Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Preferred [OLD VERSION]

by Nuance Communications, Inc.

Product Features

• The new Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 speech engine is up to 20% more accurate than version 8
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 is up to 99% accurate, and often more accurate than typing. Dragon NaturallySpeaking never makes a spelling mistake, and it actually gets smarter the more you use it
• Most people speak over 120 words per minute, but type less than 40 words a minute. Dragon NaturallySpeaking lets you create letters and e-mails about three times faster than typing by hand.
• You'll be dictating letters, e-mails and surfing the web by voice right away! No script reading required to get started. Includes a full set of on-screen tutorials, and a Nuance approved free noise-canceling microphone.
• Use your voice to dictate, edit and control applications like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Corel WordPerfect. Mac users take note: Dragon Naturally Speaking is now fully compatible with VMware Fusion.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 2.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000H2049I
• Item model number: A109A-G01-9.0
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 10, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (260 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,976 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)

Product Description

Amazon.com

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 (Preferred Edition) gives small business users and PC user the power to create documents, reports, e-mails and more -- all by speaking! Over three times faster than typing, and amazingly accurate, NaturallySpeaking 9 translates your voice dictations into Microsoft Word and Excel, Corel WordPerfect, and virtually all Windows-based applications. You can even dictate into a handheld device when you're away from your PC, or use a Bluetooth microphone. It's never been easier to use -- no script reading required, so you can get started right away!

NaturallySpeaking 9 translates your voice dictations into Microsoft Word and Excel, Corel WordPerfect, and virtually all Windows-based applications. View larger.

Three Times Faster than Typing
A C/NET Editor's Choice for February 2006, and a PC World 100 Best Products choice of 2006, Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 is up to 99 percent accurate, and often more accurate than typing. Dragon NaturallySpeaking never makes a spelling mistake, and it's actually programmed to get "smarter" the more your use it. And because most people speak over 120 words per minute, but type less than 40 words a minute, NaturallySpeaking effectively lets you create letters and e-mails about three times faster than typing by hand.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 is extremely easy to use and require no training. A full set of on-screen tutorials, and an included approved free noise-canceling microphone, helps you get started immediately. And you can use your voice to dictate, edit and control just about any Windows-based application, which gives you unprecedented flexibility as you work. It even supports Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird. Just talk, and you can surf the web, open and close applications, even control your mouse and the entire desktop. You can also dictate, edit, and navigate more easily in Microsoft Word, Outlook Express, and Corel WordPerfect than in previous versions. For Web browsing, Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 lets you search the Web, access information, and navigate web pages by speaking URLs and links.

Bluetooth Wireless Microphone and PDA Support
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 now supports certain Bluetooth wireless microphones as an input device, empowering you to dictate without being tethered to your PC. And you can also use the software with Nuance-approved Bluetooth headsets. You can even dictate into any Nuance-certified handheld device for automatic transcription when you synch with your PC. Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 supports handheld digital recorders and other PDAs that record in .wma and .mp3 format for deferred transcription.

Seamless Editing, Formatting, and Punctuation
With the program's "smart formatting" functionality, you can specify exactly how you want to format dates, measurements, acronyms or any word to meet your requirements. By simply scanning your documents, contact names and sent e-mails, you can add contact names to the program's vocabulary, thereby assuring that you'll never have to spell a name again. And when you select and correct an unrecognized word -- using voice, mouse, or keyboard -- the software will learn from your correction, and you'll never have to worry about another mis-spelling.

The DragonBar includes a "Select and Say" indicator that turns green when you are in an application or window where all of NaturallySpeaking's functionality is supported.

We all add unnecessary "ums" and "ahs" when we speak, and the last thing you want is to spend your time editing all those extraneous insertions from your documents. Thanks to its built-in Nothing But Speech (NBS) technology, Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 filters out inadvertent fillers and sounds between words, keeping your document clean. In addition, the program's "natural punctuation" feature means that when you dictate casual writing styles, you no longer have to say "period" and "comma."

When you have to make edits to your work, you can simply choose the "Select-and-Say" feature to make text changes by voice in many dialogues and applications. Dictation Playback makes editing even easier by playing back what you said so that you can quickly correct your work. To hear any text spoken aloud, such as incoming e-mail, you can use the "Text-to-Speech" functionality and simply sit back and listen to your e-mail.

Product Description

Dragon products have won over 175 major awards for accuracy and ease of use, and are used by more people around the world than any other speech recognition software. Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred 9 gives small business users and PC enthusiasts the power to create documents, reports, e-mails and more - all by speaking! Fast, easy and amazingly accurate, it's over three times faster than typing. Just use your voice to dictate and edit in Microsoft Word and Excel, Corel WordPerfect, and virtually all Windows-based applications. You can even dictate into a handheld device when you're away from your PC, or use a Bluetooth microphone! It's never been easier to use with no script reading required, so you can get started right away! Dragon products have won over 175 major awards for accuracy and ease of use, and are used by more people around the world than any other speech recognition software. Use Dragon NaturallySpeaking with Nuance-approved Bluetooth headsets Dictate into any Nuance-certified handheld device for automatic transcription when you synch with your PC Supports Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird New indicator that lets you know when you have Select-And-Say functionality available New supported edit controls include Borland's TMemo, TEdit & TRichEdit controls as well as TE Edit from SubSystems and TX Text from TX Text Control Also supports handheld digital recorders and other PDAs that record in. wma and .mp3 format for deferred transcription.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

476 of 493 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Much improved..., August 5, 2006

By 

Andrew Simms - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Preferred [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

The original title of my review was going to be "snookered again," but I've since had a change of heart (and sound card). I originally purchased Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 4 years ago which was a total piece of junk. Upon hearing a short review on NPR, it sounded like things had improved.

