Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 12, English (Old Version)

Read reviews regarding instability with Windows 7 - I am seeing that some. Seems to freeze more inside Firefox. Headset a decent quality. The software took me about an hour to load including the latest update...that was a little concerning, but it did run perfectly. Took about 30 minutes to train and Im off to the races. I think control boxes and drop-downs are a little kludgy to navigate and I have a lot of those in our software at work.....but for just every day talking and typing - hands down better than ending up the day with sore, arthritic fingers and hands - give it a try - its certainly cheap enough! (and if you dont like it, send it to me!)

I have used Dragon for years, and each time the program improves. Well all end up like Kirk and Scotty, conversing with the computer. Dragons problem isnt their product, which is very good and learns as it goes, but that the firm has never really understood the concept of product support. I have never been able to properly get my user file (the data about my voice) to transfer from one version to the next, and product support is basically a chat room for other disgruntled purchasers and others sharing what they know. A real, live conversation with tech support would go a long way. BTW, if you buy Dragon, invest in a good mike. The one that comes with the program isnt good enough, and it will save you a lot of hassle as you try to build the user database that will serve you well until you upgrade versions.

I invested in a high-quality desktop mic for my computer so that I can use Dragon Naturally Speaking. However, the computer keeps telling me that the audio quality is very poor and recommends the mic be 1 to 2 inches from my face. I dont know about any of you, but my workspace is not set up so that I can have microphone an inch from my face for the entire day. I also dont want to be tethered to my desk with a headset and cord all day. the speech recognition quality actually seems to be somewhat reasonable, but the value is questionable. The biggest downside is that Dragon does not work with Microsoft Lync, which is an egregious oversight. looking online, I now see that there are articles from several years ago saying that Reagan does not work with Lync. WTF? The main reason I have carpal tunnel syndrome is because Im typing in Lync messenger all day. This was basically a waste of money.

I found the Dragon NaturallySpeaking software easy to use. But it takes much patience to wait for it to type. You have to speak slowly so that it understands you. I feel like I can type much faster than the speed at which they system types. I use it when my carpal tunnel gets to be too painful. It is a good program to fall back on when my hands become too tire. I have to learn to be more patient with the slower speed at which the softwaret types.

This was highly recommended by several of my professors. Dont believe it. I found this program extremely difficult to use. Even after spending SEVERAL HOURS reading to its AI and typing corrections so it could better understand my word choices and speaking patterns, it continued to have problems transcribing my research papers. I had to speak in a very unnatural rhythm for it to work at all. It was also a bit intrusive - it wanted to read and write emails, work documents and almost anything else it found on my computer containing words. I had this on my school computer (running Windows 7 Pro 64) for a little under a year. In the end, I had to uninstall it to get rid of the add-ins it installed in Word and in my browser. They interfered with tools I needed for my online courses, and also added a lot of hidden gibberish to documents (these sometimes showed up in versions I saved to other formats). >> Please note that I always attempt to give each item enough time and a fair chance before I post a public review. I never write a review based on my out of the box first impression, unless the item was returned. <<

I have enjoyed Dragon a great deal. It has fantastic voice recognition and is generally easy to use. I would only suggest Dragon make getting answers to questions easier. I am still trying to figure out negotiating the body of, for instance, E-mails. I think the instructions should lend themselves more to the Computer Dummy. Other than that I find the product excellent for dictation, etc. Yes I would recommend it to others.

Nothing like the advertisement claimed. Very difficult to use. couldnt get past the beginning set up. It did not recognize anything I said no matter how I did as instructed. I have had professional movie speaking parts, speak two languages with perfect accent, am gifted as a mimic. And I still could not get it to type anything as I read it. Tried to return it as dissatisfied with performance and it was returned as being opened. No s***! it is useless and a waste of money. Maybe in a few years after enough people throw their hard earned money at this s*** program it may become something. My experience was very bad!

After a lot of research, this seems to be the best thing out there for the price. It was hard to get started and not simple to use. Took quite a while to get used to it. But it does work and it beats writing down every word. The users manual could be improved on.

After seeing this around for the last 19 years or so, I figured they may have gotten their act together. My ex-wife warned me three years ago that it still was far from a good product. I found out quickly. It literally takes over your computer adding all kinds of bars and tools, then has you read various scripts to learn your voice. I chose three, including the hardest one. Playback time - UGLY! Who has time to continue playing with this in the hopes that someday the skies will open and I can get usable transcripts? Three weeks, three months, three years of my focusing on this software learning me? Add it to my gotcha shelf of you bought it, youre screwed and threw away your money because they dont take back opened software.

works pretty well - every now and then will take some time to wake up if the microphone has been turned off for a long time, but other than that, works great. the speech recognition is incredible. using it with microsoft usb headset though, not the one that came with it.