- Software for interacting with a PC using speech instead of a keyboard and mouse
- Spoken words appear on the computer screen--3 times faster than typing
- Works with nearly any Windows-based application; up to 99-percent accuracy right out of the box
- Dragon Sidebar puts key commands and tips in one desktop location for at-a-glance convenience
- Simple installation takes just a few minutes; on-screen help and tutorials; headset included
Product Features |
System Requirements
- Platform: Windows 7 / Vista / 2000 / XP
- Media: Software
- Item Quantity: 1
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Product Description
Amazon.com
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Premium provides a whole new way to interact with a PC--using speech instead of a keyboard and mouse--to help you work faster and more efficiently. Dragon turns ideas into text at the speed of thought so you can communicate more freely and persuasively. Just say words and watch them appear on the computer screen--three times faster than typing--with no typos! Tell your PC what to do, and it obeys your commands. 
Officer Jeff Potter, Cottonwood, Utah Police Department: “Dragon not only increases my productivity by letting me finish reports faster, it increases the number of calls I can respond to, which means I can be in service longer and have more availability when dispatch contacts me.” Read more [PDF]
Architect Christine Broda: "A lot of what I do uses technical terms, but Dragon does a good job of picking up just about everything. If I say ‘half-inch,’ for example, it better come out right.” Read more [PDF]
Create and manage unique user profiles. View larger.
Get more done faster:
- Dictate, edit and format documents
- Create spreadsheets and presentations
- Search the Web or desktop
- Send email and instant messages
- Create appointments and schedules
- Use a digital voice recorder to capture notes for later transcription at your PC
Dragon 11 Premium includes everything users need to get started, including a high-quality headset.
User arrow keys, cursor, or voice to make a selection. View larger.
A Personal Assistant for the PC
With Dragon, users say words and they appear on the computer screen--three times faster than typing--with up to 99-percent accuracy right out of the box. You can even personalize Dragon with custom word lists and formatting preferences. Dragon gets more accurate over time as it learns your word choices and writing style.
More Accurate than ever Before
New! Dragon 11 Premium delivers significantly improved accuracy, reducing recognition errors by up to 15-percent over Dragon 10. Plus, it detects hardware resources and automatically sets up the recommended configuration for optimal performance.
Control Your Computer by Voice
New! More Dragon Voice Shortcuts: Just say what you want to do, and Dragon does it. In addition to simple commands that create email, schedule appointments, and search the Web or desktop, now you can use "Search [website] for [xyz]" commands to conduct specific searches on Facebook.com, MySpace.com, Twitter, IRS.gov, and the Nuance technical KnowledgeBase.
Custom Commands: Dragon works the way you work. Users can create custom voice commands--quickly and easily--to insert frequently used text and/or graphics for dramatic time savings.
Variety of tools to refine profile accuracy. View larger.
Be More Creative and Productive--Anywhere
Dragon keeps up with users' brains, instantly transforming ideas into text--with no typos. So you can focus on content instead of typing and spelling for higher quality, more detailed results. For optimal convenience, you can:
Stand up, pace, or cross the room--there's no need to be tethered to your PC when you use Dragon with a wireless headset. Or use the free Dragon Remote Microphone application to turn your iPhone into a wireless microphone. Now it's easier - and more comfortable - for users to capture their thoughts and ideas without letting the keyboard get in their way.
Dictate notes using a digital voice recorder to capture thoughts while they're still fresh in your mind. And training recorders has never been easier!
New! Creating a user profile for a digital voice recorder has never been faster or easier. Plus, Dragon 11 Premium now directly accepts more audio file formats.
Easy to Use
New! The Dragon Sidebar allows users to discover and access key commands and tips by putting them in one convenient desktop location. Its content automatically changes depending on which window is currently active.
Dragon Premium works with just about any Windows application--Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, Internet Explorer, OpenOffice Writer, and more--making the applications you rely on every day faster and easier to use.
Create documents, spreadsheets, and email; schedule appointments; or search the Web--just by talking!
Convenient playback/text-to-speech function. View larger.
Key Benefits
Turn Talk into Text
Say words and watch them appear on your computer screen in Word, Word Perfect, Excel, Outlook, and more--three times faster than typing--with up to 99-percent recognition accuracy right out of the box.
