Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 11 Student Edition [Old Version]

it was a gift

I bought the Dragon NaturallySpeaking software about a month ago. I was very hesitant because I was concerned about the accuracy but I needed something because I have severe arthritis. But to my surprise it was amazing right out of the box. It only took a few minutes to set up and verify that I was a student. I have used this for writing several technical papers and it has done awesome picking up on chemical compound names and engineering terms. I have been very amazed with this product and I am using it to write this review and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

When I purchased this product, it came without all of the information, meaning that I couldnt use the program. Neither Amazon, who sold the program, nor Nuance, who provides general support for the program saw fit to do anything about it. I was exceedingly dissatisfied with my purchase and ended up wasting a lot of money on a corporate wild goose chase.

This review is for Dragon NaturallySpeaking premium 11 student edition. After reading the reviews for this product I admit I was a little concerned about both the quality of the product and the registration process. Both of these concerns were baseless. Im a grad student at an accredited university in the United States and the process of registering and receiving a serial number took less than 3 min. the student edition does not come with the serial number. After receiving the product you must go to the registration page on their website and put in both the product number and an e-mail address ending in .edu. Next you select your institution from a pulldown menu of institutions in your state. I followed the instructions and received a serial number at my university e-mail in less than 30 seconds. From the reviews and the price of the student version it was clear to me that I would want a higher-quality microphone. Along with this product I also ordered a Sennheiser ME-3 ev microphone and an Andrea USB adapter. Because the microphone is made to attach securely to a belt transmitter it does have a metal lock ring at the base of the plug. Some reviews suggested that this lock ring would have to be removed. Perhaps the construction of the microphone cable has changed but I was able to use the Sennheiser microphone plugged into the Andrea USB adapter without any modification. Dragon NaturallySpeaking requires a four-minute test/learning session to create a profile for your voice. After this you can use it to dictate anything you would normally type. I am dictating this review. For $70 I dont mind having to buy a better microphone. This is a fantastic product. After using the product for the past two days the only drawback is that I wished I purchased a wireless microphone. Being able to walk around and dictate at the same time would be, frankly, awesome. Note: the Andrea USB adapter is a bulky dongle. I think the Andrea USB soundcard with array microphone has the same adapter in a much smaller form factor bundled with a desktop microphone. For mobile users the smaller adapter combined with any microphone might be a better choice than the bulky dongle. I also read that the Yeti microphones also work well with Dragon. to summarize, the student edition is a great value and easy to register if you have a .edu address at an accredited university. You may want to upgrade the microphone.

Okay everybody, I am not one to write a review, but after seeing everything that has been written about this product, I decided I must write a review. A lot of people, have been bad mouthing the fact, that you have to verify your student status to receive the serial number from Nuance. I can tell you now, for all of you who have a .edu address, this will not be a challenge whatsoever. I received my Dragon NaturallySpeaking, from UPS about an hour ago. Within that time, I did the online verification of my student status, received my serial number, install the program, and I am now writing this review I using my headset and my Dragon NaturallySpeaking. One recommendation I would strongly make, is that you invest in a better headset. I invested in the Koss CS 100 headset is thus far everything is working very clearly. I spent about 20 min. reading some of the documentation that they give you to learn your voice. In that short period of time, you see the results. As a graduate student, who is often writing anywhere between 20 and 60 pages a week of text this is going to be a lifesaver. I hope many of you will be able to make the same investment.