First off, caveat emptor. You need a good sound card. Nuance is not very helpful here. Their website/docs simply state you need a Sound Blaster 16. I don't know if it's occurred to them you can't purchase a Sound Blaster 16 card anymore (nor would you want to), and they should just bite the bullet and present a list of cards that work well (like they do for microphones). I bought a Sound Blaster X-fi XtremeMusic which seems to work. Second, you need a hefty machine. For me this is a 2.4 GHz dual processor XP workstation with a gig of RAM. The box says you can get by with 512 MB of RAM and a 1 GHz processor, I'm not sure I believe this.

Once you have the right hardware in place the software seems to work fairly well. This review was dictated using the software. However, I'm not giving them five stars because they still seem to suffer from poor software engineering. As an example, take the set up and training process. I was waiting for a new sound card to arrive and thought I would try using my onboard sound card built into my Dell. The setup process did claim that the sound quality was insufficient. Unfortunately, navigating out of the process was impossible leaving me stuck at the "welcome to general training" screen. When the new sound card arrived, Dragon was still stuck looking at the on board sound system and had no UI to allow me to use the new sound card. My only solution was to disable the onboard sound system which luckily forced Dragon back into configuration mode where I could reselect my microphone parameters. A second example of amateur software development was an error message ("can't load compatibility module") that is caused by Dragon's attempt to build a link between icons on the desktop and voice commands. This message wouldn't be so bad if it were not accompanied by random crashes ("dragon is unable to respond, please close all applications using..."). A recently posted knowledge base article states that the error message only comes up if links are invalid on the desktop, and suggest removing things using RegEdit (I kid you not). After uninstalling a SonyEricsson desktop link that I wasn't using, the message went away along with the random crashes.

In summary, Dragon has matured from snake-oil ware (v4) to usable. However, they need to make an investiment in the non-voice rec modules of their software.

182 of 186 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Much improved. I think it's past the "tipping" point., August 10, 2006

By 

Larry OBrien (Kailua Kona, HI, US) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Preferred [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

I have long looked at voice dictation software and been disappointed. I am a professional writer and the possibility of dictating my work at least in draft form has always been so appealing that I tried every generation of voice dictation software going back to the early 1990s.

I received NaturallySpeaking 9 last night and captured the screen cast of the out of box experience. While I did not achieve recognition in the upper 90th percentile, I did achieve recognition significantly better than any I have seen before in previous generations. Fans of voice dictation have long said that, "if only you train the application for a few weeks, you can achieve quite practical levels of recognition. " I imagine that's true, but I've never had an initial experience positive enough to make me try.with NaturallySpeaking, the out of box experience is so good that I am willing to continue working with the application.

While I do own a hefty system, dual processors and a few gigabytes of RAM, unlike the other reviewer I've had a very positive experience using only the motherboard's onboard sound.

I won't give it five stars, because I do think that Nuance is overstating the recognition statistics out of the box: while it's extremely good, better than anything I've seen, it is not, for me, only one or two words in 100 that I need to fix.

I've dictated this review, and made around five corrections. Several paragraphs were recognized flawlessly. Given that I type 90 words per minute I think that I would've been able to type this review in approximately the same amount of time,but for slower typists, or for those of us who occasionally dictate documents into recorders for later transcription, I believe that NaturallySpeaking has reached a tipping point and is worth the money.

104 of 105 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Superb performance for the most part, but poor support must be considered., August 11, 2006

By 

Jerry Saperstein (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

I was impressed with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8, but version 9 is vastly improved in terms of speech recognition. Version 8 was excellent; perhaps in the 95% range. Version 9 comes very close to 100% right out of the box, without any special training.

Nuance is clear about the product requirements. A processor faster than 1Ghz is required along with at least 1GB of RAM (with 512MB minimum free). At least 650 MB of drive space is required. (The previous reviewer apparently did not read these requirements.)

Installation on a computer running Windows XP SP 2 was entirely uneventful. Setting NaturallySpeaking v9 up with two different microphones was a snap. Recognition in a variety of applications was literally 100% without any training. It was, in fact, amazing. Setting the program up to run with a digital voice recorder, however, didn't go so smoothly - and that's why my rating is only 3 stars for what technologically is a 5 star product.

Nuance's tech support is absolutely awful. They charge $ 9.95 even for an e-mail response, which they call an "incident." The manual has virtually no information on troubleshooting. Their online knowledgebase is not well indexed. Or, more accurately, they are running it on a particularly poor platform. Their user community is sparsely used and a lot of the information is useless.

Nuance should learn that turning out a superior product isn't enough. It has to be supported competently as well and it is here that Nuance falls flat on its face.

On the other hand, I recognize that the product is working with two microphones and hopefully I will find the answer to my problem somewhere, some day. As a long-time (and long-suffering) voice recognition software user, I will say the accuracy of NaturallySpeaking 9 Preferred is phenomenal. Only the support stinks.

Jerry