Unlock Your Creativity
Transform ideas into text at the speed of thought; don't let typing slow you down. Play back what you've written for easy proofing.
Work Comfortably
Control your PC in a relaxed, hands-free mode without being tied to your keyboard. Say goodbye to repetitive stress injuries.
Use Virtually Any Windows Application
Create reports, spreadsheets or presentations; send email or schedule meetings; surf the Web; update your Facebook status or download your favorite music--using just your voice.
Multi-Task Like Never Before
Tell your PC what to do, like "Send email to Jon Smith and Raphael Sanchez" or "Search the Web for Internet marketing companies in Boston, Massachusetts" to work faster and smarter. Complete multiple steps with a single voice command.
Work Your Way
Personalize Dragon with custom word lists and voice commands that reflect the kind of work you do; set formatting preferences, too.
Be Productive On the Go
Use a Nuance-approved digital voice recorder from anywhere, at anytime and Dragon will automatically transcribe the audio files when you return to your PC. Wireless microphone support delivers even more convenience.
Success Stories
Ed Madaus, Executive Director of Guild of St. Agnes: “I wasn’t doing a good job hunting and pecking on the keyboard while composing and replying to e-mails. My e-mail replies used to be as brief as possible, but now I can just speak my responses and be more in-depth with them.” Read more [PDF]Officer Jeff Potter, Cottonwood, Utah Police Department: “Dragon not only increases my productivity by letting me finish reports faster, it increases the number of calls I can respond to, which means I can be in service longer and have more availability when dispatch contacts me.” Read more [PDF]
Architect Christine Broda: "A lot of what I do uses technical terms, but Dragon does a good job of picking up just about everything. If I say ‘half-inch,’ for example, it better come out right.” Read more [PDF]
Product Description
Control Your Digital World by Voice.Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Premium provides a whole new way to interact with a PC -- using speech instead of a keyboard and mouse -- to help you work faster and more efficiently. Dragon turns ideas into text at the speed of thought so you can municate more freely and persuasively. Just say words and watch them appear on the puter screen -- three times faster than typing -- with no typos! Tell your PC what to do and it obeys your mands. Get more done faster: Dictate edit and format documents. Create spreadsheets and presentations. Search the Web or desktop. Send email and instant messages. Create appointments and schedules. Use a digital voice recorder to capture notes for later transcription at your PC.Dragon 11 Premium includes everything users need to get started including a high-quality headset. Dragon Premium Wireless includes a wireless headset and Dragon Premium Mobile includes a digital voice recorder. Key Features: A personal assistant for the Web. With Dragon users say words and they appear on the puter screen -- three times faster than typing -- with up to 99% accuracy right out of the box. You can even personalize Dragon with custom word lists and formatting preferences. Dragon gets more accurate over time as it learns your word choices and writing style. More accurate than ever before. NEW! Dragon 11 Premium delivers significantly improved accuracy reducing recognition errors by up to 15% over Dragon 10. Plus it detects hardware resources and automatically sets up the remended configuration for optimal performance. Control your puter by voice. NEW! More Dragon Voice Shortcuts: Just say what you want to do and Dragon does it. In addition to simple mands that create email schedule appointments and search the Web or desktop now you can use Search [website] for [xyz] mands to conduct specific searches on Facebook. MySpace. Twitter IRS.gov and the Nuance technical Knowle
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1,016 of 1,044 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Speech Recognition: Carefully Select the Dragon Product You Need
September 6, 2010
The progress in speech recognition over the years has been mind boggling. 1995 was when I first started using IBM Via Voice and you had to speak each word distinctly. Original Dragon product was called Dragon Dictate and then they changed it to Dragon Naturally Speaking in 1997 and I have been using it ever since, faithfully upgrading to each new version. At that time when you called technical support you could even talk to Dr. Janet Baker, the inventor of the speech recognition and founder of Dragon.
With version 4 they started Dragon Naturally Speaking Medical and that helped in that medical terminology was already included albeit several folds the cost of the regular professional Dragon Naturally Speaking.
