Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard Reviews

• Please note many computers will not work with this

  
  By A1P6AZM4WY5BJN on 2008-09-10
  My comments are a warning that I wish I had been given.
  
  I've had various versions of Dragon Naturally Speaking and was very happy with Version 9. Dragon has always been the best voice recognition software for home use. But this version 10 will not install properly unless your cpu handles SSE2. Most of us skip that over in the fine print because we figure if our computer is two years old, it should work.
  
  When I say "not install" I mean that it does an install but then gets hung up in a loop. You cannot turn off your computer and even if you pull the plug, it still runs in the background, not allowing you to remove it. It took some fiddling and a waste of time to finally get it off the computer. Then you have to totally reinstall Version 9 -- I imagine my voice files are gone. This is contrary to Nuance's instructions that if your computer cannot handle V 10, it will notify you and not install.
  
  I have not been able to test this version but on the Nuance site, as well as when I Googled comments on Version 10, both standard and preferred, I found many problems, particularly with Vista. You may be happier if you stay with 9 until they do a better job with the next version. Otherwise, you may be paying for the shipping both ways and waiting two months for the refund.
  
  

• Dragon wins over St George

  
  By A204S7V8IUTYKG on 2008-08-27
  This is my 3rd Dragon; the others were merely good but this version #10 is really excellent. Very brief training time, high accuracy (unless you slur your words) and easy commands. Highly recommended.
  
  

• Remarkable software

  
  By A3S3N47CTENGE7 on 2008-09-07
  I'm a freelance journalist who was interested in voice recognition for transcription. I figured it was time to give Nuance a shot. I took the product out of the box yesterday, loaded it, trained the software for about 10 minutes (read a bit of a Dilbert book excerpt, which was entertaining in itself), then loaded up a voice file.
  
  Because the software recognizes one voice only, I played the file in Sony Digital Voice Editor, listened, and repeated/summarized what I was hearing in my own voice via the included headset. The software can't hear what the sound card plays in this case, so this sort of cacophony isn't a problem to NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard. I know this because it worked nearly perfectly once I trained it to write NCAR rather than "and car," which took maybe 30 seconds.
  
  Rough transcription (just getting the info down, spelling and punctuation be damned) usually takes 2-2.5x the actual spoken-word recording time, in my experience; this product is going to pay for itself in a couple of long interviews.
  
  

• Very impressive

  
  By A3RCQ1MCHW9Y4L on 2008-10-01
  I had purchased an earlier version of this Dragon several years ago. Even after spending a lot of time trying to train the program, I found that it did not work well enough to be usable. But I decided to take the plunge again, and I am happy that I did. Speaking Naturally 10 is impressive. With a minimal amount of setup, the program does a great job at accurately capturing what I say. Sure, it makes a few errors on more unusual words, but they have made the correction process so easy that fixing the mistake hardly takes any effort at all.
  
  I find that I use it for creating rough drafts, and then go back to edit them the old fashioned way. The program has an excellent capability for editing, and I can certainly see that if typing were not possible (for health or some other reason), I could learn to do the entire job without a keyboard. But right now the hybrid approach seems to work best for me. However, I have a feeling that, over time, I will use voice editing more and more, and go to the keyboard less and less.
  
  I was quite impressed with the program's ability to handle long phrases, and complete sentences. So you can dictate in a way that is most comfortable for you. If you decide you don't like what you just said, you simply say "Scratch That" and you get to say it again. This is a lot easier than deleting whole sentences with the keyboard or mouse after you decide to put the phrase a different way. If you want to search the document for a certain word - for example: Amazon, you simply say: Select Amazon and you find yourself with the word Amazon selected. I found this much easier that using the Edit Find commands.
  
  You can also use voice commands to interact with the application. I spent a little time trying to use it to navigate around a web site, and found it more cumbersome that using the keyboard. But again, if circumstances are such that a keyboard is not feasible, then I believe the voice command approach would also be workable with a little practice.
  
  Another cool thing is how the dictation works even in the presence of background noise. I have a noisy airconditioner right behind my desk, and yet I do not notice any degradation in the recognition quality when the air conditioner is turned on.
  
  If you have ever been intrigued with voice recognition, now is the time to jump in and give this program a try.
  
