Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 11 [Old Version]

This is v-11.5 It is few years ago That I tried DNS, probably version 5 or 6. It was real bad and I spend more time on correcting than dictating. So I gave up. Wanted to try it again got a new computer with intel i5 chip and 8GB ram.. Got Andreas head set and am impressed with its speed and accuracy from day one. I am enjoying using it and it is improving its accuracy with continued use. I think voice recognition has matured now.

Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium 11 is a good product, but it is not for the faint of heart and it is not for damsels who distress. I bought this product for my girlfriend because she wanted to consider typing more e-mails and possibly journalizing but had no familiarity with the keyboard. Fortunately I am computer savvy so I was able to set it up for her and show her the basics of operation. Set up would have been extremely difficult of the non-savvy person. After loading, one needs to learn to master the Dragon. This includes their training practicing but it includes a lot more afterwards. It takes a long time to learn that one can just speak into the microphone which was included, but one would not necessarily want to. Because of the lag between what is said and what the Dragon types, it get the speaker all out of timing if they watch the screen while talking. And after one or more paragraphs, one can someimes forget how they phrased it originally when trying to decode the words of the Dragon. And the paragraphs will need to be decoded. I found out that the best way to work is sentence by sentence rather than paragraph by paragraph. Speak a sentence, and then turn off the dictation. Wait a minute and then see what the Dragon types. Then you should correct it before turning on the dictation and going on to the next sentence. It makes for a long and laborious process but it is better than trying to decode an entire paragraph. It takes some time with any sophisticated program to learn their ideosyncracies. And that is true with Dragon. It has its ideosyncracies (like how it begins each transcription with your first word) but they can be learned with perseverance. One needs to be prepared to persevere. If one trains the Dragon in a constant improvement mode, then over time it does get better.

I was unsure whether I would be getting the latest version of the product, or not, but when it arrived it was 11.5 and not the 11.0 version stated on the product information. I had resigned myself to not having the latest as I couldnt find a product listing for 11.5 version, but the CD is actually 11.5. Product seems nice, but I havent fully trained it yet.

I am envious of the reviewers who had no trouble with installation. I believed, since I have a new, clean Windows 7 64 bit system, that I too would have such an experience. Outside of the fact that everything Ive ordered recently from Amazon seems to have some delay in shipment, I am extremely frustrated with this product. I used Dragon 9 on my old laptop to dictate my patient notes. While not flawless, it saved me several hours a night on charts. Upon purchase of a newer laptop, I could not (nor could anyone else) get Dragon 9 to work. After reading the reviews here and elsewhere, I ordered Version 11 Premium. 6 hours later I am still unable to install the product due to various Errors (many of which appear to be searching for a file on my C drive). My IT savvy friends are unable to install the product. Nuance Customer Service tells me there must be some other program preventing the install. Perhaps that may be true, but its hardly service to tell me theres a problem and not offer a solution. I am also not pleased that the software arrived without a manual - when I pay nearly $200 for a product I expect something more than a trifold card with quick and dirty instructions on it. The box does not even appear to be a standard manufacturers. I have faith that the seller will right things for me, but I suspect this will mean returning the item (and yes, I am aware that Windows 7 comes with its own VR software, but it doesnt work well either Ive learned).

Ive only had this product for a short time, but I love it! Very easy to train and Ive been pretty happy with the accuracy overall. Whenever I have some free time, I do read additional scripts of increasing levels of complexity in order to increase my vocabulary, and I have found that since I bought a USB adapter for the included headset that my accuracy have improved even further. The only thing Im getting used to is speaking the way you type. Otherwise, you end up with an ndless sentence, but for what Im using it for, its still much faster than typing everything word for word. I love it, and have recommended it to several friends and family members!

I ordered this for my medical practice. I had considered the Medical version which cost $1600 however the price was a little too much for my rural practice. So I decided to first try this product which was inexpensive. I ordered it and paid extra for one day delivery and that is what I got! It was easy to install on my computer and the voice recognition was fast. I was surprised that there was a selection for Southern users. Now this was a first for me. Usually when I try to speak my accent confuses the software and lots of nonsense is written on the page. I dictated a patients note in a few short minutes and that completed my charting. I was so pleased. Although this is not a medical format it managed my medical terminology well. I am so happy that I decided upon this product and saved $1500 to boot. I am just learning about this since I have only used it for less than one hour. So Dragon Naturally Speaking made a great first impression with me. This was a good investment for me. Just transcribing that one patient note saved me about 30-40 minutes. Very satisfied and happy with the purchase.

First, the good news. This purchase qualified for the upgrade to version 11.5 and then 12. Now the bad news. Version 12 seems faster but more buggy. The dictation is fine, but it goes a little crazy when doing corrections. Sometimes, it will pick a phrase and keep overwriting it, not allowing me to continue the dictation from the end. At other times, choosing a selection from the correction window inserts choose 1, rather than the the chosen word. Most aggravating, though, is Nuances limitation on how you can use this product. DNS Premium and Professional will not work with electronic health record (EHR) systems, and Dragon will turn off the microphone if you try. It seems that they want this category of users to buy the Dragon Medical edition, at more that 5 times the price. I am not a medical practitioner, but I assist practitioner clients. I am unable to interface with their EHR systems. Further, when I go to EHR related websites, Dragon switches off. This is websurfing, not utilizing EHR. I am offended by this marketing ploy forcing a certain class of customers into a higher priced product. Given this limitation, I would buy a different solution, if it were available. Problem is that Nuance has a corner on this market.

Im not sure Im any more impressed with this version than I was with earlier versions. Yes the speech recognition is better than version 2-10, but its still not the greatest thing since sliced bread. Great for creating the initial draft but I found that editing commands were frequently ignored or interpreted as additional text. Menu commands dont work at all with Open Office. Its useful, but not the works great, cant live without it product of the advertisements.

I love my Dragon. Im using it now. However I do have a speech impediment so I have to be very careful when Im using it and reread everything about three times. Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 11 is better and then later versions which seem to only type into Microsoft products. To fill out a form like this with version 12 I would have to use Internet Explorer whereas now I am using Firefox. This version will type into just about anything where you can type. They mustve cut a deal with Microsoft for the later versions so if you can still get this version I would highly recommend it.

I have been using Dragon for 20 years. I would be without it – because I have had issues with carpal tunnel in both of my hands. I use it excessively for emails in Outlook, word documents and occasionally in Excel. It is wonderfully accurate – and the correction mechanisms are extremely good. I ordered this version because I have a Windows 7 PC – and this was the most compatible version that was made at the time. It works really well with outlook. The only issue that I have it occasionally hangs up. I then have to shut it down and start all over. But this has been an issue with Dragon since I first started using it many many years ago.