Each version has improved the accuracy and they have not made the product unduly complicated or cluttered, as is the usual tendency with software upgrades. Version 11 of Dragon is slower and needs more resources, I could not run it in Windows 7 under Fusion and have to use it in Windows 7 under Bootcamp on Mac. The speech recognition accuracy is almost 97% in this version: it still stumbles on small words like two, to, too, 2; of, off; and, on; for, per etc. But upgrading from Dragon version 10, the improvement is accuracy is noticeable enough to make this upgrade worthwhile. Although program gives you the option of adding punctuation automatically, in my experience it does not work well and you are better off dictating punctuation. Tutorial videos that come with the program and on their Nuance web site are very helpful. In the past it really helped that you could print the commands and pin the sheet on the wall so you could reference them while dictating: not in this version, they do not give you the option of printing commands. But at least it was a pleasant surprise to see that Nuance has not ruined Dragon 11 like their other product Paperport 12.
Sitting in front of your computer screen you say "Search Hardware Compatibility on Nuance" - and out pop the results of your search in front of your eyes. The program will open your browser, search Google and bring the results on Nuance web site on your screen. For sure, you will be wowed!
Since it is going to be a while before the Dragon medical comes out, I decided to buy Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium 11 Bluetooth which comes with PLANTRONIC Calisto Headset with USB Dongle - 81493-02. For general dictation the accuracy is fantastic. By letting the program scan my previous documents, I have been able to add a lot of medical terminology and save money by finding no need to purchase medical version when it comes out.
Previously they did not allow the option of using different accents in Dragon Medical but in this basic premium version you can and that has also helped improve the accuracy of speech recognition. So by selecting the Indian accent and adding medical vocabulary manually by scanning my documents, I have not only improved the accuracy but also saved money.
I purchased Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium 11 Bluetooth and the Calisto headset that came with it works really well. Although Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium 11 with Digital Recorder comes with Philips LFH0662/00 Digital Voice Tracer 0662 , if you look at Nuance web site for accuracy of different recorders under "Hardware Compatibility" Sony ICD-MX20 Memory Stick Pro Duo Digital Voice Recorder is the only recorder that gets 6 stars and I have been using it with Dragon.
Nuance's marketing department is very lazy and they use the same cookie cutter boilerplate text for all the different Dragon Naturally Speaking product lines without differentiating them but if you search "Feature Matrix" on their web site you can find the differences in different lines. The very basic Dragon Naturally Speaking Home 11 cannot be used with a recorder, has limited correction playback ability, and does not share vocabulary with different audio input sources. Then they also describe Dragon Naturally "Professional" version which does not show up on Amazon, as of September 2010, but has the ability to record macros and programming VBA scripts. Most users will need Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium 11. The premium version has text expanding commands, for example you can add a command to insert your full address when you say "home address". I still cannot figure out whether Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium 11 Student Edition has any less features or just a cheaper version of Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium 11. Looks like anyone can order it and you do not have to be a student. Nuance does not even give you the specifics of Digital Voice Recorder and Bluetooth versions in the product descriptions. What sluggard's?
The technical support from Nuance stinks - almost non-existent. If you run into any technical problems, you are much better off searching it on Google and using the expertise of other users in different forums. Don't expect any technical support from Nuance. Even their web site is disorganized and cluttered. They have all the information available on their web site, but just not obvious. Sometimes you have to search Google to find information on Nuance web site. Thankfully they appear to have some wiser voices in Dragon product development which are keeping their eye on the ball and have prevented Nuance from messing up the speech recognition accuracy and user interface of Dragon, so far. Another annoying thing they have started in this version is the pop up ads from software updater hounding you to buy their program Paperport 12.
For getting speech into the software, you have lot of different options that include corded and cordless headsets and microphones and recorders including PDA's. The whole list of voice capturing products is on Nuance's web site under "Hardware Compatibility" and they rate each one of them for voice recognition accuracy by number of Dragon's. Sony ICD-MX20DR9 32MB Flash-Based Digital Voice Recorder has the highest number of six Dragons. But following are what they sell and recommend and have good voice recognition fidelity:
A). Calisto Pro Bluetooth headset which comes with Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium 11 Bluetooth. But you can also buy it separately. In my experience it has the best speech recognition fidelity of all the microphones I have used, including Andrea. Purchasing Calisto Bluetooth as a part of Dragon 11 Bluetooth is a lot better deal that buying the two separately.