  

• DNS 10 Standard

  
  By A65ZH3XNQH1VU on 2008-09-25
  This review is being written with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard Edition. The only corrections are verbal corrections such as ten to 10.
  
  As you can see, the voice-recognition is excellent. I have been able to use this with most browser windows and office word processor programs. It works, for the most part, with instant messenger windows like Google chat. While supposedly not supported, I have been able to use it with no problems with Open Office.
  
  Due to an injury, I have problems typing for long periods. Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 has been a lifesaver when writing papers for college.
  
  
• Not many options for voice speech engines, but this one works well enough
  By A6228PFGP2MK6 on 2008-11-09
  Right out of the box, this software was helping me help my wife transcribe some tapes for her. My only criticisms have to do with editing commands.
  
  For instance, when you open the MyCommands editor, you will have to manually change the font from MS Sans Serif 7, unless that font works for you. This, too me, is pathetic.
  
  Also, I'm somewhat surprised that it doesn't automatically capitalize after a colon, or using the word, "Mr." or "Mrs."
  
  Another frustration for me, is many times while dictating a word like "help," DNS opens "Help" at the top of the Word title bar.
  
  The first reviewer posted that DNS 10 requires SSE2 capability, but didn't mention what it is, or who could be affected. Here you go:
  
  Streaming SIMD Extensions 2
  CPUs supporting SSE2
  AMD K8-based CPUs (Athlon 64, Sempron 64, Turion 64, etc)
  Intel NetBurst-based CPUs (Pentium 4, Xeon, Celeron, Celeron D, etc)
  Intel Pentium M and Celeron M
  Intel Core-based CPUs (Core Duo, Core Solo, etc)
  Intel Core 2-based CPUs (Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, etc)
  Intel Atom
  Transmeta Efficeon
  VIA C7
  VIA Nano
  
  Notable IA-32 CPUs not supporting SSE2
  SSE2 is an extension of the IA-32 architecture. Therefore any architecture that does not support IA-32 does not support SSE2. x86-64 CPUs all implement IA-32, by definition. All known x86-64 CPUs also implement SSE2. Since IA-32 predates SSE2, early IA-32 CPUs did not implement it. SSE2 and the other SIMD instruction sets were intended primarily to improve CPU support for realtime graphics, notably gaming. A CPU that is not marketed for this purpose or that has an alternative SIMD instruction set has no need for SSE2.
  
  The following CPUs implemented IA-32 after SSE2 was developed, but did not implement SSE2:
  
  AMD CPUs prior to Athlon 64, including all Socket A-based CPUs
  Intel CPUs prior to Pentium 4
  Via C3
  Transmeta Crusoe
  
  If you do buy DNS, you will most likely find a forum by the name of knowbrainer.com while google-ing for help. Very helpful folks over there.
  
  
• There is a major problem with this edition; you need to go to their website and download an update before it will work
  By A4Z1TX90HCVJU on 2008-09-19
  This edition works very well, but there is a problem with getting the data off of the install dvd. In addition, you have to go online and download the update. Other than that issue, which may be formally updated soon, the software is, as usual, very good at doing what it's intended to do.
  
  
• it works as advertised
  By A2JXHGMHT98ADC on 2008-09-22
  Dragon naturally speaking (Standard Edition) works as advertised.
  
  there is a learning curve for formatting, etc., but straight dictation is excellent.
  
  
• Dragon Naturally Speaking 10
  By A30ZV6MJISEJRU on 2008-09-28
  The product is to hard to get it to run. We have problems every time we try to use it. I would have like for the instruction to have be a little more user friendly. The charge of $19.95 for tec. help is out highway robery.
  
  
• Tough to install and reach support
  By ANWBKMCVDA9ED on 2008-10-02
  After several attemps to load the installation software. I ask for help from their supoort group. They wanted to charge me $19.95 for the call. I tried e-support (that was $9.95) only to be told the Dragon Naturally Speaking would not work on Windows Vista 64 bit systems. I have never heard of a company charging for installation help. So much for good customer service. Amazon allowed be to return it. Now that is good customer service.
  
  
• Still easier to type
  By A3ULRYHVB2FDNT on 2008-09-13
  I thought I would use this a lot, but I don't. I'm usually on the computer with other people close by, so my talking would disturb them. Even when I'm not bothering others, I find it is often still easier to type.
  
