Nuance Dragon Dragon NaturallySpeaking Home 13 (Old Version)

I have dyslexia--not the kind where you have trouble reading, though. I have enormous trouble typing, and get the letters mixed around with as many as 3 to 7 typos per sentence. This meant I was a dismally slow typist. Worse, I am a writer and editor. When writing I would lose the flow of what I wanted to say when I went back to fix each sentence. Well, no longer. Dragon NaturallySpeaking Home 13 has changed my life. I used to get 1,000 words on a good 8-hour day of writing; now I can write over 1,000 words an hour. And my editing work is so much faster that I have more time to write! I know there are newer versions, but this one works for me just fine. I was up and running in two days and it just keeps getting better as Dragon adapts to my pronunciation and I learn more commands. I am one happy, satisfied customer.

I am writing this review using DSN 13. I had a very hard time downloading the software onto Windows 8.1. Thus the reason why I am giving it four stars. When I tried to install I kept getting a message saying the installation was interrupted and unable to finish. I searched on the Internet for fix actions and found one that worked for me. Create a guest account on your computer and install DSN 13 to that guest account, it took it a little while to start the download but it worked on the guest account and Im able to use it on my primary account. This is the link I found the fix action in http://nuance-community.custhelp.com/posts/c5c9614e18 hopefully this will work for some of you that are having a hard time downloading the software. Also on a side note I never had any previous Dragon software before this. The software itself I give 5 stars! I have had no issues with it after the install.

I purchased this in 2015. It was working fine until my computer quit. Once the PC was repaired (new logic board) I had to reinstall all my software. When I reinstalled dragon the Serial number no longer worked. I called Nuance and they said since 13 is no longer supported I cannot activate it. THAT IS THEFT!

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.

Love this program. Exactly what I needed and expected. Installed onto my 8.1 Windows without any fuss or hick ups. Runs smoothly.Though I use my Logitech Wireless, It did come with a pretty sturdy wired headset of its own. Good to know if I ever need a back up its there. Fast and precise. Mainly bought for score to make essays and reports a breeze and yet Im able to instantly note any random thought, spontaneous idea, or random rhyme that may come to mind. Hides almost unnoticed at the top of your screen and blooms out when you need it. If you want a hands free service for school, business or just pleasure then this is what you need. Favorite Perk: All around fast program.

Had some serious stability problems with version 11.0 when it worked it worked GREAT but would do things unbidden and lost data so stop using it -Have not used version 13 much but Dragon seem to have cured the stability problems of 11.0 - Controls / pull downs / commands are different and will probably get used to them with more practice - Still cant get out of the habit of backing up on up three different files every few lines and then having to reread EVERYTHING each time because of problems with 11.0 which sometimes would make a change to a document file which would go unnoticed (some times working on page 20 and unbidden change occurred on page 1 !) and if backed up on only one file errors picked up after a back up were sometimes irrecoverable

I read all of the reviews before buying this and the only reason why I did, in spite of the one star reviews, was because a fellow author highly recommended it to me. That said, I dont know what other people were doing, or what their computer systems are like, but this thing installed right on the first try. It took about an hour, granted, but Adobe Creative Suite takes longer than that! Its performed like a dream since installation. I dictated 1,000 words in 20 minutes with very few errors. (Thats impressive. I write fantasy.) If youre an author, and youre wanting to speed things along, I highly recommend this program. (Just make sure to buy the Blue Microphone Snowball with it. That makes a lot of difference.)

I had this on my PC at one point and then I had to reinstall everything and suddenly Dragon wouldnt install. It kept asking for some special program first. I called the help desk and the next thing I knew I was getting notices that people were trying to access my financial accounts and personal information. What Dragons help desk did with my personal information, I dont know. Sell it? Give it away? Or, did the person on the phone for Dragon have a side business trying to hack customers private accounts, bank, credit, etc.? Luckily, they didnt get far, as far as I know. I never did get it to work again, so I thought Id take a chance and buy a new copy, but instantly I ran into installation errors saying it needed some sort of program to run first and I had to dig into the software to find it. Why doesnt the software do it by itself? Even when I found and ran that program, it stalled and wouldnt install either. I give up. What a horrible company and program! They are a monopoly worth being investigated by the Feds. We need another company to compete with Dragon and give customers better choices.

This program is not as easy as one would think. First thing you should do is buy a better set of headphones with the program. The pair that are included did pick up my voice well and caused me hours of frustration. It also does not work well if you are reading things like recipes. It clearly states that you should speak in a normal voice and at a normal pace, but reading a recipe doesnt always work that way. After about two hours of continually having to correct the word eggs I gave up. By the time I went back and corrected all the mistakes in the text it would have been faster to just type it myself. I would guess if I wanted to dictate letters or work on a term paper this would work fine, but its not what I purchased it for. What a pity.

This program used to be amazing! However, this Home v. 13 never learned our voices well enough to function so it went unused. Calling Nuance proved useless because they no longer support this version. If you are going to purchase this program, seriously consider purchasing the most recent version so you get the support you need. This is the 2nd edition of this I have purchased because the first version worked flawlessly.