B). Philips SpeechMike - SpeechMike Air 3010 which is a wireless microphone but more expensive or Philips SpeechMike Pro Plus 5276 USB which has a cord. Advantage is the programmable buttons. I used it in QuickBooks Pro 2009 because the buttons could be customized for commands like next field, tab, correct, delete line, etc. But voice recognition accuracy is not as good as Calisto.
C). Dictaphone PowerMic II Nuance-Dictaphone that works with Dragon and they sold it previously only with their Medical and Legal versions. SpeechMike and Dictaphone recorders give you the ability to pause, play, fast forward and customize buttons for different commands. SpeechMike (and Dictaphone) are useful if you are going to use speech recognition in programs other than word processing or plain documents.
D). Voice recorders like Sony ICD-MX20, Philips Digital Tracer and numerous others which you can find by searching "Hardware Compatibility" on Nuance web site.
In last 10 years I have mostly dictated on recorders and then done the corrections at the end of the day in Dragon software. Real time correction can be time consuming and interrupt the flow of work; depending upon your line of work and accent too. Until now, I used SpeechMike 5276 for Dragon speech recognition in specialized software like Quickbooks, Quicken etc. mainly because it has programmable buttons - for example you can program a button to insert Ctrl-Delete at the same time. But now that Bluetooth headset is available, I have been using it with keyboard. At this time I am not sure if Philips SpeechMike makes you more efficient and productive than Bluetooth headset but it certainly is lot more expensive. Now that speech accuracy has improved, and the corrections do not take as much time, I have been dictating real time instead of using a recorder.
Irrespective of those dictation modalities, if you need to write a lot in your work e.g. journalist, lawyers, doctors, students, or for other projects, then you will not go wrong with this product. It will save you a lot of keyboard input and time.
With version 4 they started Dragon Naturally Speaking Medical and that helped in that medical terminology was already included albeit several folds the cost of the regular professional Dragon Naturally Speaking.
Each version has improved the accuracy and they have not made the product unduly complicated or cluttered, as is the usual tendency with software upgrades. Version 11 of Dragon is slower and needs more resources, I could not run it in Windows 7 under Fusion and have to use it in Windows 7 under Bootcamp on Mac. The speech recognition accuracy is almost 97% in this version: it still stumbles on small words like two, to, too, 2; of, off; and, on; for, per etc. But upgrading from Dragon version 10, the improvement is accuracy is noticeable enough to make this upgrade worthwhile. Although program gives you the option of adding punctuation automatically, in my experience it does not work well and you are better off dictating punctuation. Tutorial videos that come with the program and on their Nuance web site are very helpful. In the past it really helped that you could print the commands and pin the sheet on the wall so you could reference them while dictating: not in this version, they do not give you the option of printing commands. But at least it was a pleasant surprise to see that Nuance has not ruined Dragon 11 like their other product Paperport 12.
Sitting in front of your computer screen you say "Search Hardware Compatibility on Nuance" - and out pop the results of your search in front of your eyes. The program will open your browser, search Google and bring the results on Nuance web site on your screen. For sure, you will be wowed!
Since it is going to be a while before the Dragon medical comes out, I decided to buy Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium 11 Bluetooth which comes with PLANTRONIC Calisto Headset with USB Dongle - 81493-02. For general dictation the accuracy is fantastic. By letting the program scan my previous documents, I have been able to add a lot of medical terminology and save money by finding no need to purchase medical version when it comes out.
Previously they did not allow the option of using different accents in Dragon Medical but in this basic premium version you can and that has also helped improve the accuracy of speech recognition. So by selecting the Indian accent and adding medical vocabulary manually by scanning my documents, I have not only improved the accuracy but also saved money.
I purchased Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium 11 Bluetooth and the Calisto headset that came with it works really well. Although Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium 11 with Digital Recorder comes with Philips LFH0662/00 Digital Voice Tracer 0662 , if you look at Nuance web site for accuracy of different recorders under "Hardware Compatibility" Sony ICD-MX20 Memory Stick Pro Duo Digital Voice Recorder is the only recorder that gets 6 stars and I have been using it with Dragon.