  
• Watch out -- this only works on computers 2006 or later
  By A11OBY0NY1P81K on 2008-11-13
  What started out as excitement turned into a four hour nightmare of installation -- and we are NOT computer idiots. Nowhere on the box does it note that you must have an SSE2 chip in your computer (usually found in 2006 or later models). It simply indicates that it works with various OS, including our XP. (However, if you look at the 5 pt. print on the bottom right corner, it gives you a website to "check for compatibility" -- gosh, that's helpful, while you're standing in the store. *sarcasm here*)
  
  After you've spent three hours installing and reinstalling (it does helpfully tell you that it has run into a problem and needs to be reinstalled . . .), you start looking on-line, wondering "is it ME? . . .", and then discover, buried deep in Nuance's problem database, that you need an SSE2 chip. Okaaay . . . check, and sure enough, I only have an SSE chip. Drat. So, I follow the instructions and call Nuance (no evening or weekend hours). FOUR transfers and two hang-ups later, I found a guy who was willing to issue me a RMA to return the software, but only to be told that it would take them 6 to 8 weeks to refund my money. HELLO!?!?!? TWO MONTHS to refund money? No way. My retailer was kind enough to refund the money instantly after it insured that the program had been uninstalled . .
  
  And that's another annoyance. There is no "uninstall" on this software. And just when you think you got rid of it, you try to turn the computer off to reboot, and Dragon won't let you! It keeps telling you that "Dragon Naturally Speaking is still installing. Please wait until process is completed before turning off your computer."
  
  I know a lot of people like this software -- but if you have an SSE chip, DON'T buy the Version 10!!
  
  
• Works as advertised
  By A13GR63C2G5U0B on 2008-10-06
  When trying a dictation program about 4 years ago, I found that product cumbersome and considered these programs a waste. But, after reading many reviews of this product, I decided to give the basic version a try. I am glad that I did. While not perfect, I am impressed. I am sure that as I continue to use the program I will improve. From the beginning the accuracy has impressed. If you had a poor experience in the past with this type of program, I suggest giving this Naturally Speaking 10 a chance.
  
  
• Won't install on 64-bit Windows
  By A3LD3YVU7TUY4T on 2008-10-08
  How long has 64-bit XP been around? 4 or 5 years? Nuance should have gotten around to adding 64-bit support by now.
  
  
• Dragon Naturally Speech Recognition System
  By A13YO7DNA46Q67 on 2008-10-10
  Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard
  
  The latest version of Dragon's speech recognition system at first glance is not that different from version 9. The biggest immediate visual difference is the new headset which features a single earphone with attached microphone. The sound is clearer both as input and output. The software does load more easily and it automatically recognizes the software loaded on your hard drive that Dragon can work with. But, like it's older brother, versions 10 requires training, training and more training. As with all such systems the real trick is for the speaker to train his or her speaking voice. Slow and steady wins the race. Patience will pay big dividends. By the way, the faster the CPU and the greater the system memory, the better Dragon seems to work. At least 1 gig is minimum; two is better, three to four is magic. You don't want the software to go to the hard drive any more than absolutely necessary.
  
  
• won't install
  By AUC09M6D8DA00 on 2008-10-14
  I used Dragon 8 Preferred and loved it. Just bought a new Toshiba notebook with dual core fastest Intel CPU and huge hard drive. HAve spent the last 6 hours trying to install Dragon 10 PReferred. It gets to the "installing, this may take a few minutes" and then locks up. The CPU shows 50% use, but the hard drive is idle -- have no idea what the CPU is doing. I've uninstalled, reinstalled, used system restore, tried again -- same lock up. Tried the Nuance website, which tells me nothing in their FAQ section, but offers to help me for $9.95 per incident. No support for a $200 program? You gotta be kidding me. Look at some of the evals on other listings for this product -- lock-up and no-install are reporterd as common problems!!
  
  
• Great voice recognition
  By A2FHOZ91AERDPY on 2008-10-12
  This is an excellent product. The voice recognition looks through the documents that are already on your computer and then integrates those words into your program. I do alot of medical writing and after a couple of minutes, I was able to use medical terminology and the program would pick it up rather well. The only caveat is that the program works much better at recognition on my desktop than it does on my laptop, both which are relatively new. I can only imagine that this may be because of the sound card?
  