Im working on both a Masters degree in Management Information Systems and an MBA. Needless to say, I do a lot of reading, writing, taking notes about what Im reading, and writing about what Ive read. Ive always found the process of switching back and forth between reading and typing notes on the computer to be awkward. So, I tended to be rather old-school and just scribbled notes in the margins of what I was reading and in notebooks. That, of course, was inefficient because then I would have to type my notes into the computer in order to organize them and use them in a 21st-century way. I knew my archaic methods wouldnt pass the benchmark a thesis, so I bought Dragon NaturallySpeaking with the hope that it would help me streamline my note taking process. I was hesitant about purchasing the software because I had tried speech recognition software about a decade ago, and because of my tendency to speak quickly and mumble and my mild speech impediment, lets just say that the software was less than successful at understanding me. I shouldnt have worried: Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 11 premium edition is amazing. Its accurate, fast, and fully featured. Now, I can dictate my notes while I read, read my scribbled class notes into the computer, or speak my outlines, rough drafts, and brainstorming sessions directly into Microsoft Word, OneNote, and other software. Registration: Registration was quick and easy. I followed the instructions included in the box and had my serial number sitting in my e-mail inbox within minutes. The only thing that threw me for a minute was that the product code on the instruction sheet wasnt labeled as such and didnt look a thing like the one shown on the website. I have a .edu e-mail address from an accredited university, which is what I assumed streamlined the registration process. So, your mileage may vary if you need to upload a scan of your ID card or other information in order to register. Installation/Setup/Training: The software comes with a quick reference card that includes installation instructions. I didnt time it, but it took quite a few minutes to install the software. Then, I had to set up a profile, configure the microphone, and do the initial training. The software prompts and quick reference card make this process easy, but it does take some time. Perhaps because I have had problems in the past with speech recognition software, I was overly worried about Dragon NaturallySpeaking recognizing and understanding my voice. So, I went through several of the training scenarios, which took me about an hour. I also let it scan my My Documents folder so that it could get an idea of my writing style and standard vocabulary. Im not sure which of these had the greatest influence or if it was a combination of both of these activities, but the software has done an amazing job of understanding me from the first time I used it for dictation. It also recognized a lot of the terms that are specific to technology and business and even many of the acronyms that are used in technical and business writing the first time that I used them. The words and acronyms that it doesnt recognize, I simply add to the softwares vocabulary (verbal dictionary) via the in-line correction feature or by explicitly adding them to my profile. The Headphone/Microphone: Having read numerous reviews that indicated that the included headset had a less than ideal microphone for speech recognition, I purchased the

I bought this only to transcribe taped interviews for a class project. I trained the program with my voice at least 3 times. The transcripts that resulted were just absolute nonsense, they were not even remotely similar to the actual conversations. I expected some confusion, maybe confusing There for Thier and stuff like that, but the sentences were just gobbletigook. If thats what youre planning on using this for, dont do it, its a waste of your money.

Works really well!

Nuance yes.... I got this originally to help take notes in lecture classes but it does not translate other people talking just you. That didnt work and you had to read a page or more for it to recognize your voice .... really that long... and its hard to delete from your system. Might work for some but not for me.

I dont understand why people are having such a problem with this product. In just the short time that Ive had it I have been very pleased with its performance! I received this product on Thursday, January 5, 2012. Inside the box were instructions on how to obtain the serial number that would enable me to install the product. I went to the listed website, completed the online form, and gave them my college e-mail address. I received an immediate response on my college e-mail address with the registration key. As others have mentioned, the headset included in the package is essentially worthless. They are extremely ill-fitting, and actually hurt to wear them. In fact, I cannot foresee this headset sitting comfortably on anyones head. This is one of the most disappointing aspects of the entire package. Once the program was loaded onto my computer, I completed my profile and I was very soon up and running with dictation. In fact, this entire review was dictated using the Dragon program. I find the program very easy to use, and so far the dictation has been pretty smooth. I dont know if my voice is such that the program finds it easy to recognize, but the accuracy so far has been very impressive. I enjoy the fact that I can not only dictate, but that I can also make manual corrections on the keyboard if necessary. There is a learning curve involved, but I believe that over time I will become even more comfortable with the program and I will be able to increase my speed. Overall I am very happy with this program, and I believe that it will become a great asset to me with my college courses this term, especially since I have two classes that I will have to do a great deal of writing for. I would give this program five stars, however the headset that was included with the program is of such low quality that I feel I have to let people know that they will likely have to purchase a better one. (Or at least one that doesnt hurt to wear!)