Nuance's marketing department is very lazy and they use the same cookie cutter boilerplate text for all the different Dragon Naturally Speaking product lines without differentiating them but if you search "Feature Matrix" on their web site you can find the differences in different lines. The very basic Dragon Naturally Speaking Home 11 cannot be used with a recorder, has limited correction playback ability, and does not share vocabulary with different audio input sources. Then they also describe Dragon Naturally "Professional" version which does not show up on Amazon, as of September 2010, but has the ability to record macros and programming VBA scripts. Most users will need Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium 11. The premium version has text expanding commands, for example you can add a command to insert your full address when you say "home address". I still cannot figure out whether Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium 11 Student Edition has any less features or just a cheaper version of Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium 11. Looks like anyone can order it and you do not have to be a student. Nuance does not even give you the specifics of Digital Voice Recorder and Bluetooth versions in the product descriptions. What sluggard's?
The technical support from Nuance stinks - almost non-existent. If you run into any technical problems, you are much better off searching it on Google and using the expertise of other users in different forums. Don't expect any technical support from Nuance. Even their web site is disorganized and cluttered. They have all the information available on their web site, but just not obvious. Sometimes you have to search Google to find information on Nuance web site. Thankfully they appear to have some wiser voices in Dragon product development which are keeping their eye on the ball and have prevented Nuance from messing up the speech recognition accuracy and user interface of Dragon, so far. Another annoying thing they have started in this version is the pop up ads from software updater hounding you to buy their program Paperport 12.
For getting speech into the software, you have lot of different options that include corded and cordless headsets and microphones and recorders including PDA's. The whole list of voice capturing products is on Nuance's web site under "Hardware Compatibility" and they rate each one of them for voice recognition accuracy by number of Dragon's. Sony ICD-MX20DR9 32MB Flash-Based Digital Voice Recorder has the highest number of six Dragons. But following are what they sell and recommend and have good voice recognition fidelity:
A). Calisto Pro Bluetooth headset which comes with Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium 11 Bluetooth. But you can also buy it separately. In my experience it has the best speech recognition fidelity of all the microphones I have used, including Andrea. Purchasing Calisto Bluetooth as a part of Dragon 11 Bluetooth is a lot better deal that buying the two separately.
B). Philips SpeechMike - SpeechMike Air 3010 which is a wireless microphone but more expensive or Philips SpeechMike Pro Plus 5276 USB which has a cord. Advantage is the programmable buttons. I used it in QuickBooks Pro 2009 because the buttons could be customized for commands like next field, tab, correct, delete line, etc. But voice recognition accuracy is not as good as Calisto.
C). Dictaphone PowerMic II Nuance-Dictaphone that works with Dragon and they sold it previously only with their Medical and Legal versions. SpeechMike and Dictaphone recorders give you the ability to pause, play, fast forward and customize buttons for different commands. SpeechMike (and Dictaphone) are useful if you are going to use speech recognition in programs other than word processing or plain documents.
D). Voice recorders like Sony ICD-MX20, Philips Digital Tracer and numerous others which you can find by searching "Hardware Compatibility" on Nuance web site.
In last 10 years I have mostly dictated on recorders and then done the corrections at the end of the day in Dragon software. Real time correction can be time consuming and interrupt the flow of work; depending upon your line of work and accent too. Until now, I used SpeechMike 5276 for Dragon speech recognition in specialized software like Quickbooks, Quicken etc. mainly because it has programmable buttons - for example you can program a button to insert Ctrl-Delete at the same time. But now that Bluetooth headset is available, I have been using it with keyboard. At this time I am not sure if Philips SpeechMike makes you more efficient and productive than Bluetooth headset but it certainly is lot more expensive. Now that speech accuracy has improved, and the corrections do not take as much time, I have been dictating real time instead of using a recorder.
Irrespective of those dictation modalities, if you need to write a lot in your work e.g. journalist, lawyers, doctors, students, or for other projects, then you will not go wrong with this product. It will save you a lot of keyboard input and time.
