Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 11 Student Edition [Old Version]

This system is terrible. It will not train. The Dragon on my old Lenovo 9 years ago was better.

Hi, This is the first review Ive ever written but wanted to tell you what a great product this is. I purchased this product because I have health issues that make it difficult to type and almost didnt purchase this because of all the negative reviews. Many other reviewers noted that there was great difficulty geting the serial number needed to install the product. Well, I have a .edu email address. I received the program, went to the verification website, answered the questions, and was immediately verified. I waited about 30 minutes to check my email and there was the serial number. I installed the program, did the tutorial and training sections and was up and running. The first thing I did was to dictate class notes. The terminology was very technical and specific to this graduate class subject. Dragon got all the words, as long as I pronounced them right :), and I cant tell you what a relief it has been for me to be able to do course work without experiencing pain in my arms.

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.

Bought this as a graduation gift for my son who has dyslexia and is entering College. Since day one he has put it to great use and has helped him produce wonderful research papers that are/were required from him. Thank you

This review is for Dragon NaturallySpeaking premium 11 student edition. After reading the reviews for this product I admit I was a little concerned about both the quality of the product and the registration process. Both of these concerns were baseless. Im a grad student at an accredited university in the United States and the process of registering and receiving a serial number took less than 3 min. the student edition does not come with the serial number. After receiving the product you must go to the registration page on their website and put in both the product number and an e-mail address ending in .edu. Next you select your institution from a pulldown menu of institutions in your state. I followed the instructions and received a serial number at my university e-mail in less than 30 seconds. From the reviews and the price of the student version it was clear to me that I would want a higher-quality microphone. Along with this product I also ordered a Sennheiser ME-3 ev microphone and an Andrea USB adapter. Because the microphone is made to attach securely to a belt transmitter it does have a metal lock ring at the base of the plug. Some reviews suggested that this lock ring would have to be removed. Perhaps the construction of the microphone cable has changed but I was able to use the Sennheiser microphone plugged into the Andrea USB adapter without any modification. Dragon NaturallySpeaking requires a four-minute test/learning session to create a profile for your voice. After this you can use it to dictate anything you would normally type. I am dictating this review. For $70 I dont mind having to buy a better microphone. This is a fantastic product. After using the product for the past two days the only drawback is that I wished I purchased a wireless microphone. Being able to walk around and dictate at the same time would be, frankly, awesome. Note: the Andrea USB adapter is a bulky dongle. I think the Andrea USB soundcard with array microphone has the same adapter in a much smaller form factor bundled with a desktop microphone. For mobile users the smaller adapter combined with any microphone might be a better choice than the bulky dongle. I also read that the Yeti microphones also work well with Dragon. to summarize, the student edition is a great value and easy to register if you have a .edu address at an accredited university. You may want to upgrade the microphone.

The Dragon software is great. The process for verifying that you are purchasing the software for a student is terrible. I bought Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 11 Student Edition on January 9, it was delivered on January 11, and I installed it that evening. They have a process for verifying that the product is for a student which is inconvenient, but understandable. They want a copy of the students report card, which I gave them. For weeks, I received no response, and so was forced to pay for an alternative solution. Today, I got an email from identit-e Customer Service [[email protected]], that says Your request for eligibility has been placed on hold pending receipt of proof of eligibility. The program rules indicate that we must receive the required eligibility information within 15 days or this request will be rejected. I found the eligibility verification process onerous, poorly designed, non responsive, inconvenient, and in the end, non-functional. I found myself wishing that the product description warned about this process so I could have spend a few extra dollars and avoided the hassle. Thats why Im writing this so try to save someone else from this trap. Im sending the software back today.

Nuance yes.... I got this originally to help take notes in lecture classes but it does not translate other people talking just you. That didnt work and you had to read a page or more for it to recognize your voice .... really that long... and its hard to delete from your system. Might work for some but not for me.

a person still needs to use the keyboard with this program. did not work for my husband he cannot see

Great gift for my dad who was been looking for a better way to write letters (he cant type very well). Thank you for such a great product!

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.