. Yes I am motivated to use the software which is why Ive done a bit of usability tests and -down- (found that) the accuracy in transcription is horrible. For brainstorming purposes, Im trying to put down the best ideas I can while in the car. But literally when I brainstorm theres no accuracy in the transcription (and I) have to go back -active- (and I have to) repeat complete thoughts all over again or change (them) in the transcription after-the-fact and that leads to the second point ..... OK...Im motivated to use the software but not motivated to continue writing the corrections from this audio that Dragon couldnt do correctly in the first place. You get the point though. 2- Going back to make corrections - this is supposed increase your accuracy for your user profile which I would be fine in continuing to do but there is a big gap for the user to actually understand if the corrections are being applied to your user profile. What makes the corrections in Dragon? I open up the transcription in Dragonpad but then it doesnt tell me when Im typing the corrections from the transcription that the software is actually recording my corrections. Dragon does a very poor job of telling you the one-two-three-step process of how to improve your accuracy. Sure it does look at documents and e-mail to improved your accuracy (for writing style, jargon, etc.) but it doesnt tell you for the transcription process itself when your typing corrections from what the software just transcribed if it is recording those corrections into the profile. In short, when youre fixing all the transcription errors, theres no thank you or we got it prompt from Dragon that it is recording the actual words you wanted transcribed in the many spots it messed up. Its worth noting I actually have Dragon for Windows 11.5 Premium/Pro running on a virtual machine on Mac (its the same thing as having a full Windows 7 OS on the Mac). The Professional Edition, which you have to have if you want to take a digital voice recording and have it transcribed, is preferable to paying more than double for the Mac version, which is actually two software products that are needed to do the same thing. Dragon Dictate for Mac and Mac Speech both have to be purchased (again at more than twice the costs of Dragon Naturally Speaking) in order to do the same thing as the Dragon Naturally Speaking software. For Mac users, I highly recommend the Virtual Machine route (with 6 Gb of Memory) because you can use your one copy of Dragon Naturally speaking on five machines. Its not really a good business model to try and rip Mac users off like that. The limitations of the Dragon software allow me to only do outlines for different projects and notes to myself (that I could easily transcribe with my smart phone). Basically I cannot do any real original brainstorming or have a flow of original ideas or generate creative marketing ideas (they dont resemble anything that they should in the transcription). I just want to speak my free-flowing ideas when I get really inspired and really go for it. Thats just not possible. The company, Nuance, should really look into their user interface overall because that and their lack of customer service - which is a severely crippling issue b/c they are just so incredibly horrible - make this software just not worth the effort unless youre really motivated. And my motivation is becoming very selective with Dragon.

I expected too much apparently. i wanted to speak and have it type, but even after several training sessions i am getting no results. I may return this for a refund. if I am missing something, I want to know because i was thinking the product would make my life easier.

As other reviewers have said, it is impossible to verify the software for the student edition. Had to return it to amazon after many failed emails and calls to try get it verified. Worthless if I cant use it!