314 of 323 people found the following review helpful
By Hal Lancer
If you are trying to decide between the Home and Premium versions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11, here is what Premium DNS 11 does that Home DNS 11 will not let you do:
* import or export custom word lists
* use voice commands (in English only, though) for Excel and PowerPoint 2003, 2007, or 2010 (Both versions can use voice commands for certain other programs such as Word)
* playback speech in documents
* save settings for more than one type of audio input device in a user profile
* allow transcription from certain supported digital recorders
* support a certain Bluetooth device for dictation
If you're new to DNS, you may find that one or more Premium features are very useful to your optimal use of the program. Most importantly for me, Premium can import or export custom word lists. If in your documents you often use a specialized vocabulary, say for a profession or hobby, and you can find online or in a file a list of common vocabulary words for it, you can save that list in Word in .txt file format and then import that .txt file directly into Premium DNS 11. This can be a tremendous timesaver over entering the words manually, depending on the size of your list. In DNS Home, you can enter new vocabulary the software will then recognize, but you'll do it typing or orally spelling them in, one word at a time. In Premium, after importing a list, you will likely still have to do voice training with a small percentage of your specialized vocab words, but most of them will be immediately recognized by DNS when you dictate them without any special training.
If you want to see Nuance's official list of the differences between the DNS versions, websearch "Dragon NaturallySpeaking Feature Matrix" and look for the .PDF file in the results. If you need more info about device support, websearch "Nuance Hardware Compatibility." Some other gear not listed there (such as my Plantronics USB headset) does work with DNS; Nuance just hasn't tested or rated it. Nonsupported digital recorders or Bluetooth devices may not work at all, however.
There are lots of mixed reviews here for DNS 11, I see. My own experience has been very positive with DNS 11 Premium version. It installed easily into Windows 7 Professional 64-bit for me and has done very accurate dictations with minimal training using a Plantronics .audio 630M USB headset. Because my PC is set up in the most secure fashion, with separate administrator and limited user accounts, I have had a couple issues related to my DNS User Profile and administrator privileges (when I needed to import vocabulary, and when I needed to set an Accuracy Training schedule), but I have worked them out. Most people will not have similar problems unless they have a Vista or Windows 7 PC with at least one limited user account; many Win7 users do not have their PC set up that way.
Although the software is surprisingly accurate out-of-the-box with many basic dictations and commands, to really get the most out of it, especially if you are new to voice-recognition software, you should plan to spend some time studying the Nuance workbook, viewing the tutorials available at the Nuance website, and using the Dragon Sidebar within the software to memorize and practice using the many commands. DNS 11 rewards study and practice with enhanced performance.
* import or export custom word lists
* use voice commands (in English only, though) for Excel and PowerPoint 2003, 2007, or 2010 (Both versions can use voice commands for certain other programs such as Word)
* playback speech in documents
* save settings for more than one type of audio input device in a user profile
* allow transcription from certain supported digital recorders
* support a certain Bluetooth device for dictation
If you're new to DNS, you may find that one or more Premium features are very useful to your optimal use of the program. Most importantly for me, Premium can import or export custom word lists. If in your documents you often use a specialized vocabulary, say for a profession or hobby, and you can find online or in a file a list of common vocabulary words for it, you can save that list in Word in .txt file format and then import that .txt file directly into Premium DNS 11. This can be a tremendous timesaver over entering the words manually, depending on the size of your list. In DNS Home, you can enter new vocabulary the software will then recognize, but you'll do it typing or orally spelling them in, one word at a time. In Premium, after importing a list, you will likely still have to do voice training with a small percentage of your specialized vocab words, but most of them will be immediately recognized by DNS when you dictate them without any special training.
If you want to see Nuance's official list of the differences between the DNS versions, websearch "Dragon NaturallySpeaking Feature Matrix" and look for the .PDF file in the results. If you need more info about device support, websearch "Nuance Hardware Compatibility." Some other gear not listed there (such as my Plantronics USB headset) does work with DNS; Nuance just hasn't tested or rated it. Nonsupported digital recorders or Bluetooth devices may not work at all, however.
