Nuance Dragon Dragon NaturallySpeaking Home 13 (Old Version)

Unlike others I dont type 100 wpm so VR has been the holy grail for me. After reading a glowing review I was so excited abt getting Dragon 13. What I didnt realize is that you cant use it with any other software programs other than Windows related ones or easily with web browsers. (Just found out thiisnt even true!) I primarily bought it to use with Nolo willmaker which Ive been putting off...but now cant use. I called tech support and even he felt bad for me, lol. He told me to return it but it isnt possible. And PLEEEEASE its a nightmare to use unless you enjoy having a manual next to you while your trying to use it. I have ADD so concentrating is a bit difficult and I thought it would be so much easier to speak my thoughts but with each sentence I have to figure out how to issue about 10 commands. Its also soooo slowwww. I type faster when I hunt and peck. OK, after reading other reviews by longtime competent users who are still frustrated I dont feel as bad but Im stll so dissappointed that my slow typing is actually easier. It seems the Voice Recognition Id hoped for is still out of my reach. Ps I JUST FOUND OUT THAT DRAGON 13 WILL NOT WORK WITH WINDOWS 7!!! So now I can only dictate text into their text box...this was a total waste. I guess theyre working with Microsoft to force you to upgrade!!

First one I ordered didnt work, refused to download from the disc. Returned it to Amazon and requested a new package. Was skeptical if it would work after reading all of the negative reviews of this product. Once the new disc arrived, it took awhile to load it onto my computer but once it was installed I have been pleasantly surprised and actually quite thrilled with how it works. Now this isnt a product that you just quickly install and use if you want to use all of its features and I am still learning about it, but I do a lot of reports for attorneys and I am very pleased with the product. Its accuracy so far is adequate for my needs although I still do some typing corrections, but like I said Im still learning the program and it will take awhile for me to learn the program and for the program to learn the vocabulary that I use and the report format that the attorneys require of me, but I am pleasantly surprised. I would only purchase it from Amazon due to the return policy that Amazon has. First one didnt work, second one works fine, doesnt lock my computer, doesnt affect any other programs. Only drawback I see right now is that the microphone picks up background music so when youre pausing to gather your thoughts and your playing music (Im old, so I like oldies music) I get Neil Diamond or the Beatles lyrics being typed so thats a bit of a bummer but otherwise very pleased with this product.

I have been using Dragon Naturally Speaking for years. Over the years, most cell phones, iPhones and Androids have automatically come with constantly improving voice to text apps, but not Windows. Dragon soft has a learn period that cell phones dont seem to need, but Dragon soft has a much greater features list. For straight up composition, Naturally Speaking performs well, allowing you dictate a document with very few errors. In a direct test against Kindle, I found that the supplied Kindle app actually performed better fewer errors, provided you dictated with enunciated with sharp clear speech. That is the first place where Naturally Speaking differs from cell phone speech apps. Naturally Speaking learns your voice, slur and mumble patterns, and allows you to dictate in patterns that are not clear, sharp dictation. Secondly, Naturally Speaking uses quick voice activated boo-boo and editing commands: erase that, highlight that, and sentence removal commands. Personally, I still prefer to get it right the first time, so I cant help but try to enunciate well the first time. The ONLY reason that I dont give it 5 stars is that there are SO MANY commands, that sometimes (OK, rarely) you accidentally hit a command in normal dictation. It can be a little overwhelming. Nevertheless, I dont know what I would do without this program.

I got it as a gift for my husband, and he loves it. He always thought the product was cool because he would just need to speak instead of typing the old fashion to get his papers done faster. He is currently in bible college and has to read a lot of books, which takes time. Then he feels the pressure of typing a paper because hes not the fastest typer and his thoughts move a lot faster than his fingers. Also he uses the dragon software with open office which was something he was worried about. So yes it works!! If you have a love one who isnt a great writer or fast typer, Id recommend this (:

I have been using Dragon for over 10 years starting with version 11 and version 13 and when I tried to upgrade to version 15 and import my profile to the new version, I found out thats not possible. So I have over 10 years of specific terminology and medical terms that I have to start all over to rebuild since they didnt bother to make it possible to retain the old profile. Im sorry to have upgraded – shouldve stayed with version 13

I am extremely upset as I was sold an obsolete product that cannot be installed on my computer. Why are these obsolete products still available? Now I am inconvenienced by having to return the product. Pi$$ed I am. AND it will cost me money to return the product. NOT HAPPY. Be careful of what you buy folk.

I write a weekly newspaper column and flash fiction for an on-line magazine. I can compose at the keyboard, but am equally comfortable with pen and paper. I was interested in this program to capture handwritten first drafts. I put off buying Dragon for years because of the expense and the many negative comments. Decided recently to try Dragon 13 Home and wish Id ignored the negative reviews sooner. Installed the program on an X220 ThinkPad running Windows 10. Did five minutes of setup and gave it a spin using the included mic. Sorry I waited so long. With no training, Im getting great results. Dictated a 980 word story. Had to correct five mistakes. Thats 99 percent accuracy. I have a bit of a raspy voice, so make an effort to enunciate clearly. Cant tell my speech rate, but Im dictating a darn sight faster than the 55 words a minute I can type. Even if my accuracy was considerably lower, I would still find Dragon useful because I usually do several rewrites and a final polish at the keyboard anyway. Am happy to have a pet Dragon to do my bidding.

I certainly would not recommend Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13. First of all it was hard to get installed. I even called technical support for help and they had me download the program to install and it still wouldnt work. After many hours of trying to install it, it finally installed. However, it kept hanging up. It wouldnt even run long enough to go through any training for it. The training feature of this program gave the warning that the training program was not compatible with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. The program also gave warnings about a third party program interfering with it and I could never find any other program running. After searching on line for a solution I finally tried using the voice recognition feature in Windows. Windows voice recognition works wonderfully. It does everything that Dragon NaturallySpeaking says it would do and and takes dictation very fast. Naturally you have to give it some training as you would with any voice recognition program. I am writing this review with Windows voice recognition. It keeps up with me wonderfully gives me tremendous control of my computer through voice commands. No, I do not recommend Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13. I just wasted a lot of money which I cannot afford to do. I see no reason not to use the Windows voice recognition program when it works so well.

I use it to dictate all my notes for clinicals and I have about 20 to 30 notes to put in on each patient. At the end of the day my fingers are falling off! They helped saved me from getting finger cramps. Its a little annoying at first but I use a lot of medical terminology but it learns as it goes. I had to correct it a couple of times and now it picks up on most of the words. I really enjoy it. Still trying to get the hang of the other functionalities involved but I mainly use it to type for me.