  
• Works great!
  By A2TDW32GIC2K86 on 2008-10-13
  I didn't have high hopes for this software, because people always tell me that voice recognition software is not very accurate. But, the Dragon software has always been far above all the others in the ratings, so I decided to give it a shot. I probably wouldn't have tried it had it not had a 30 day money back guarantee, but since it did, I didn't have anything to lose.
  
  The program comes with a dozen or more "training" sessions. You don't have to do the trainings, but I've found that each one I do increases the accuracy quite a bit. Although, the out-of-the-box accuracy was pretty darned good.
  
  The biggest problem I have is trying to think in whole thought. We tend to not do that whey typing emails. The accuracy is close to 100% if I can speak as though I'm having a conversation and not thinking about each word I type. I tried telling a story using MS Word, and the accuracy was excellent. That's how I know that it works better when you can speak in whole thoughts. But, even speaking in a choppy way produces very good results.
  
  I highly recommend this product for anyone who has the need for voice recognition software.
  
  
• Voice to Text
  By A1Y1JM0NW9TL3A on 2008-10-24
  This product is worthless when using with tape recorders. I am deaf and records class notes as I want voice to text software.
  
  
• Love this software
  By A2317IOUNPPX7I on 2008-11-01
  
  Been using Dragon 9 for a numberr of years and love the convenience. Dragon 10 really has raised the bar even higher. Good job Nuance!
  
  
• Won't Work With 64-bit Vista...
  By A1KZTXT7ZEBCE5 on 2008-11-29
  I was all excited to give this product a try only to find that I couldn't even load it on my new Toshiba laptop with the Vista operating system.I tried twice to load it onto my laptop without success. After going to the manufacturer's (Nuance) website, I found out that the program is not compatible with 64-bit operating systems...
  
  Are you kidding me??!!??
  This was supposed to be the most recent version of this software. After reading the system requirements printed on the box more closely, I noticed that it does say that the 32-bit Vista operating system was supported. Well for those of us who aren't computer experts, it'd be nice if the manufacturer clearly labeled the box with "PRODUCT NOT COMPATIBLE WITH 64-BIT VISTA OPERATING SYSTEM"-- since most of us expect software to work with ALL versions of an operating system when it's listed as a supported operating system. Who even knew that there were 2 versions of the Vista operating system.
  
  So if you've got a newer computer, make sure you check which version of Vista you are running before buying this software!!!
  
  
• Faster than typing, though not perfect
  By A3PYL3SMI2A083 on 2008-10-11
  I've had it for about two months. I do have to spend some time going back and proofreading and editing documents because it isn't perfect. But, even with that it is faster than trying to type it all out where I still have to go back and proofread anyway. For me this was definitely worth the money. The included headset isn't very comfortable but is ok if you aren't using it for long periods of time.
  
  
• Good for those who need it
  By A7AO6Q5BTVCVC on 2008-10-23
  Basically, don't believe the hype about being able to write 3 to 4 times faster with it. That's a bunch of BS. That said, I don't hate the program. In fact, it's great for me or anyone like me that has difficulty typing. I write a lot slower but it's better than not being to write at all.
  
  My main problem is that with two little kids, there's a lot of background noise in the house which easily confuses them. So my writing is limited while they are up.but when there are either taking a nap or asleep for the night it goes pretty fast -- but still slower than typing, just because I find it easier to talk in small phrases and check it for errors as I go then try and reread it from the beginning and catch all the goofy recognition errors.
  
  Bottom line: if you have carpal tunnel syndrome or some other condition that makes it difficult to type, don't hesitate to buy this product. Plus, version 10 seems to work fine with Vista on my low to mid end laptop -- not hogging that much resources. If you have no problem typing, or work with a lot of background noise, don't even bother.
  
  
• Naturally made for me
  By A1TBCT7195A7IU on 2008-10-30
  I had purchased Dragon Speaking 9 the previous year and I just loved. Now Dragon 10 is just wonderful. I always pride myself on speak clearly. This product aids me in my use of clear speech. No dropping of "g's" or the swallowing of "r's". You have to pronounce and enunciate all of the words. And the training to learn the product was so easy. The only complaint I have is the headset. It is too tight. I had to buy a larger headset. Other then that, I am very happy.
  