There are lots of mixed reviews here for DNS 11, I see. My own experience has been very positive with DNS 11 Premium version. It installed easily into Windows 7 Professional 64-bit for me and has done very accurate dictations with minimal training using a Plantronics .audio 630M USB headset. Because my PC is set up in the most secure fashion, with separate administrator and limited user accounts, I have had a couple issues related to my DNS User Profile and administrator privileges (when I needed to import vocabulary, and when I needed to set an Accuracy Training schedule), but I have worked them out. Most people will not have similar problems unless they have a Vista or Windows 7 PC with at least one limited user account; many Win7 users do not have their PC set up that way.
Although the software is surprisingly accurate out-of-the-box with many basic dictations and commands, to really get the most out of it, especially if you are new to voice-recognition software, you should plan to spend some time studying the Nuance workbook, viewing the tutorials available at the Nuance website, and using the Dragon Sidebar within the software to memorize and practice using the many commands. DNS 11 rewards study and practice with enhanced performance.
916 of 960 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium 11 by Nuance / B003VNCROU
I bought this software with one goal in mind - my intent was to couple the software with a solid voice recorder in order to transcribe spoken notes, reviews, and journal entries. My intent was to "talk on the road" my reviews and journal entries, load the sound files onto my computer at the end of the day, feed them into Dragon, and with a minimum of editing turn out the text so that I could then paste the result into an Amazon window and bang off for the evening. As you will see, this didn't work so well.
Firstly, I did my research. The Nuance website has plenty of graphs on the best voice recorders for their software. I eventually went with the Philips Black Digital Voice Tracer 0660 - an inexpensive model (due to its lack of bells and whistles that I didn't need) that records with crystal clarity, has one of the best ratings on the Nuance site, and is *optionally bundled with this version of the software*. I want to emphasize that point - I own the recommended digital voice recorder that Nuance bundles with this device (for an extra $100, of course).
Once Dragon 11 came in the mail, setup was relatively breezy. I set this up on a Windows 7 environment with no problems. I was a little disappointed, however, to see that the transcription abilities right out of the box weren't exactly 90% or better - just to be clear, I loaded in a simple three-sentence sound file and Dragon only got a single word right. Direct dictation worked a lot better, but I didn't buy this to sit at my computer and speak - I bought it to transcribe audio files.
Dragon 11 allows you to train the system by reading pre-set text into your recording device, and letting Dragon consume the recording and get to know you a little better. I read the full 14 pages of "Alice in Wonderland", loaded it into Dragon, and left it to its devices. I also read another 10 pages of "3001: The Final Odyssey" and fed that into Dragon as well. As the final step, and because Dragon kept nagging me to do so with reminders, I loaded in the text files of every review I've written on Amazon, with the understanding that this would improve the personal dictionary, as well as help Dragon understand my speech nuances.
Confident that my profile was now fairly well fleshed-out, I began loading journal entries that I'd spoken into my recorder over the past few days. I was frustrated and annoyed at how bad the transcription recognition still was. I would say that the software is only correct about 50% of the time - I'd round it up to about 60% for "content", if not for word-to-word accuracy. I went through 5 journal entries, "correcting" manually as best I could (this is supposed to teach the software), but the recognition seemed to get worse with each sound file. The correction feature is INCREDIBLY fussy and fiddly, too - highlighting a couple of words and right-clicking "correct" sounds easy enough, but the highlighted selection will shift sometimes, and sometimes your corrections will move to where Dragon *thinks* you meant them to go. I felt like I was fighting the software, instead of working with it!
Final straw was when I finally had to copy-and-paste everything into a Word document, just so that I could make my corrections without my typed text being moved to where I didn't want it to go. I bought this software to save time, and I'd be willing to invest the time to train it, if I thought the training would make a difference, but I just don't.
I like to provide clear examples in reviews, so before I uninstalled Dragon and packaged it up for return, I told it to transcribe my "Alice in Wonderland" recording. Keep in mind that this is the recording that my *entire profile* was initially built on - Dragon took this recording, coupled with its internal transcript, and used it to learn my voice and inflections. I then took the source file I read (left) and compared it to the Dragon transcription attempt (right) and loaded them into Beyond Compare and printed off a pdf comparison (link below in comments). Note that the ONLY lines that Dragon sensed correctly were the chapter titles. I can't include links here in the review, but I'll post them in the comments - along with a link to my audio file, so you can hear for yourself what Dragon heard (and I'll cop to the fact that my reading isn't flawless).
I'd like to emphasize that I'm not posting this review to hate on Dragon - I'm impressed that it can do what it does. However, I spent my money on what I thought would be a relatively clean and correct transcription tool, and since it doesn't do what I need it to, I had to send it back for a refund with no hard feelings. The only reason I'm posting this is to help others who may want the same thing.
~ Ana Mardoll
I bought this software with one goal in mind - my intent was to couple the software with a solid voice recorder in order to transcribe spoken notes, reviews, and journal entries. My intent was to "talk on the road" my reviews and journal entries, load the sound files onto my computer at the end of the day, feed them into Dragon, and with a minimum of editing turn out the text so that I could then paste the result into an Amazon window and bang off for the evening. As you will see, this didn't work so well.
Firstly, I did my research. The Nuance website has plenty of graphs on the best voice recorders for their software. I eventually went with the Philips Black Digital Voice Tracer 0660 - an inexpensive model (due to its lack of bells and whistles that I didn't need) that records with crystal clarity, has one of the best ratings on the Nuance site, and is *optionally bundled with this version of the software*. I want to emphasize that point - I own the recommended digital voice recorder that Nuance bundles with this device (for an extra $100, of course).
Once Dragon 11 came in the mail, setup was relatively breezy. I set this up on a Windows 7 environment with no problems. I was a little disappointed, however, to see that the transcription abilities right out of the box weren't exactly 90% or better - just to be clear, I loaded in a simple three-sentence sound file and Dragon only got a single word right. Direct dictation worked a lot better, but I didn't buy this to sit at my computer and speak - I bought it to transcribe audio files.
Dragon 11 allows you to train the system by reading pre-set text into your recording device, and letting Dragon consume the recording and get to know you a little better. I read the full 14 pages of "Alice in Wonderland", loaded it into Dragon, and left it to its devices. I also read another 10 pages of "3001: The Final Odyssey" and fed that into Dragon as well. As the final step, and because Dragon kept nagging me to do so with reminders, I loaded in the text files of every review I've written on Amazon, with the understanding that this would improve the personal dictionary, as well as help Dragon understand my speech nuances.
Confident that my profile was now fairly well fleshed-out, I began loading journal entries that I'd spoken into my recorder over the past few days. I was frustrated and annoyed at how bad the transcription recognition still was. I would say that the software is only correct about 50% of the time - I'd round it up to about 60% for "content", if not for word-to-word accuracy. I went through 5 journal entries, "correcting" manually as best I could (this is supposed to teach the software), but the recognition seemed to get worse with each sound file. The correction feature is INCREDIBLY fussy and fiddly, too - highlighting a couple of words and right-clicking "correct" sounds easy enough, but the highlighted selection will shift sometimes, and sometimes your corrections will move to where Dragon *thinks* you meant them to go. I felt like I was fighting the software, instead of working with it!
Final straw was when I finally had to copy-and-paste everything into a Word document, just so that I could make my corrections without my typed text being moved to where I didn't want it to go. I bought this software to save time, and I'd be willing to invest the time to train it, if I thought the training would make a difference, but I just don't.
I like to provide clear examples in reviews, so before I uninstalled Dragon and packaged it up for return, I told it to transcribe my "Alice in Wonderland" recording. Keep in mind that this is the recording that my *entire profile* was initially built on - Dragon took this recording, coupled with its internal transcript, and used it to learn my voice and inflections. I then took the source file I read (left) and compared it to the Dragon transcription attempt (right) and loaded them into Beyond Compare and printed off a pdf comparison (link below in comments). Note that the ONLY lines that Dragon sensed correctly were the chapter titles. I can't include links here in the review, but I'll post them in the comments - along with a link to my audio file, so you can hear for yourself what Dragon heard (and I'll cop to the fact that my reading isn't flawless).
I'd like to emphasize that I'm not posting this review to hate on Dragon - I'm impressed that it can do what it does. However, I spent my money on what I thought would be a relatively clean and correct transcription tool, and since it doesn't do what I need it to, I had to send it back for a refund with no hard feelings. The only reason I'm posting this is to help others who may want the same thing.
~ Ana Mardoll
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