  
• great when it works
  By A27U7Z62JUZAXK on 2008-11-18
  I had to get Dragon Naturally Speaking Standard 10 since my newer Vista Laptop doesn't accept my old Dragon version 7, and the built in Vista word recognition is so cruddy, refusing to even work on the Microsoft Word Processor, insisting on only working on the Word, which you must pay extra for. On the one hand, it does work slightly better than 7 even after years of training 7. No need of long training sessions before it even starts to recognize your voice correctly. Right out of the box it works better than 7 in almost every way. However, it does have 2 problems. One, when you say period, at odd intervals, it not only puts in the period, but a random capitol letter and erases any empty space between the random letter and the next word, even if it has to erase two or three empty lines to do it. The second is more frustrating. On random days about two to three weeks apart, it refuses to start. As I say, I have a laptop. Even though it worked perfectly adequately every day for a month, it suddenly refused to turn on because it could not find a multimedia card on my computer. (No laptop has one, as they all use a multimedia chip.) After three or four attempts I gave up. But the next morning it was back to running normally. Until two weeks later. When I tried to turn it on I got the same panic stricken notice that the multimedia card from my computer was missing or broken, and that it was impossible for Dragon to work on my computer until I installed a new card. Next day it ran normally, apparently never noticing the card wasn`t there.
  
  
  
• I can't believe how well this product works!
  By A31CC1WI71ES on 2008-11-18
  wow I have only had this product for a day and a half. And I am very very impressed with it. The installation of the product(dragon) only took about 10 minutes to install. The voice recognition took about another 10 to fully understand my voice patterns. Actually it started understanding my voice within the first 1 to 2 seconds. I already sent out a ton of e-mails to friends and family. Telling them about this product. All of them are super impressed that for the most part I never even have to touch the keyboard. Most of them have seen my previous e-mails and no that I'm not the greatest typer in the world and misspell words quite a bit. They are impressed of how accurate this software is. For a person like me with a reading disability. This product I would have to say is the best product on the market for people with disabilities. I have dictated this entire review and Dragon has tight every word of it with few mistakes. Occasionally I will have to hit the backspace button and most of the time it is my dictation error that I have to correct. I would recommend this product to anyone that might not have the dexterity to type for long periods of time. Or people with reading disabilities that might not be able to spell very well like myself. This product is awesome. Oh yeah I also read a review before I bought this product that said the man or woman who installed the product on their PC said it had a rocky installation on Vista. I did not run into any problems that they indicated. This product is a dream come true for me.
  
  Landon
  
  
• Speak Ahoy ! (no more 2 finger typing)
  By A2QHASR3LUQX3H on 2008-11-25
  This is one of the best software products that I have used to date. I have it installed on a vista dual-core laptop. Maybe the reason why so many people complain is that they don't realize that, it is indeed a CPU-intensive application, which probably should not be run on a single core computer.
  
  It runs flawlessly on my laptop & I love it because I am a 2 finger typist. If you take pain initially to correctly "correct" its mistakes, it learns and makes fewer and fewer mistakes. Keep in mind it does not make too many mistakes to begin with !!
  
  Its definitely a step forward and is way better than Vista speech recognition, which is a JOKE in itself !
  
  
• Known Flaw
  By A23R5J6BH3T627 on 2008-11-28
  It would not install on Windows XP and when I read a ZD Net review this flaw was noted. I went to the Nuance web site and there was no patch posed. The fix I am told is to spend 2 hours on the phone with there techincal support that is not even a 800 number. I returned the product for a refund but what a waste of time. Nuance did not even bother to find out why I returned it. Do not mess with this product.Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred
  
  
• Speech to text
  By A33LAYTYNK418K on 2008-10-06
  Product works well with my operating system XP. Does what it is suppose to do.
  
  
• Pretty good product, a little more work to set up...
  By A30IRALOACJ7PG on 2008-10-17
  Works pretty well, had some trouble getting acceptable sound quality through the supplied headset, it took more time to get it set up (having the software recognize how your pronounciation sounds for many words). First use of voice recognition software, my HS age son who has mild dyslexia is the primary user, after a couple of weeks he is still getting used to it.
  
  

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